The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-23
SOME NEW BOOKS.
Toets Conventional and RevoIu-
ttOnary.


t,~ks OF verse from time to time. the
idle curious or professionally inter-
estSd spectator of the literary game
admires the contest between the con-
servatives ard the radicals of poetry.
IT Is part of the programme of the
"futurists' to deride the census,
but 1t would be interesting to know
.s5w she demand for the new" poetry
S''r2arcs with tina: Tar the best of
the contemporary classics. .STEPHEN
PHiLLiPs's publishers report his "1s>..r
ard Francesca" in its twenty fifth
thousand. "Hcrcd in it's twenty first.
ulysses" in its tenth. Poems" in its
fourteenth edition. In Panama and
Other Poems u.ane) the best is
wholly In the style of the old, esti-
Unable Phillips. Not only are the estab-
lished meters and manners justified
but a quite observable contrast be-
tween the timeless. placeless topics
and those that touch the political
events of the day does not favor the
latter. Journalism dressed in rhyme
Is lot poetry. Let other quilts indite
editorial articles. and let Mr.. Phil
1ips's confine itself to the splendid
lnea Of which he shares the secret
with so few. The figures help to
prove. what is so often bitterly de-
hi-u. the existence Of warm popu-
lar appreciation Of the best poetry.
versesmith born, GALE YorSG
RICE has none OF the modern
scorn. for the making that makes
born versesmith better. col
lcctcd Plays and Poems Double
Aay
natural gifts and of the careful art OF
their author: widely varied in topic
but homogeneous in spirit, warm with
emotion and not deficient in substance,
poems of many lands made as one IN
common humanity. 'O-tsuya For
FAX H." in which a japanese maiden
tells Of following her lover. ito find
him fjithless," Is a bit of sound i'm
pressionism:
My geta clacked paper lantern
moved. led by hand before me. The
wind moaned. A wet pine struck my face
1t seemed as II heard the river rushing
s'cr me.
l followed. In the tea house. Eeisha
danced The Death Of SPRING" Thin
shadows fell like petals on the shojL I
1elt creeping mist about me cling.
The bridge was dsrkiy srched. Mid
way the lantern waited. Pale as the
hidden moon the hand was.--HIs, She
came viii the gods ev know how much
] hated?
They went-up through the boriI, by
shrine Upon the lantern "A.mida' |
read. No more shall A-mida be god OF
mine.
II is not far to the river--down to death
The stars swirled "a connagra,ion And
yet could not 20. Shall he be mine In
no reincarnstion-
Some Imdgisf Poets ,Houghton
Mifftin; THE New Poetry Series") is
an undertaking by half dozen lead
tnS opponents II poetic reform to ex-
hibit the special qualities of their
craft. There is "A treasure of genuine
poetry in this anthology. enough to
demonstrate that any form is good
when II FITS the theme and spirit. The
realism is pretty drearily gray, and
a. times the poets lapse into gro.
tesque diction, as when one Of them
rides in street car:
Tie trans come whooping up one by one
the passengers shrink together
enter indelicately into all their souls
Other volumes of this series are IT.
valuations: Sand and Sprop by JOHN
GOULD FLETCHER, and collection of
IAFcADio HEARN's japanese LUrics.
IN their limitation OF a poem to the
presentation OF SINCE impression
ana IN their ability To present that
impression with the utmost vividness
ana with the sternest economy OF
words the Japanese poets are
strangely akin To the ina sists" and so
Gain adm 'ttance to the company of
the modernest of the moderns. who
feebly echo such Of the ancients as
Blake and Emerson.
The charm OF the lyric, the stimulus
OF continuous exposition are united in
ROBERT FRosTs 4 BoUs WIN ,HolD.
q succession Of moods. inquiries and
experiences with the cumulative effect
Of a spiritual autobiography. Person.
atty is the secret o. Mr.. Frost's undc-
niable appeal: a youthful personality
In which touch OF quite transparent
anectation is factor on the positive
side. 1t is not affectato in phrase
or form. In Songs from the Clny
'Mscmillans), JAMES STEPHENS is
witty and virie and pagan. He is like
his own Ancient En-:
am the maker.
The builder. the breaker
The eagle winged helper.
The speedy forssker.
] am the Tyre,
The water, the FIRE,
The tooth Of oppression.
The life of desire.
The snare and the wing
The honey, the sting;
When you seek for me look
For different thing.
The Sonncts Of a Portrait Painter.
ny ARTHUR DAWSON FIcKE mitchell
kennerley), are urbane and literary:
such sequence of lovers VOWS.
plants, confessions and accusations
a. belated Eliza bethan sonneteer
might possibly he expected to make
10 Mt a scene of twentieth century POI
lite metropolitan irregularity in
morals" In some lines the frank
ness or expression not displcasing de-
generates To rather coarse suggestive
ness. There is no city sickness in ,
HENRY HERBERT KNiBBs's Songs Of me
OufhndS tloughton MifflinJ. ballads
or hobo and plainsman and those who
exercise the grand old privilege to
chuck our luck and choose Any road
at any time for anywhere: healthy. |
vigorous, readable and forgettable
verses that eXalt the goats" not for
getting To damn the sheep" Live !
and let live" and room enough for
al are not notices Of tie poets Of