Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-17

For the midway person, who is rad
| ical. but not too radical, who likes MS
| philosophy spiced with a bit of pro-
test, who prefers above all things In
| his reading certain fine now OF
words, we recommend the essays OF
Maurice Maeterlinck, once the rage
of the hour, still good for the quiet
moments of life.
when the queer little play. THE Blue
Bird" first came on the boards thou
sands of persons who had never heard
of the Belgian writer took up his es-
says. SO that they were printed and re-
printed many times.
There Is still a good business done
in the various volumes which contain
his somewhat cynical, somewhat mys-
tical writings on unrelated subjects
They will always appeal to readers of
a certain temperament.
We have tried to state briefly. in
the first paragraph above, just what
this temperament is. 1t is scarcely
possible that downright conceited
type will like THE Measure of the
Hours" or Wisdom and Destiny"
These are dreamers books. They
were written by a dreamer for other
dreamers and it is to this type OF
human being that their appeal Is
perennial. The so-called business man
SELDOM IeHCS MdeGeEIlnCk. JtlSt dS nc
seldom reads Walt Whitman.
It is a curious diversion to trace the
resemblance between these two poets
one Belgian. the other American: one
writing in impeccable French, the other
in rough Americanese: one confining
himself to sophisticated plays and well
tuned essays. the other nventing q
crude meter for poems.
Whitman wrote for the masses, and
the masses refuse him. He gave his
love-" as he called it. to the rough
ones OF earth, the cab drivers, the
sailors. the soldiers. and these do not
even know his name.
His virility made and makes its i'm
press upon men everywhere, of what
ever nation, who are almost the direct
antithesis of the types named. The
refined man of culture invariably ad-
mires the rugged honesty in phrase and
thought o. old Walt.
- ~
Also as inevitably he reads and likes
Maeterlinck's essays, because the latter
dovetail perfectly with the mystical and
poeticsl quality which he finds in
Whitman. Both of these writer's seek
to explain life.
Did you ever stop to think how many
authors, Of all ages and nations are
making any effort 10 explain it?
The books which make up our Bible
get part of their magic appeal-and ii
is that--from the very fact that they
60 out of their way to explain the
mystery of life, to interpret why we
are here and what we are here for and
what is likely to happen to us when
we leave here.
The here" weighs heavily upon the
writings known as the Bible. No one
writer in that great collection is salts
fed with the world or with its mani
fest shortcomings. All look forward, In
one form or other, to q promised land.
where the tears and injusticeS which
shock the senses of q just man shall
be wiped away, and wherein the crime
Of combat will give place to the spec
tacle Of the lion and the lamb lying
down together.
Maurice Maeterlinck, in his sophisti-
Gated manner, attempts to give expla-
nations of life, as far as he can see
the way. His light may not be enough
to suit the orthodox, nor yet scorching
enough to satisfy the uuorthodox
But for the midway person, as We
have stated. he perfectly fills the bill,
not for everyday reading 1t is true,
but for those rare moments. even in q
dreamer's life. when one demands some
thing exquisite.
A piece of writing, to be exquisite,