Evening star., 1938-01-23

Washington. the capital of a ma
ton which has a population of l30,-
100000. finds it difficult to support
even week Of grand opera a winter.
notwithstanding it has a large and
rich winter transient population, while
iatvia has a national opera which
is under the Ministry of Education
It is subsidized by the state
kaktlns, the baritone, and Stengel, the
contralto. two of the national opera s
leading singers, are known through
out Europe. where they sing in many
OF the capitals. 1t is said the great
Chaliapin loved to sing with the
choral singers of the company. Com
parsons are not always odious for
they lead to advancement and pro-
mote competition, and 1t seems
strange that America has not ma
tional opera, nor national theater,
while the small northernmost re-
public has with population Of less
than 100000, both. and national
ballet. All within reach Of the people
Of all classes and largely patronized.
The Rapid Growth
of Latvian Literature.
Less than hundred years ago there
was not even the rudlments of lit
erature committed to writing in the
Iatvlan tongue. 1t was as late as
1856 that there was issued collection
OF lyrics by Juris Alunans, which
seemed to awaken in the people a
longing for the legends. the folk songs
and the spirit of romance that had so
long rested dormant. And so this
little book of lyrics, The Tricolour
Sun" which is charming was result
of that earlier effort which now and
then Jagged but which burst afresh
With the independence of Latvia in
1918 The present volume came from
the Cambridge Press in 1896, trans
lated into English most sympathet-
!cally by Mr.. William K. Matthews. a
lecturer at the University of Latvia.
It takes its name from some lines of
poem by Janis Plieksana, whose
pseudonym, RAINS" is known best
in both Europe and America:
And the tricolour sun shall once cir
Gle again
Blue. green and red-for dovntrodden
men"
In this volume of less than 200
pages. so easy to hold, beautifully
printed. easy to read, many of the
poems have lifting air like the saucy
notes OF a Kentucky cardinal:
Through the woods red spark elim-
mers
As a swarthy chal comes swinging;
N his wake youngster follows.
And the trees stoop to his singing"
Some OF the lyrics have the sunshine
and poetry Of the glamorous harvest
time OF the year when the fruits of the
earth are being garnered in by the
youths and msldens. dressed in their
colorful native costumes, and:
"All the forest leaves are sleeping:
Through the night steals silver
laughter;
Stars walk in the fields OF heaven,
And the moon is walking after"
-. And castinets were cracking, in
o red Whlrl of delight" Could word
picture be more lovely?
These last lines-"the castinets"-
are from poem by Mikelis Walters,
VINO was Latvia's first minister of in
teflor and successfully his country's
Minister to Rome, Paris and Warsaw,
~ . writer he is known by his pen
name. Andrejs Paparde. Mr.. Matthews
speaks OF his verse as "modulated free
fhythms, and compares it to the
manner Of the Japanese tankas. To
many there would seem something I'M
gcanny about It's tmpressionism as
m example:
Through summer darkness,
Burning with roses,
The night birds singing floats.
In white face
: A smile flutters-
Counted and weighed in scales
My days OF affection"
There is a haunting memory in Mr.
Walters lines. as in some of the lighter
poems of the Latvian poets. A note of
sadness, OF introspection, of the dregs
OF long-suffering heroism of people
Under the yoke Of an alien nation for
some 200 years. Even in gayer mo-
ments there fit across the picture like
. winged shadow memories of the I'M
happy days. Perhaps another reason
3or this is that several OF the more