New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-09-13

there anything siller than criticising
thing because it is not something
else? The thing 10 do in reading TINS
book is TO recognize the fact that one
is reading. simply. Lang on English
Literature"
He writes here, as he always wrote,
with the touch of the good talker de-
lighting In his books, savoring great
things and speaking Of them with gus
"a. Let us dip a moment into that
part of his book which deals with the
Elizabethans. We all know with what
grave solicitude for the justice of liter
airy verdicts a certain type of COM
mentator always adverts TO the lesser
iramatists Of that period. Assuming
the sanction Of Lamb. he outdoes that
fine critics liberality and turns many
a goose into a swan. Lang cites a
noble passage when ne finds ib-and we
may be sure that he Will not miss 1t
but presently he drives tersely at the
point and says that "an % the treas
urcs Of his predecessors are not equ1va-
lent or nearly equivalent TO the small
change Of Shakespeare's genius. And
when he writes Of the master Of them
all ne has learning enough, but Keeps
i; well in hand, and does not fail TO
say the things bringing home 10 us the
essentials OF the matter, Shakespeare's
sheer power and magic. II is the
beauty Of the poet that he chiefly
feels and would chiefly urge upon his
reader.
Yes Lang is no capricious Interpreter
of subtle literary qualities, an his
torian OF pure likes and dislikes. 1t
is interesting 20 test him on writer's
who lie outside his proper bailiwlck. so
10 say Now and then, II Is true he
fails US. No one who wants 10 be
stirred with sense Of Millions poetic
splendor need turn to Lang. But on
Dryden, say, or on Pope, whose traits
We should never have expected him to
discuss with the insight that spells
warm appreciation, he Is. az matter
of fact, admirably suggestive. Not the
most ferVid devotec Of Glorious John
could ask in swift compendium a
juster estimate than this;
Though not averse 10 far-fetched con
ceits" In his early poems, Dryden shook
them off; he made the heroic coupiet
the instrument for Pope and his success
sors, he gave IL nobility, TlchneSs
and depth OF music which 1t had not
possessed II was stronger more varied,
more poetical in his hands than in those
OF Pope. Prose. touched by him. became
much more lucid and rapid than II ha1
been in the long involved periods or
Clarendon. II not so purely simple AZ
the prose of Swift
II was In a sense The misfortune Of
Dryden that he was the poet of an age
Immersed I'm its own complicated and ex-
citing. and now. 10 all but careful his
torians not easily understood affairs.
We have no adequate and intelligent his
tory OF the Restoration. Dryden's verses,
for the most part! are topical, deal
with events OF the day: there Is little
time for meditation on what Is UNIVERSAL
he Is an urban poet, too: nature and
landscape are rarely handled by him. III
our ideal of poetry Is derived from study
OF Wordsworth. Shelley, Keats, Tenny-
son and other recent moderns, We do not
and can not find In Dryden what they
have taught us To desire and expect. His
themes are OF his time and of the men
and the political passions of his time.
Ills plays many OF them rhymed. arc
but little read; nobody strongly recon-
mends his comedies. which are more
coarse than comic; he did not himself,
think that comedy set his genius.
His lyrics, though spirited, have not
the sweet spontaneity of the true Eng
lish lyric from Love Has Come with
Lent TO Town" TO those Of the best
nineteenth century makers. TO read his
best satires with entire enjoyment We
need to be well acquainted with the OBJ
scure intrigues of an age OF plots, royal,
political and religious. Yet. through
Heroic Stanzas" On the death OF Crom-
well down 10 "Alexander's Feast" we
see the note and hear the voice of
great poet: voice new. noble. sonorous