New-York tribune., 1912-01-13

Two Books Of Capital Humorous
Verse.

was sold out within a few weeks after
its appearance and a second one might
have been disposed of during the holi-
days had it been ready in time. So the
publishers assure us, and we can readily
believe the statement. That the writing
of yersc-good verse, that is-"pays' in
magazine form and in the daily press
needs no proof Still, Mr.. Adams's opin-
ion on the subject is worth quoting, as
expert testimony. He takes his text
from Mr.. Arnoll Benefits assertion
that mot a single modern English poet
Is living to-day on the current proceeds
of his verse:
POSEY'S GUERDON.
What time pen the Mighty Line
Suffused with the spark divine
As who should say by George. Ihat
fnei'
Indignantly do ] deny
The words of Arnold Bennett. Why
Is this not English verse? say i
And by the proceeds Of that verse
Such as, {. O.. these little tercmo
Fists not filled the family purse!
10 we not live on what I SELL
sonnet, hdldNti anu Niioi''''''
I'VE do" she says, "and none too we'll
Mr.. Johnson's case is far simpler. He
rhvrnes because he must. Oh, ever thus
from childhood's hour he has lispcd IN
numbers. He is Cradlcd into poetry ny
vhatcvcr he sees or hears. Here Is his
APOLOGY.
,,fa
Than ANYTHING else on the gainut OF crimes.
Discussing with vcrsing began with my
And chasing mctrIcal thought as It
Is sweet, I rcpcat-why, cen as I eat
The chewing i'm doing quite lyric'ly chimes
Alas. what a pass, Ny heads moraSS
OF singular, jingular metres en masse.
One hint is enough for some stun in the
And ] promptly advert to my shIrtslceve
"ord / have heard that is odd, or a
That's odder. Is fodder FOR feeding the
Also the vcrnacular adds spectacular
Shine 10 a line that were otherwise tame
Mr. Adams's Muse Is I'm our populous
CITY pcnt. she bids him look from her
Parnassus at the top OF a modern apart
mcnt house. and write. Not the least
OF his Inspirations are the daily crowns
and crosses Of urban existence:
OUR DU,M'D ANIMALS.
What time l seek my yirtuous couch to
Some surcea,e from the labours Of tho
Ere silence like % poultlcc comes to heal
In short. when ! prepare 20 hit thc nay
Ere slumbcr's chains q quote from Moore
have bound me.
hear lot OF noises all around me.
Time was when falling of tho well known
Were harder far than falling of to sleep;
But. that was crc my neighbour E'h''
Eesan to think he was defending sheep.
From twelve 10 two ms bdihIhE anu 'i'
Accompanics two tomcats' nightly yowl-
Ing.
Two stanzas must suffice, for we
would share with the reader the first
strophe of a matinal plaint taken as
from the heart OF all of us:
When a button rolls under the bureau
The search IS a wocful anair'
And the humorous weekly describes II pu'
In saving the hunter will swear.
But what rs that limited anger?
The impOtent rage of a cub!
only grow what YOU could really cdII not
When the soap slips under the tub
Mr.. Johnsons Muse is Of the suburb.
Hence his ballad Of "The Wreck Of the
Judy T." inspired by Long Island
Sound;
And the barge skipper bit his nails
(Small culture did he bOasD,
For he knew their fate If they struck Hell
Gate
Or the jagged stelnway rocks.
And she peercd through the heavy gloom:
"Oh. fcytheT what Is yOn moving light,
And the sound Of that distant BOOM
""Tis the boom O the surf in Flushing
Thank God. we are out Of reach
And the lights afar be trolley car
A-makin' toward old North Beach"
The noises Mr.. Johnson hears are the
voices Of spring, and "truest tones Of
them all to me, love the bark of the
dogwood tree" 1t Is, no doubt, his
sylvan environment that leads him to
animal poetry. to the Lyric Of the
Llama" "Alack, a Yak" and the
Laughing Hycna," with its impressive
moral The Remarks from the Pup"
by the way, is delightful.
Back to the. city and Mr.. Adams's
Muse. There are "Ofice Notices" to he
disposed of-"Do 1t Now Tell Him
Ne" and the like:
Notices fat and notices silly,
Proverbs void of point and wit.
"Keep a-pluggin' when it's hilly!"
'Life's tiger: conquer IT,"
Office notices make me weary,
And Of all the bromide bunch
There Is only one | scTi-
OUsly like. and that's the CHEEKY
GONE TO LUNCH.
There is genuine merit in Mr.. Adams's
ingenious paraphrases Of Horace and
Catullus in ultra up-to-date slang. Per-
haps they are the best things in his
book. Nor should his love poems he
forgotten. Like Mr.. Johnson he is a
capital parodist. Both these humOrists,
be it said in conclusion, take the tech
nioue OF their art seriously. They are
easy masters of its resources. Hence
their success.
SCHOOL HoWLERS.
From The London Globe.
Although school howlers are somewhat
overdonc. yet "rhe University Corrc-
spondent' publishes an excellent series.
from which we Gull the following: The
Young prctcnder was So called because
ir ,roc Irrstfu1ad that no was horn I'm a