New-York tribune., 1922-06-11
Inne :

serted his wife and child and that they
were dependent upon charity in CHI
cago while he Is enjoying fame and
prosperity in New York. IL - true
enough that Mrs. Bodenhelm and their
child are dependent in a large measure
upon charity, but so Is Bodenheim. HIS
fame IS flicker doused nsfiduously
BY critics who do not like him as per
son and by people impatient with the
tenuous subtletit- ef his poetry. HIS
prosperity Is thsr of . panhnnd,cr
afflicted with scif-respect. A poem
here. an article there, accepted az
ratio o. one o fifty that he submits
these are his slender stakes against a
bed IN a tenement and infrequont board
a. the autcmat. There - noth-
ing. so FAR as I can see, that can be
done about H. Bodenheim and his vile
are two bewilGcTcd and Intellectual mis-
cts in society Of barter and trade.
and their child ~ pathetic eneum-
brAnee on pid doloysa that is unusu-
ally hazardous bOdcnhe.m has stood
Tor hours IN the serpentine lire Of ap-
plicants for manual labor. only 20 be
abruptly dismissed As undesirable after
one glance NJ his soft, pale hands. And
he IS unframed In the technique OF
clerical work or Office employment,
even II his linen would pass q negii-
gent inspection. There is nothing. in
short. that he can DO except write po-
etry and prose that will nst sell with
any rapidity or appreeiable profit. His
Wife is n stenographer, lemen,abiy out
- practice through care Of baby.
The one patron he has hsd lin a sSr-
l.. II -
propriately perhaps a nimble-fnEered
ssthete. now locked up IN Mnt;eowan,
who thieved as a ritual OF protest
against our economic scheme. d.
II you think this MReenas Of the al
ieyways, who stole only Injuries and
distributed the proceeds 70 the poor. is
unintelligent, do but glance at letter
from him printed in another column.
Nothing can be done shout him,
either; he Is segregated with the Grim
inally insane, and quite properly. for
his heresies are intolerAblc T. our So
cisl fabric Is 70 remain intact. lie
could gain release by plcdQnx his
honor 70 give UP theories which tho
pragmntic majority brands ss danger
ovs nonsense; but this qusin; creature
speaks Of an outmoded "spiTitual In
tegrity," and ther, is no arguing with
him. His own position IN the
matter Is that there is no difference
between bars 70 the mind ard bars 20
The flesh except that the latter are less
irksome," which IS certainly q doctrine
no sane man will support. Hc is iust
where he deserves 20 be. Mean
while Bodenhoim, In the absence OF his
patron. doesn't eat as regularly as he
ought 20.
Tonight read Robert Gravess ION
English Poetry" a fascinating collec.
tion Of informal jo,tinss and comments
on the technique and art Of a prAc-
icing poet. who subjects himself 20 n
frank analysis and tells us in 90 far
a. he is able Just how he came 70 write
certain verses. Nothing that ! have
read since Coleridge's dictA on the art
II poetry Is more informative or more
fruitful OF data about the technique OF
poetry.
also read "Hellenism and Christi
anity," by Edwyn Bevsn, a work dis
tinguished by dignity, intelligence
stylistic charm, and an smazing erudi-
uon. This book Is In Itself sufficient
refutation of the nationalist bluff he
refers 20. Of talking "As ~ no educated
person were a Christian, or could be a
ChristiHn.' Here is man OF intel
lectual curiosity, taste, culture. and a
knowledge Of the origins Of the prin-
eip.e myths and religions, man who
IS capable of contrasting Hellenic cui-
ture with Christianity 20 the disadvan-
tage % the latter, a scholar who takes
nothing on faith except his own con
victions arrived az after q relentless s
quest for truth. and yet who ndheres
20 or re-embraccs the Christian faith
os the Only inevitable one for the
world. "The Christian church hns SUI.
fered great changes in the last half
century. he writes but 70 has seen
around IL system after system arise
have its day Of vogue and pride. and
with strange rapidity sink into obsoics.
cence. Spencer and Haeekel, except for
tho less cultured classes, are gone:
Comtism Is a thing Of the past: prag.
rnatism IS already rieur jct. Nietzsch,
from q prophet has become an inter
cstng literary phenomenon: Bergs0n
while hardly as yet an old man, hai
experienced inevitable reaction TO the
vchemenoe Of his popular recidme
Whatever weaknesses the non Chris
tisn world may discover in Christian
ity. IL has so far not been able II
Europe % put forward any rivA
theory Of the universe Of equal permR
nence and power This Is true
and arguing from tho point OF view
that that which affects the greates'
number for what that greatest number
takes 70 be the greatest good. and con
fning ones attention only 20 Western
peoples, there is no refutAtion % bC
offered. Even for one who Is
not prepared 70 accept DR.. Bevan's con.
ciusions. the book is an extraordinarily
interesting study in comparative re.
iigions. The chapter on the various
conceptions OF the Redeemer before the
apparitiol of Jesus is so succinctly
presented that 10 covers the same
ground that Frazer and other scholars
take whole volumes 10 make clear
While reading that chapter an idea oc-
cured 20 me which seems so obvious
and plausible that I wondered why
had never encountered H. II 10 Is
unoriginal. that is because Of my igno
rance. and the study Of religions hal
been one of my interests. The idea Is
4 metaph, steal application Of we'll
known principle Of biology. We know
that nature produces by a series OF
evolutions that which is essential foi
the protection and preservation Of the
species The giraffe's neck. the pre-.
hcnsile tail. the toad's horns. and al
the strange. freakish sppcndages and
sppurtenances Of animate creatures
are evolutions through a need. Well
he idea Of a Softer or Rcdeemer has beer
feature OF nearly all religions, and
particularly before the birth OF th'
Christ. the faith and demand Of the
lsraclitish. Gnostic. and various Egyp-
tian and Hellenic cults was for some
one Of superior qualities and with :
hopeful message 20 lead people out Of
bondage and despair. ls not the ides
81 thr avrfVffou ~ Hodaemor under