Evening star., 1932-11-06

Sappho And the authorities took a hand
Sappho was banished to Sicily. Then the
church took a hand. The writings of the great
est lyrist were burned, just bit here and
there escaping the fire. These bits gathered
to fit the purpose of Mr.. Weigal in perpetual
ing genius despite the stains that obscured it
now and then without any permanent blemish
to it. The importance Of Sappho outside her
gift to poetry, stands clear here in this au-
thors circumstantial record of the events of
Lesbos in its relation to nearby lands. An ac-
tive and fearless woman who, for the larger
part of this study, looks quite like the modern
feminist But when, at S. Sappho fell pas
sonately in love with lad and killed herself
at loves unrequital-why, then. great poet or
not, Sappho proved herself of the full femi-
nine stripe.
However for breadth of view for details of
documented fact. and for vivid and dramatic
effect the story a whole is of engrossing
interest. 1t is, moreover, clarifying chronicle
calculated to bring from obscurity into light
1000 years of innuendo and sur drawn. chiefly,
as is SO common, from the rolled imagination of
the public rather than from the essential de-
pravity of the victim. Whatever the sin, If there
were sin; whatever the fault, If fault there We're
it is good to remember, first, that here is
woman who by way of 600 lines of song has
survived destruction at the hands of Zealots in
their own line, and stands today as the great
lyrist, the supreme lyric poet of the ages
competent and fascinating historian to sit
down with, Arthur Weigal One who never
disappoints One toward whose companionship
multitudes Of serious readers look forward as to
almost no other one.
THE BURIED ROSE BY Sydney L. Nyburg
New York Alfred A. Knopf.
TOLD over and over again by fathers and
mothers of generation to children Of
the next, these tales have crystallized into
legends about old Baltimore and its environs.
To them Mr. Nyburg has rendered high service.
in that, turning them to the permanency of
print, they now become fixed record and
most likely incentive to the youth of Balti-
more toward finer appreciation Of that his
toric city, toward deeper interest in both
its present and its future
Yet while gathering these desirable effects
from the rich past of that beautiful city OF
Maryland. must remember that these are,
after all. legends. Far from literal truth there
fore. But, despite this regrettable fact. the
legends are so impregnated with the real atrlos-
pheres of that early day, so ripe with the
manners and customs Of a well-nigh forgotten
Maryland. as to give to legend" living sig
nificance and revealing restoration. The
author is a most unusual story teller Know
ing that his tales are without actual founda-
ton. he nevertheless senses their relation to
the vague foundations Of fact that originated
them, This relationship he holds fast to- This,
lie emDeliSneS III proper COlOTS tIldl glow anu
warm. This he links to certain facts OF event
and outlook and action animating the whole
with the charm Of "the story" upon whose
thin substance many of the important reali-
ties of life depend for acceptance and dis
semination.
A charming book. Certainly that for readers
down this way. Marylanders and Virginians.
Equally delightful too, take it, for all readers
who like the back trails Of historic event. trails
that reach finally clear beyond the borders of
strict truth, as they go, wandering here and
there, of into the regions Of imagination where
fancy dresses up naked truth in garments of
plain decorum, and better yet, in the shining
rament Of jade and sapphire, Of gold and
silver, all misty in their veilings of gauzy near
truth. A beautiful book for anybody to hold,
Baltimorean one from any other where.
WINE WITH A STRANGER. BY Louise Red
field Peattie, author Of Pans Parish New
York: The Century Co.
\ lot so long ago, maybe year Louise Red
field Peattie gave US Pans Parish
lyric tale drawn straight from Southern France,
one Of the many and wide domains of Pan him
self.
And here she has done it again Not the
same story, of course not. But into another
series of episodes quite close, In situation to the
Parish" Of that pastoral god she has distilled
the essence of his spirit, the beauty Of his min
istrations to the hearts of those who feel his
nearness and his power.
And this was the way OF It, Just two men.
vagabond and priest. The vagrant was an
artist. An open-handed fellow, who, meeting
the priest, shared with him bottle of wine.
Just a casual and characteristic touch on the
part of this man of the open road. But out of
it, many times happens grew acquaintance
and then friendship. And they, time after
tifne, met and talked, the face of the young
priest became a revelation of his deeper life. of
hope deferred of visions obscured of abnega-
tions unrecognized and unrequted, of all the
miseries of all the world unnoticed, somehow,
by One who counts the very sparrows as they