New-York tribune., 1922-12-22
The Lantern
o., Nts Toft nlblls Ice. 10

0old OF literature. IL II one OF
those classics-and we are not using
the word loosely or without thlnk-
inc about n. for this litue book Do
came a classic the moment ~ "I1
born-which escape cntaloguingi ~
isn't a novel; II isn't an essay; u
is like itself and Il Is like nothing
olse that we have seen. IL mas
noetrv and humor, fantasy and
Golden nonsense, real wisdom and 3
touch Of mysticism an az
most bewildering blend OF qualities,
but the qualities are blended oy on
srtist who has served his appren-
ticeShip and mastered his craft. Mr..
Morley has done many good things
nreyiously. but he has never done
ANYTHING as good as this before.
And n he had never done anything
else, this quaint and original volume
Is In itself enough 70 make a last
ing reputation.
Here arc a few. quotations, picked
"Timc, he said, Is life; and life Is
God. Time. then, is little bits OF
God. Those who waste their time
in vulgarity or folly are the true
atheists"
And here is something about New
@There is q city so tall that even
/ the sky above her seems 20 have
/ lifted in cautious remove, incon-
/ eeiyably far. There is a city SO
proud, so mad, so beautiful and
young that even heaven has re-
I treated, lest her placid purity be
too nearly tempted by that brave
I tragic spell. In the city which Is
maddest of all. Gissing had come 70
search for sanity. In the city 80
strangely beautiful that che has
made even poets silent, he had come
10 find a voice. In the city OF
glorious ostent and vanity he had
come 20 look for humility and peace.
"All cities arc mad; but the mad
ness is gallant. All cities arc beat
I tiful; but the beauty Is grim. VINO
shall tell me the truth about this
one? Tragic? Even so, because
wherever ambitions, vanities and
follies arc multiplied by millionfold
contact, calamity is there. Noble
and beautiful? Aye, for even folly
may have the majesty Of magni-
/ tude. Hasty, cruel, shallow!
Agreed, but where In this terrene
orb will you find it otherwise2 /
know all that can be said against
her; and yet in her great library
Of streets, vast and various as
Shakespeare, is beauty enough for
lifetime. o poets, why have you
been 50 faint? Because she seems
cynical and Grass. she cries with
tfumpet-call 10 the mind OF the
dreamer; because she is riant and
mad she speaks TO the grave sanity
Of the poet"
And here is a poem Of early
morning:
This was his placid hour. Light,
so early, lies timidly along the
ground. Il steals gently from ridge
to ridge; IL is soft, insure. That
blue dimness, receding from bole 70
bole, Is the skirt Of Nights gar
mept, trailing of toward some other
star. As easily as it slips from tree
10 tree, II glides from earth 10
Orion.
Light, which later will riot and
revel and strike pitilessly down,
still Is tender and tentative. IL
sweeps in rosy seythe-strokes, paral-
lei 20 earth. It gilds, where later
it will burn"
And here is something about a
moving ship at sea;
"How alive she seemed, how full
Of personality The strong fun
nels, the tall masts that moved so
delicately against the pale open sky,
the distant stern that now dipped
low in a comfortable hollow, and
now scared and threshed onward
with a swimming thrust, the whole
vital organism spoke to the eye and
the imagination. In the center Of
this vast circle she moved royal
and serene. She was more beauti-
ful than the element she rode on,
for perhaps there was something
meaningless in that pure vacant
round Of sea and sky. Once its I'M
mense azure was grasped and noted
il brought nothing 20 the mind.
Reason was indignant 20 conceive
it sloping endlessly away"
Incidentally, the chapter where the
hero Of the tale, not having had any
previous nautical experience. takes COM
plete charge Of the navigation OF mod
eIn gigantic ocean liner, Is one Of the
most delicious bits In print.
Further quotations.;
"Most minds, undoubtedly, we're IN
easy In high places. They doubted
/ their ability 20 refrain trom jumping
OF. How many bones OF hne intel
leets J. y whitening at the foot Of the
theological elifp
Look here: II the more you know,
the less you know about God, doesn't
that mean that God Is really enjoyed
only By the completely slmple-by
faith, never by reasonl'
"But you can't thiNl things out.
They. think themselves, suddenly,
amazingly"
d