The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1913-09-13

spapers. Synge, we have been told, is
an Irish Shakespeare"-save that i'm
advertently he made his Hamlet kill
htead. Nth a 10y. sinsteadssof aveng-
ing his dsaah natter of fact,
SEinhurne, With his,richness of rhym-
ase ~ Ion. u most Gel
tic Of all the moderns. Tho criticism
that he included not only words for
words sake, but sound for sounds
sake. would apply to the well.tuned
mechanism of Irish poetry.
It is obvious, then, that Irish liter.
ature Is q very uncertain term, and
that it may include or exclude. what
may seem essential, in a surprising
manner. Father Browns excellent
guide gives US several examples in
print. On page one he deals with an
"1rish literature" in ten volumes. of
which the tenth only is consecrated
to the native tongue, and that in its
modern form. Turning to page 80,
we find mention of Eleanor Hull's
Textbook Of Irish Literature" to
=, which the editor notes: I'm neither
part is there question of Irish litera-
= ture written in English"
y. Father Brown has made very gal.
liant effort to record the enormous
amount of literature which can be
"classed under the vague heading Of
"Books on Ireland" but our first COM
ment must be that 1t Is often too COM
a prehensive, even II this has been the
price Of introducing such experts as
DR.. Grattan Flood, r. w. Rolleston,
and Joseph Holloway into the respec.
tive sections devoted to music, poetry
and drama.
Our next comment is that a very
small amount in 1t is literature, and
even less what we would care to call
Irish literature" In fact, there does
not appear to be any book distinctive
ly in Irish Except the translations, as
. the Englishman would say), but. our
principal comment is that the book Is
80 we'll done that 1t can hardly be
superseded.
n We cannot quarrel with the editors
wideness Of selection when we find
some of the "Immortals" included in
an Irish catalog. To have touched
an Irish theme Is sufficient cause for
entering famous Englishmen upon an
Irish bede roll, for we notice Mr..
Gladstone on page 80 on the strength
of his now almost unreliable
speeches. On the other hand, works
which often contain no mention OF
anything native, as on page 106 we
read the note on Katherine Tynan's
"innocencies' Irish in sub
ject"-then why include in guide to
books on Ireland7
But this has obviously been the
editors difficulty, and he has pre-
iferred to chance no omissions. How.
ever, he is perfectly consistent in ex-
tending his welcome. on page 100. to
William Shakespeare for Introducing
the Irish character Of MacMorris into
the play of Henry v, and Ben john
=, son appears on the next page on. the
strength Of the Irish characters In
his 'New Inn" Thanks to William
Sharp, George Meredith enters as a
representative Of Celtic poetry on page
60, and on the previous page we are
proud to hail Emily Bronte, or Emily
io'Pronty. to give her her Gaelic
name.
saS ,g7 -
One cannot help being struck by the
extraordinary huency that Irish writ
ers have shown in their adopted
tongue. To take two random exam
pies: Cardinal Cullen's Writings" in
three volumes cover $500 pages, and
would tempt many a writer to COM
Smence his long-needed biography II
they were not without an index. Per.
haps, 1t is ecclesiastical etiquette not
), to apply any kind Of index to Car
sdinal's writings, but 1t breeds the sin
,+of despair with the reader. In the
sphere of poetry, William Allingham,
who Is remembered today for three
beautiful poems, runs into ten vol
umes of verse in catalog. The moral
;, left to the modern poets is obvious.
,eg. One Of the current reasons, for
; abandoning the Irish tongue used to