New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-07-18
LITERARY CRITICISM
AND BOOK NEWS
A Romancer in Search Of His Own Secret
China as Happy Hunting Ground
An Ancient Callng-lhe
Springs Of Mnth.

as u UlCheT Oh genus III wv '''''' 49,
Hewlett wrote it, no doubt because
he wanted to, but not because he
had TO.
This is what troubles US when we
come to his Lore OF Proserpine' and
to his collection Of poems, Helen
Redeemed" They suggest no strong
creative impulse, but rather, the self
indulgent excursions Of d man of in
telect and imagination. The casual
strayings Of man of that type are
not, Of course, TO be despised. Mr.
Hewlett, il is evident got pleasure
out of writing these books and we get
pleasure, of a sort, out OF reading
them. But we are a little uneasy all
the time, a little dissatisfied, seeing
with much appreciation what the au-
thor is trying for and yet never quite
feeling convinced that the thing has
come off. In Lore Of Proserpine,' he
develops the idea that there is an in
tense reality enjoyed by things lying
outside the sphere Of our earthly Wis
ion, that there is a world all around us
peopled by gods and fairies. In short,
he would embody in these pages the
life Of the imagination, expressing 1t
as though in terms of actual expert
ence. Abiding TO his boyho0d, ne
says
had much Of Mallory by heart-a book
full of magic Forth Of his pages stepped
men-at-arms and damse!s the moment
was alone, and held me company Tor as
long as ! would. The persons OF Homer
music came next TO them. | was Hector
and held Andromache TO my heart.
kissed her farewell when ] went forth 10
school. and hurried home at night from
the station impatient for her arms.
was never Paris. and had Only awe OF
Helen. Even then ! dimly guessed neI
divinity. that gOdhead which the Su-
premest beauty really is. But ] was often
Odysseus. the understanding. and very
well acquainted with the wiles OF "a.
lypso. Next in power Of enchantment
came certainly Don QuiNote In whose
lank bones | was often encased.
There is more. in a vein recalling tn"
adventures Of unnumbered fanciful
youths and there is nothing incredible
here. But as -1r. Hewlett goes on ana
makes. as il were, realistic stories out
of his romantic dreams he does every
thing save lead us TO believe in them.
The touch is clever, but it is not sure
enough. and we come back 10 our sur
mise that what handicaps this man Of
genius is not by any means waning
of his literary skill or even of his in
spiration but a kind of unconscious
suspension of the latter. due 10 a DIFF
fusion OF purpose. If we may put it
frankly, Mr. Hewlett knows too much:
he has had a little more intellectual
experience than is good for him. Hav-
ing saturated himself in the Italian
Renaissance and other modern periods
he has proceeded TO steep himself III
classical mythology and has finally,
with characteristic fervOr. thrown HIM
self upon the bosom Of mere nature. In
the upshot his ideas and emotions nave
got = bit cOngested.
There is d Fundamental diroctness
about the operations Of genius
The great writer is never confused
in his aim. When Mr.. Hewlett was
writing his Little Novels OF Italy"
he was at bottom simple and d.
rect, and this kept him safe. Now,
trying to revive the mundane issues VI
eighteenth century politics and society,
trying TO interpret the poetry of earth,
trying to extract drama and beauty
from antique motives, he ends by NOV
ing about in worlds not realized His
poetry, like his prose, has color, move
ment and the interesting quality TO lie
expected in the work OF writer who
is always an artist. Neither the poetry
nor the prose imposes itself upon us
with a fresh, original charm. Mr..
Hewlett appears TO he passing through
an experience not unlike that Of the
late John Addington Symonds, who
took his Unsuitable curiosity in the
things of the mind as warrant for writ
ing a good deal of poetry that might
just as we'll have been left unWritten,
and much prose. too. that could easily
have been spared. Some Of these days,
perhaps, the author Of Helen Re
deemed" will realize how vainly he IS
scattering his energies and will STUN
BILE upon his own secret. He Will dis
cover what the rest Of us have always
known and what we see again. only the
more plainly, in the light Of Helen
Redeemed" and Lore Of Proserpine"-
that he is a born romancer and has no
other function.