Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-28
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the B0okI0per

The recent poems Of Edwin Arlington
Robinson have been called narrative
poems. but only to the searcher does
the narrative emerge. and even then 1t
seems Of slight importance in compari-
son with the depths Of character which
are revealed and the symbolism, which
seems the chief concern Of the poet.
In "Cavender's House" man who has
gloomy house which was the scene of
the murder and there imagines that
his wife returns also and that together
they 20 over the dissatisfactions and
grievances Of their life together, which
have led to the murder. Lavender him
self really carries on a dramatic dia-
logue, in which he speaks both for him
self and his wife, for he knows her
point of view, but because he is both
plaintiff and defendant. the question
which has tormented him. whether or
not his wife was unfaithful to him, is
never answered. In Mr.. Robinson's
poem of last year, THE Glory Of the
Nightingales," two men are bitter en-
ernies because both have loved the same
woman and she has married the better
man. whom she loved. But Nightingale,
in bitterness and hatred, wrecks the
lives of his former friend and his wife.
After the wife is dead the husband goes
to the isolated house Of Nightingale by
the sea to kill the man who has ruined
him But he finds that man helpless
invalid, at the last stage Of his life, and
the two have one Of those dramatic
dialogues in which the greatest subtlety
of Robinson has play. When the in
iured friend, a doctor, leaves Nightin-
gale. expecting to return, Nightingale
shoots himself. 1t is found that in ex-
piation he has left all his property to
the doctor for research in the interest
of humanity.
The recent poem of Edwin Arlington
Robinson, matthias at the Door," is
perhaps even more symbollcal than the
two already mentioned It is a narra-
tive poem only in the sense that there
are character and a thread of story;
the story is not the main interest.
The character emerge through long
monologues and dialogues. There are
four: Matthias, q complete egotlst,
a spiritual brother of Lavender and
Nightingale; Natalie. his wife; Tim
berlake, friend of Matthias, and Garth,
who appears only as a ghost, but has
been a friend of Matthias. Years be-
fore Matthias has saved Timberlake
from burning to death, and for this
reason Undertake has permitted Mat
thias to marry Natalie, whom he himself
loved and who loved him. When the
poem opens Matthias and Nathalie are
at home and Matthias sits looking over
his lands. especially down below him
into "wood-shadowed and forsaken
gorge" where there is cave with an
opening like door. In this cave
Garth has committed suicide. To
Matthias in his reveries Garth as
spirit returns to play the part OF men
tor to the egotiSt, really his conscience.
Matthias has been rejecting on his
own success and the faultlesSness OF his
so years; Garth implants In his mind
doubts about the perfection Of that
success. AS the spirit Of Garth dis
appears, Undertake in the flesh arrives,
IN the fle' but obviously i'll and nearing
death. Undertake and Nathalie meet
in the g.Ege and admit to each other
their love. Matthias spies upon them
and nurses his jealousy. Nathalie dis
covers that Matthias knows, and goes
to the cave and kills herself. Then
Tirnberlake dies at the house of Mat
thias. Matthias, craZed by the collapse
Of all his success and satisfaction,
goes to the door of the cave with intent
to follow the example of Garth and
Nathalie and kill himself there. But he
is met by Garth, who tells him that he
is not wanted in the realm of the dead,
that before he can die he must be
born again. Matthias turns back, hum
bled, to search for real birth Of per-
sonality through the shedding of his
egotism.
The door Of the cave, which is the
door to death should not be opened,
says Garth, to those who have not pre-
pared themselves for spiritual life
Txr.1r alta o.
spiritual degeneration, such as Mat
thias has. undergone. So Garth says
to Matthias:
Not yet. Matthias. No matter what
You are not coming. A way was found
for me
To meet you here and say you are not
coming.
You cannot die, Matthias, till you are
born.
You are down here too soon, and must
60 back.
Don't be annoyed, or be disquieted,
Or more than necessarily surprised
At any change. You will still be your
When you are born. There is no cure
fer self"
The last lines of the poem show the
purpose OF Matthias:
Cropping away, with his hands out be-
fore him,
And his feet going cautiously, Mat
thias.
Moved as q blind man moves, with
memory
Guiding him as it might, until he
found
An unseen place to rest. The night
was cold,
And in the darkness was a feel Of
DEATH
But in Matthias was a warmth of life,
Or birth, defending and sustaining him
With patience, and with an expectancy
That he had said would never in life
again
Be his to know. There were long
hours to wait,
And dark hours; and he met their
length and darkness
With a vast gratitude that humb,ed
him
And warmed him while he waited for
the dawn"
Alan Patrick Herbert, author of last
wears successful novel "The Water
Gipsies," has tried many vocations. He
served with the Royal Naval Division in
the Hawke Battalion from 1914 to 1917
and took part IN the Gallipoli campaign.
In 1918 he was admitted to the bar.
He has been private secretary to Sir
Leslie Scott, Kings Counsel ana mem
Der of Parliament. He has been a
member of the staff of Punch and
represented that magazine at the Third
Imperial Press Conference at Melbourne,
Australia. And, Of most Importance, he
has written many essays, plays and
novels His greatest propaganda interest
is to secure the freedom of the Thames
for pleasure boats. He writes frequent
letters to the London Times on the
subject. Usage assigns the lower reaches
of the Thames to the TRANSFORMATION of
timber and coal. To make his protests
dramatic he bought an old barge. built