New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-07-18

lay bare their weaknesses in their
prefaces.
In his "New Poems" (Huebsch) Mr..
Lawrence explains that his mission is
to set down "the seething poetry Of
the incarnate Now" "Do not ask" he
begs, "for the qualities of the UNI
fading, timeless gems. Ask for the
Wilderness which is the seethe of mud,
ask for that incipient putrescence
which is the skies falling, ask for the
never-pausing, never-ceasing life it,
self" He desires to grasp "the quick
of Time" which cannot be expressed
perfectly. The past and the future
may be crystallized; the present can
not be put in a gemlike mold. Free
verse, he urges, is the logical medium
for expressing the present, although
his New Poems" are for the most part
IN irregular rhymed stanzas
One of our ablest critics has spoken
Of the "lvric emotionalsm" of Mr..
Lawrence, yet we think that this de-
scription is too supplementary. He
has fine, somber lyrical gifts ard nc
is predominantly emotional, but the
lyricism and the emotionalism do not
form perfect whole. A feeling that
amounts almost to a carnal obsession
injects a prosy note into his lyrics
His most personal lyrics are over
wrought sometimes to the point of
absurdity, although they are always
sincere. But in such poems as Clyde
Park at Night, Before the War;" 1.-TWO
Wives" and "Embankment at Night,
Before the War;" Che graphic quail
ties that have brought him distinction
IS a novelist combine with his innate
iyrlcism to make notable verse. We
suspect that at bottom Mr.. Lawrence
IS a sentimentalist, and he INDUCES
In "Piano' he even is overcome by
Gong taking me back down the vista
OF years" until 81 weep like a child
for the past"
1t is difficult and unfair to quote
Mr.. Lawrence in snatches, for his
poems are uneven throughout. His
singing propensities may be illustrated
by "Flapper," which, although it is
not one of his most characteristic eff
forts, will serve to show the mold of
his work:
Love has crept out Of her sealed heart
As neld bee black and amber
Breaks from the winter to Chamber
.. he hn pt,a
start.
And CLINT Of coored iris brings
Such as lies along the folded wings
OF the bee before he files.
Who. with a ruffling, careful breath,
Has opened the wings Of the wild young
Has Auttercd her spirit to stumbling
night
In her eyes. as young bee stumbleth?
Love makes the burden of her voice.
The hum OF his heavy, staggering wings
Sets quvering with wisdom the common
things
That she says, and her words rejoice.
There are rhymes that offend even
cailous car in Mr.. Lawrcnce's verses,
and ugly, Earring passages that cannot
but he is making a brave attempt to
capture something that few poets have
been able to pin to paper.
Mrs. Wilkinson, in "Bluestone" MAC
is interested chiefly in rhythms.
Her introduction even offers musical
prescriptions of her cadences. The
tunes that she presents are not very
interesting; some of them are quite
banal, nor are most of her rhythms
uncommon in music. We must point
out also that the rhythm of a poem is
not definite entity, like the rhythm
of musical composition. Heine's "Du
Bist VIE Fine Blume" has had more
than a hundred musical settings. and
few of them have displayed the same
conception of the basic rhythm of the
poem-and probably none of them CO.
incides with the poets idea of the
rhythm. To the reader who likes to
find his own music in the poets words
Mrs. Wilkinson's preface is almost an
obstacle
However, the poems themselves arc
all we'll made, tuneful verses which
sometimes approach heights of beauty.
Most poignant are "Song of An Empty
House," from which we quote "For the
Child That Never VAS"
0 little hands that never were
with apple petaled beauty made
You mlght have held me close to Joy
Whence I have strayed.
o little feet that never were
Fashioned for tripping melody
Your gladness might have kept me brave
On Calvary.
o little lips that would have drawn
White love to feed YOU from nv breast
You would have been my love, itself,
Made manifest.
" Chlld OF mine--you never were
No throes have thrilled me to rejoice.
You would have been my conquering soul
My singing voice
The ultimate weakness in Mrs. Wiki
inson's verse is lack of harmony.
Rhythm is there and melody, but she
fails to strike the deep, rich chords