New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-29

more praise than that Of docile me-
dunn passively possessed!
The same thing holds true Of almost
all the parodies in the book. OF course
the writer has laugh up his sleeve,
/ hut he conceals il with the clever So
! lemnity of the true prestdlgitateur. lie
/ has mastered the truth that form and
matter are inseparable; hence his paro-
dies excite a laughter far more subtle
and delightful than the ordinary take
off" Here is passage from "Ihe
Death Of the Tired MAN.
"How about Dr.. FOSTER
"WelI. how about him." managed TO
reply. .,
He glared at me for having interrupted.
And stopped to pick his words before ne
Like one who turns all personal re-
marks
Into a general survey Of the world
Choosing his phrases with tinicky
care
So they might fit some vague opinions,
Taken, third-hand, from last years New
York Times
And iumbled all together into thing
He thought was his philosophy.
This is not merely an imitation Of
rough blank verse. Mr.. Untermeyer
has caught the exact feeling Of Frost
narrative. the unique movement when
is not that of prose nor that Ct tradi-
tional blank verse, even at its rougnest;
q metre without melody, verse that
neither walks nor trips, but seems 10
lope awkwardly like the simple farm
hands it pictures.
And again, the short rhymed coup
let Of Masefeld becomes In his hands
almost as plant an instrument as It
is in those Of the great poet him
self. varying from the blunt narrative
Of
He started up-when 10. behind him,
As though il sought to main and blind
him,
A savage pig sprang straight against
him.
At first Tom kicked and fought and
fenced him,
And then he fell.
! to the tender lyric quality Of
| One morning when the sun was high
And larks were cl -aving the blue sky,
/ Singing as though their hearts would
break
With Aprils keen and happy ache.
Indeed, Mr.. Untermeyer is so uni
formly successful in his borrowed
robes that one wonders il, like the man
in Henry James's story. he has, poeti-
cally speaking, any private life. II
must be a surprise TO anyone whose
first introduction 20 Mr. Untermeyer
is through his parodies 20 come upon
his other volumes and realize what a
virle and individual poet Louis Inter
meyer is. The more praise to him that
he has been able 10 disguise 80 marked
q personality behind these delightful
wells Of his own weaving.
Songs and Satires" seems 20 US a
rather ipfelicitous title. The songs
represent the most negligible potion Of
the book. being notable neither IN sub
ject-matter nor in technique. Mr. Mas
ters's art in versifcation Is not so
great that we need deplore the absence
of rhyme and meter from that portion
of his verse which is frankly enamel
pated. As for the satires, we feel in
clined TO cavil at the term. To read
them as such is TO mistake their par
ticular genre. In spite OF certain
satirical elements In his poetry, Mr.
Masters is not primarily a satirist. He
has irony and keen sense Of dramatic
within his grasp; but the temper and
methods Of the sstirist are not his.
Life may mock; Mr.. Masters seldom
does. lie analyses and portrays, he
evokes and combines, but usually in
spirit Of rather grim seriousness, not
with the lightly interpretative touch Of
philosophic humor that reveals facts
in their larger relations.
In the old. derivative sense Of satire
the ldHr Sdtura full dish we may,
indeed, accept the rich medley Of
scents and sights and sounds that is
offered in The Loop" Starting from
State Street Bridge. with its wharves
and warehouses, we follow the cine
photographic alterations Of squalor
and luxury through the wind-harried
Chicago streets. The details are not
unworthy of Hogarth:
Around the Loop the elevated crswls.
And giant shadows sink against the
walls,
Where ten 20 twenty stories strive TO
hold
The pale refraction Of the sunsets gold.
Slop underfoot, We pass beneath the
loop.
The crowd is uglier. poorer; there are
smells
As from the depths OF unsupported
bells.
And from a GROCERY where beer and
soup
Are sold for five cents TO the thieves
and buns
Here now are huge cartoons I'm red and
blue
Egyptian dancers, twined with mon
RI Nac
Before the door a turbaned 1.-THE
Hindoo.
A baFpipe shrilling, underneath den
OF opium, whence man with hand
that shakes,
Rolling a cigarette so palely comes.
The genius 20 evoke the spirit OF
place and the art Of psychological por-
traiture these seem 20 US Mr. Mas
ters's real forte. In "The Cooked Hat"
a former supporter Of Mr.. Bryan colo
quislly dissects his old chief. thus de-
scribiug him before and after his po-
litical vicissitudes:
"Do you remember how slim he was,
And trim he was.
With black hair and pale brow,
And the hawk-likc nose and flashing
eyes.
Not turning slowly like an owl
But with n sudden eagle motion 80
Lovers 81 the spoon River Anthol-
ogy' will be disappointed that It's sue
ccssOr does not contain n larger pro-
portion Of poems IN kindred vein, and