The New York herald., 1921-07-03
A parcel
of poetry

/ RIGHT ROYAL BY John Masefeld.
The Macmillan Company.
THE BIRDS AND OTHER POEMS. By
N J. c. Squire. George III. Doran COM
HIDE AND SEEK. BY Christopher
/ Morley. George H. Doran Company.
A HOUSE OF WORDS. By Clifford
Box Oxford Basil Blackwell.
AGNUS DEF. BY Nancy Campbell.
Illustrated by Joseph Campbell. Bos-
ton: The Four Seas Company.
/ THE SONNET. BY Mary J. O'Neilt.
/ NJ. l.. Fisher, Williamsport, Pa.
/ A PAGODA OF JEWELS. BY Moon
Kwan. Los Angeles: Joseph A.
PRECIPITATIONs. BY Evelyn Scott.
Nicholas l.. Brown
TN parcel of small packages the
! seeker will find seeds of the old
= harvest; a handful of books of
verse printed about the same time
contains real poetry in various keys.
Right Royal is John Masefields
celebration of steeplechase and is
bound to go on the shelf beside "Rey
nard the Fox" Fright Royal was
horse, and is the hero. The interest
is urged from the start and whipped
up to a foam at the end Narrative
poetry is seldom done so effectively as
by Mr. Masefeld; his physical energy
is translated into his lines. And his
sympathy for animals is gift which
is displayed to the greatest advantage
in such galloping verse as this.
"The Birds and Other Poems by
Mr. ]. c. Squire, is the first collection
of his distinctive verses seen here since
\ the Poems: First Series" of a year or
| two ago The title poem is possibly
reason enough for publishing the book,
and it is not fair to imply that the
rest of the volume is included only to
fill pages. Yet it is fair enough to say
that we should like more at time OF
Mr.. Squires poetry; the author Of
Rivers" cannot have found his strong
current actually falling, or even
clogged "The Birds" is pure Squire,
and as good as anything in his whole
record witness these lines offered to
the primeval line of winged creatures:
o delicate chain over all the ages
stretched, .
0 dumb tradition from what far dark
ness fetched
Each little architect. with its one design
| line,
Each little ministrant who knows one
thing,
One learned right to celebrate the spring.
! Whatever alters else on sea and shore.
These are unchanging man must still
explore.
The grimness of Winter Nightfall"
is offset by the fragrance Of "A Far
Place" 1t is not exactly clear why
Mr. Squire's personal and impersonal
poetry do not make exactly the best
mechanical mixture, but they do not.
Yet we are grateful for it. in apy cup
he sends.
Tn Hide and Seek" Mr.. Christopher
Morley gives us Of his always well
come verse good humored and pleas
antly un-puttified. AS the publisher
warns us. Mr. Morley's new manner"
is now upon us. The "Translations
From the Chinese" are bits of erudi
tion long needed by too self-satisfied
| Occident: the pelucid wisdom of No
Sho and P'ur Fish Is magnificently
perceived-and pretty well conveyed.
Nothing could be better worth remark
ing than the lines addressed to the
Browning Society of Shanghai:
BE cruel to poets and don't let them
You like their preposterous patterns in
ink;
For poets write better when not overfed
The time to praise poets is after they're
dead.
And the ultimate consolation shines
in the DENY Yourself" of Sal Wen;
we think when" should be said. to
most poets. much sooner than 1t is:
II you haven't any ideas
Don't worry.
You can get along without them.
Many of the incest people do.
"A House of Words" by Clifford
Box (Oxford: Basil BackwelD is a
slender bouquet. but Of fragrance and
beauty. In a friendly ascription to
"Bibliophile: r. L. H." we find both:
AZ you would leave the highway. and,
crossing covered meadows.
Rejoice to find a heamed and many
mulioned farm.
So ! rejoice. my dreamer, to hear your
silver English
Rin5 through the nickel speech or thls
uncourtly age.
In you. that laugh or labor as though
before your Intel
Elizabethan scholars any day might dis
mount,
How much forsaken wisdom, what un-
frequented poems,
Find one whose heart and brain are
quick TO love them still
death and the Dancers ca design
for a ballet') and THE Artist a grim
romance of medieval Florence, are full
of the ice and fire which are the ma
terial of human ecstasy. Among the
shorter verses which stick in the
memory. is:
FALERNIAN.
Passion strives up to some imagined
peak
To years OF bliss or one hours full de-
light
The love OF man for man
Aims at no topmost mark.
That bee-lixe ecstasy which once de-