The New York herald., 1922-07-30


judgment here. But, for illustra
ton, find it hard to imagine tn,
readers of fifty years from to-da,
going into ecstasies over most of the
writings of d. H. Lawrence, though
of course, can see the great excel.
lence of some elements in his work
But their vogue, I believe, is due t.
an accidental aptness to the uneasy
changeful spirit of the times, OF
which, nevertheless, it is not an ade-
quate expression.
The best made of such books as
those may fall into a secondary class
of near-literature: books that will
last as useful sidelights upon some
element of the life Of an era, much
as one reads, if one has to, certain
of the later medieval prose ro-
mances, or the very minor Eliza
bethans, TO get better idea of the
whole period. Some may survive,
after fashion, as horrible exam
pies" just as. at an opposite pole,
Sanford and Merton stands for
something definite in the life of our
ancestors. But who reads Sand
ford and Merton" to-day?
That leads to the ''hunch" herein
before mentioned. To be accepted
as literature l demand of book that
it shall have not only adequateness
of style, beauty of finish, a fine
manner, and not only a Convincing
truthfulness to human nature in its
essentials, the human nature of all
time, but also convincing truthful
ness to the specific incarnation of
that human nature in the precise
time and environments dealt with.
1t may have the first two and yet
soon cease to be very interesting to
the average reader, who will sense
something missing. The necessity of
the third element is one reason for
the usual failure of the historical
novel to hold its readers beyond the
moment. Scott sometimes managed
to have the third with the other two
somewhat lacking, but when he ex-
ercised all three together We get a
Quentin Durward," which is as
much of a best seller" to-day as
when it first appeared.
A good many of our better, really
clever writer's display the first and
third of these elements with an in
sufficient addition Of the second.
They pick out ephemeral, immaterial
things and pretend that they are
giving US a complete picture. That
is why they will not last. Any con-
firmed novel reader can think of a
score of such books-books that are
really good in their way but remain
of the moment. Contrast any one of
them with, for example, De Morgan's
Joe Vance" which is very much a
novel of a distinct period and is,
none the less, one of all time as well.
Naturally one thinks chiefly of
fiction in the form of novel and
short story to-day. But the same
tests apply to the drama (what there
fe. Of 70 -
poetry-also, what there is of it. The
poet, however, has a broader license
One might almost say that a truly
great poem may be built out of any
one of those three elements all alone.
Some verse has attained immortal
ity by sheer perfection of form: DoI
ct prdetered nihil-like some of the
Elizabethan lyrics, the thought of
which reduces to almost nothing il
you try to translate it into prose
But for the most part the enduring
poem must also have all three ele-
ments.
Harking back a bit, to apply this
test, venture to think that the rea-
son why 1.-The Vicar of Wakefield
is not genuinely palatable to the
youth of to-day is that 1t was toe
much of it's time and somewhat lack
ing in the second essential, of truth
fulness to basic human nature of all
aQac Tho human baipp iS not IN
consistent with himself; he changes
as he changes the fashion of his
clothes, of his religion, his politics
even his morals, but there remains