The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-07
Irish Poetry and Music.

ton of essays and lectures Is the Irish
Literary and Musical Studies (Scribner)
OF ALFRED PERcEvAL GRAVES, president Of
the Irish Literary Society OF London and
member OF folk song societies.
Mr.. Graves saw Tennyson in ireland
in 1873. The poets personality was
highly satisfactory" The De Verean
large dark eyes generally dreamy but
with an occasional CLEAN OF imagina-
tive alertness," still varied between
haunting softness and eager bright
ness: the Carlylean great shock of
rough dusky dark hair" had been sub
dued but not subjugated by time, re-
vealing more Of the Olympian brow
though still retaining the sable vigor
of pigment. The visitor. expecting "fas-
tidious articulation and premeditated
hesitation In the choice OF words" was
titillated by n Lincolnshire burr anu
pungent directness OF speech. Tenny-
son quoted richly. He wanted to write
an Irish poem; could the visitor sug-
gest a theme? He heard with satisfsc-
ton of DIR. Joyce's "Old Celtic Ro-
mances," then in preparation; on its
appearance Mr.. Graves sent him a
COPY: hence the voyage of Maeldune.'
The laureate chanted the Ossian or
MACPHERSON; had he known OGradys
SILVA Gadelica" his Celticism might
more nearly have kept pace with the
purely poetic merit Of his performance
He laboriously dug vocabulary out or
Carleton's TRAITS OF the Irish Peas
antry." He respected the Irish Doric.'
The reminiscent votes the poet, "em-
phatically, great"
We love Joseph Mangan. despite his
adopted interior Clarence" An Amer
lean poetess, Miss Quincy, has recently
studied him and his works" have been
edited by an ODonoghue. 1t Is time his
remains were exhumed out OF musty.
forgotten magazines. The poor fellow
had to work in his youth in dull office;
he could not have been clerkly dull.
though drug and whiskey memory ex-
aggerated the scrlvener's woes to q ira
dition Of drudgery. white slavery, that
has c.lnched parasite fashion with the
story of Irish letters. No more true in all
probability is the legend of broken
heart. he became later a good friend
Of the lady's. Why blink or stress t. ,
dope" and the booze? To Father
Meehan when dying he remarked: Il
feel that ! am going: l know that l
must go 'unhousel'd' and 'unaneaId,' but
you must not let me go unshriven and
unanolnted." Poor fellow" says the
good father, ''he did occasionally take
what he ought not to have taken; but
he was n pure man." not sensual nor
debauched. Did he sell his soul for
golden rhyme, or did he swim to heaven
in the pure stream that flowed Off the
point of his gifted pen? How could an
Irishman ever have translated as he
did the sentimental rhymes Of the
! Rhineland? And who but an 1rishman
could have toyed as he did later with
the same German verse, improving II
first-+W,hich Is not the honest trans
lator's province-and then, for the sake
of good Irish grub. improving II
away? Echtdeutsch sentiment would
not go far in the Dublin market. He
| anticipated the Poe refrain; though
the specimen cited in the book is linked
(for date) with the Raven" 1S45. It Is
the scheme of 1.-THE Haunted Palace
1910, and "Ulalume," 1S47, to which
1t is metrically akin. Mangan used the
device, not impressively. from 1889 on.
Sir Samuel Ferguson was a pioneer in
the revival of the spiritual treasure
/
because he could have no contemporary
public TO enthuse over his themes. Yeats
was not sparing in his praise. Joseph
| Sheridan lie Fanu was a genius: his
'Drunkards Address to a Bottle OF
| Whiskey" Is a terrible thing. odd
mindmate to the wit IN his doggerel and
the pathos and humor of his "Shamu.
OBrien," recited with tremendous effect
by Samuel Lover in this ountry and
quite commonly attributed to that ge-
NAL Celt, whose addition to the poem
| Is indeed inferior to the original. From
| the Aston House Lover wrote, in 1916
to William lie Fanu. brother OF Joseph
| In reading over your brothers poem while
| ] crossed the Atlantic ! became more and
more impressed with Its great beauty and
| dramatic effect, 30 much 80 that de.
termined to test Its effect In public and
have done 40 here. on my first appearance
with the greatest success. Now ! have no
| doubt there will be great praises of the
poem and people will suppose most likely
J that the composition IN mine, and you
know Il take for granted) that ! would not
| wish to wear n borrowed feather, l should
he glad to give your brothers name as the
author. II IA true that In my pro.
gramme my name Is appended to the recits-
ton. So far you will j have done all
could to avoid "appropriating."-t spirit
of which I might have caught here with
| Irish aptitude. My success here ma,
been quite triumphant.
DIR. Joyce. Mr.. O'Neill, for long tn,