Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-11
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
l. C. NJ.

the Modern Library confines its issues
to books that are permanently new.
"The Dance of Life" is not philos-
ophy, so Havelock Ellis says. Edging
that way, maybe. A definite approach
possibly Good for the majority of
particular domain of thought. For
sphilosophy" is repelling word Its
content. not so much of hostile cast as
that it has no meaning at all to the
average. Even to the student degree
ahead of the mere reader this subject
offers neither proof nor program. TO
be sure, he speaks-aS we all do-of
my philosophy of this or that" but 1t
is at best a catch-phrase without SUD-
stance. Like us, this one has accepted
the familiar formula, philosophy is
love of wisdom" an agreement that I'M
mediately throws into a wide-open dis
putatious world host of diverse views
on the essence of wisdom"
So, by and large, philosophy accrues
to a budget of names, rotation OF
sounds, gathered pretty much at ran
dom-Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, and SO
on through Germany, France, England
and America, names and names and
names. Not even the clear service Of
Will Durant has done much more than
to set the house of philosophy In oruer
for the encouragement and invitation OF
curious students, eager to come to some
understanding Of the most bewildering
of all phenomena, life In its nature and
in its destiny.
X X X X
Havelock Ellis may not be a philos-
opher. Though it is fairly certain that
the craft would claim him as such and
that the suspicion of the majority
Id hi IN
However, he is beyond any doubt at all
an artist an artist in life, in the su-
preme business of human existence. In
his habit of mind scientist as well as
an artist. Perhaps these two at their
highest and best are always one How
ever, this man-artiSt or scientist-in
thinking about human bchaviors is
given to synthesis, to gathering a null
titude of superficial differences into a
handful of essential kinships. Just this
way does the man Of science work, dis
closing unity in vast bodies of seemingly
diverse elements, producing order, SIM
plicity, clarity, revelation. And, Just so,
too, does the artist work.
Deeply impressed with the interrela-
tons and cadenced reactions Of all
parts of the universe, expressing itself
grandly in the swinging rotation Of the
spheres, expressing itself Familiarity as
well in the wavelike surge Of the sea-
sons, of day and night, of life and death
and their counterpartS of waking and
sleep-indeed in every conceivable phase
of life-Havelock Ellis gathers the world
itself UP in his own mind as a stupen-
dous work of art. AS a whole and in
each of its parts here are cadence, pro-
portion, balance, harmony, beauty and
power--all in tune with some infinite,
unfathomab1e in its inspiration, mex
haustible in its resources of expression.
1t is through some such conception as
this-greatly deepened and widened, to
be sure-that Havelock Ellis came to
examine human life in some of its COM
mon manifestations as Of the pure es-
sence of art itself.
Dancing, thinking, writing, religion,
morals-each an art, all subject to the
common laws of art. Each potent and
productive as it. in sincerity and tire
less effort, bends itself to the lawful
spirit, the demanding spirit which must
ever be the master in creative work. In
the development of these themes, all
illustrative Of. human activity as art it
self, Mr.. Ellis moves, gradually, out
from the logic of his thesis into many
points of practical usefulness in the
achievement Of proper conception Of
his own point of view and in seizure
OI ways anu HICdLlo 4Ok JCobA1lS anu
making use OF this.
Dancing and building" he says in
the leading chapter, ARE the two pri-
mary and special arts. The art of dane
ing stands at the source of all the arts
that express themselves first in the
human person. The art of building, or
architecture, is the beginning of all the
arts that lie outside the person, and in
the end they. unite. Music. acting
poetry, proceed in one mighty stream
sculpture, painting. all the arts of de-
sign, in the other. There is no primary
art outside these two arts, for their
and dancing came first" THAT Is why
dancing has a profound and eternal
attraction"-but read this for yourself.
1t is fascinating, profound, convincing,
Since time crowds, let us skip "the
art of thinking and move over to the
art of writing, since there Mr.. Ellis has
a few very definite things to say. Not
vital things in the discussion as whole,
but of good point, since they have been,
and still are, questions of dispute to
many. / feel like apologizing here,
since the discussion Of writing is so very
basic, so very Illuminating, so much
worth the while of any one who needs
inspiration. Bullet it go for the mo-
ment and come down to that very peSky
matter of the split inflinitive" and the
use of IT" or "me," as the quarrel runs
in certain connections. In respect to
that inflnitive, Mr.. Ellis tells us that the
common dogma in respect to the in
violable infinitive rests upon the false
analogy with Latin Elm which the in
f1nitive Is never split for the very good
reason that it is impossible to split"
Again the solemn warning against end
CGnfnHna q Tow
out utterly by way of the finest litera-
ture that has, so far, bsen written,
where this practice is common enough
to secure the clarity and strength re-
quired. Again, 1T is T. or 1T is me"
Without question, in practice and by
the example of the French "C'est moi"
me" has nominative use as well as an
accusative. For practical effect, today
and tomorrow, you would better read
right along here, since you will by so
doing secure at least another point of
view from the one to which YOU and I
have so long paid heed. I wish Mr..
Ellis had talked to us about that pes
tiferouS habit of so many writers-best
sellers at that-who go off something
like this: II should have liked to have
told him"-there are literally thousands
OF changes to be run upon this clearly
incorrect and awkward usage. He might
nave mentioned, too. that "I do feel
bad" sometimes where I positively do
not feel badly'-nor do you, nor does
anybody else, not in the sense intended
here. However, this is a departure, a
rank departure of hand-to-mouth char
acter, from the fine vision, the high
purpose, the revelation, in fact, of the
sum and substance of 1.-THE Dance of
Life" which is in the line of a rare
opportunity to reach the mind of a
profound thinker and a most inspiring
X \
FIREHEAD. Lola Ridge. Payson g.
Clarke.
A narrative poem of the Cruciixion,