Evening Star Newspaper, March 30, 1930, Page 104

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 30, BYRON. By Andre Maurois, author of “Disraeli: A Picture of the Victorian Age,” etc. Trans- iated from the French by Hamish Miles. New York: D. Appleton & Co. ANY who have never read a line of Byron's poetry pass judgment upon its vicious influence and cast aspersions upon its technic., Many who have no! a single au- thentic fact upon Byron himself hustle him away among the condemned, simply because some one said that some one else said—and an old rumor is brought out and reshaken for pos- sibly another morsel of scandal to roll upon the tongue and savor within the mouth. And no- body really loses in this engagement, save the one who allows himself to take into his system .ghe poisons of suspicion and evil report. Cer- tainly it cannot harm Byron. Instead, only the one who holds himself away from genius and from art. M. Maurois has the hope that this review of the life of the poet will send readers to Byron for the treasure which he holds for them. Into the study has gone all that was al- ready known of the poet, and much besides that has come to light through the opening up of new facts, of new situations. To this material the author has given the same sort of treat- ment that he so competently gave to Shelley, to Disraeli, a treatment whose effect is re-embod:- ment rather than mere portrayal. One signifi- cant, and interesting, purpose of the Maurois study is to trace the evolution of Byron—from a young man of Puritan heritage, a chivalrous, affectionate youth, to an ultimate cynic, his hand against every man, his suspicions keen against disinterested friendship, against sincere homage. A genius certainly—but a man of vanity, of passionate moods, an impossible man. And that which this. biographer sets out to prove is that, despite this unfortunate develon- ment, that despite these forbidding externals, there was deep within him still the fine up- standing boy, Lord Byron. His point of conten- tion, and proof, is that the last Byron was in reality the first Byron. The errancy in appear- ance was due, according to Maurois, to a deep psychological conflict, whose nature is of vital importance to every man, whose depth is a revelation of the dangers that beset all human feelings and thinkings. This is the great pur- pose of the work in hand. To achieve the end desired it was important that the author delve into all the realities of Byron’s life. And so out of these delvings there come facts fair and not so fair. All are not only useful, but of the highest importance, as well. And so we read of loves, lawful and unlawful, of children born in wedlock and out of it, of wild doings in almost every direction. But—it is to remember that here is a passionate nature to start with, a sensi- tive instrument of amazing delicacy of response. And here is—this for us to realize and make use of—here is commanding genius whose creations are for the use of all men, inspiring creations, which we have no business to reject for no better reason than that we were born Puritans. We are not responsible for that. any more than Byron was responsible for his lincage, but we can get over it ii we try. At any rate, here is a rich and colorful life—wrong abou: as often as right—but a life of high achieve- ment, not only in poetry but in politics as well, in an unselfish dedication of himself to the cause of a distressed people. A great story told greatly. “I should be happy if this book”— Maurois talking—“were fortunate enough to send back to Byron's work some of the readers, both English and French, who pass stern judg- - ment upon them without knowng them.” And he is ‘bound to be “happy” from exactly this cause, for, certainly, nothing less than a re- birth, or a new birth of readers, is bound to -follow upon this authentic and absorbing story of a great English genius at the hands of a great French biographer. |2 STEPHAN ESCOTT. By Ludwig Lewishon, author of “The Island Within,” etc. New York: Harper & Bros. MARRIAGE under the microscope. Three slides side by side. Upon each a little blob of matrimony, a “specimen” suggesting a cell of the human body, complex in structure, pointed in purpose, certain in effect. Slide one discloses marriage of the familiar conventional pattern. Slide two marks a deviation from that norm, a modification to meet changed attitudes toward it. Slide three shows a distinct departure, one rooted in different racial outlook and tradition in respect to the family iunstitution. From one to another of these ex- amples the investigator moves, ad- Justing the Ilenses, fidgeting the specimens into clearer exposure, studying appearances, noting rela- tionships within each case, interpret- ing reactions—in a word, behaving like any other scientist in pursuit of a microbe. Three stories issue from the re- search. First, that of the union of Stephen and Dorothy, scarcely emerged from the school room and wedded in an adolescent fervor of attraction, ignorant of life, of the world, of themselves. Next, the mat- ing of Paul and Janet—artists of the earlier Greenwich Village type, emancipated pair, dedicated to per- sonal freedom and individual inde- peadence. Finally, David and Ruth, Jewish in blood, therefore trained toward marriage as definitely as they are disciplined to religious ritual. These three romances run along parallel to one another, illuminating and interpreting the big theme upon which they are, individually, pointed. A tragic business in the main, With one there i, the sudden pierc- B S 1930. Andre Maurois Writes of the Poet Byron. . Ludwig Lewisohn Delves Into Family Life—Other Spring Novels. ing tragedy of crime itself. With another, it is the tragedy of boredom, of weariness in daily repetition—the dull commonplace that is “relieved only by deeper stresses of irritation over hopeless misunderstandings about nothing at all. It is the crime that provides motive power for the greater part of the action. Crim- inal prosecution is the chief engagement here. But that is not greatly important. Indeed, nothing is important here save the terrible frankness of the author, save the persuasive power of him as a writer, the genius of the man as a medium of communication, Because that first example of marriage is the one with which the majority is best acquainted it is by this that Mr. Lewisohn will be judged in respect to the other two. At this point the reader goes along with the writer, eollaborating so to speak, accepting the facts, nodding as- sent to all the familiar way marks. It is only when he comes to speaking out, as he does speak out so ruthlessly, that the reader turns tail and runs away. If there is anything that the married pair—the ones we know—has ever thought deep within, covering it instantly from the party of the second part, why, here it is. The most outspoken man in the world, I'm sure. Well, read it. See for yourself. As a relief, then read the story of David and Ruth, who have been trained for generations to be- have toward marriage as toward any other vital part of human life—with reason, with fair mind, with disciplined expectations, with sanity of acceptance and behavior. Special pleading, this third case? Maybe so—but, what of it! Honesty, fearlessness, frankness, sub- stantial fact and a surpassing use of the ma- terials of literary artistry—these are the ele- ments that unite here in a work of clear dis- tinction, of absorbing substance. The shock of the story comes from the fact that Ludwig Lewisohn has been honest enough to deal open- ly with a subject upon which there is a world- wide conspiracy of concealment—but why, why should there be! ' EMILY DICKENSON: The Human Background of her Poetry. By Josephine Pollitt. New York: Harper & Bros. JUs’r about 75 years ago now there came to Washington, came to the old Willard Hotel of that day, a young New England girl to visit her father, Representative from Massachusetts, A momentous visit for another reason than that of coming to the National Capital for the first time. It was here that Emily Dickenson met the man, a young Army officer, who had so deep an influence upon her life. It was this meeting, some say, that accounts for the long seclusion in which Emily Dickenson subse- quently lived and accounts, indeed, for the character and quality of her later poetry. Not unrequited affection became the spur to genius. Pre-engaged affection, instead, for this young officer already possessed a wife, the gifted Helen Hunt who after the death of Maj. Hunt be- came Helen Hunt Jackson, author of romances of Californiz, where she went to live. However, it is Emily Dickenson with whom this very interesting record is concerned. Within a few years the poetry of this Amherst girl has come into a large share of attention, of criti- cal appraisal, of high appreciation and glad acceptance. Limpid and in a measure aloof, the cool crystal of Emily Dickenson’s verse shows deep within it, now and then, a warm surge of passion, a remembrance more bhodily and vital than even a poet’s imaginings could evolve from nothing at all. Studying her poetry, some said, “Most of the time it lacks body, too much oversoul. Now, if she had only let herself go as did, then we should have had ¢ surpassing American poet, a woman at that.” It begins to iock as if she did let herself go further than was dreamed by friends of this spirit of a girl. The whole story is here, the story of Emily Dickenson, in her life at Amherst, as a girl, as a woman, as a creative artist. Of great value, this book, since it does give substance and credibility to one who has too long lingered among the shadows of an elusive, unreal existence. An admirable work that in an unusual degree fits the purpose for which it was designed. A woman tells this story, and tells it as a highly intelligent and competent woman would tell it—does tell it. SLOWBAGS AND ARETHUSA: A Romance, By Adrian Alington. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. AROOM’onoelnnwhile, or a person now and then, carries a subtle fragrance, a sweet elusive thing, yet so much a part of the room, of the person, that mere mention of the name brings back unfailingly a dear reminding redolence. Like this to me is “Slowbags and Arethusa.” I hope it will be like this to you. Alexander Slow is his true name. ‘“Slowbags” is the christening of schoolmates, for the reason, or the no reason, that serves this ancient and honorable tribe as motive. From little boyhood to marriage the romance runs. Sounds a bit too regular to be engaging. It is not regular and it is deeply engaging. The little boy—best of all. School days—oh, so 50, as most school days are. War days—tremendous, vivid, ghastly, in a completely unpretentious recording. A schoolmaster himself, finally. However, this romance is occupied chiefly with vacation, It would have to be in order to deliver the romance promised. Then, away off in an out-of-the-way scrap of a country—Albania maybe—the meet- ing with Arethusa comes to fill in brimming measure the passion of Alexander. Such, in sketchy outlook, is “Slowbags and Arethusa.” It is the delicacy of touch, the sensitiveness of insight, the sympathy of comprehension, the gentle humor, the poetry of word and sentence and full story—all of these come together in an inspired partnership to bring Alexander straight to your heart. That, however, is accomplished even while Alexander is still a little boy, playing that he is Robin Hood, that astonishing hero of his picture book. A good child—his father the vicar—who in church on a Sunday heard something about one Ponchers Pilot, the very man, by the sound of him, to go along with Robin Hood, which thereafter he un- V. & failingly did when /// great business was on foot. The joy The book a million people ba_ve waited for! in this child is that he is so completely himself, No stooping by the author to get down to him, in the way of stupid people who try to write clever books about children.. There they are together, looking straight across, changing places with Robin and Ponchers in the easiest and most natural way imaginable. And so it is throughout. Alexander Slow stays just that way—slow but adorable. In school, in war, it is the same. And in love it came rather dangerously near being that way also. Privately Arethusa saw Alexander Slow, smiling in- dulgently. Then, upon a night of real peril, the fellow became Robin Hood, or was it Pon- chers Pilot? At any rate, he bacame a hero of quiet bearing, but really deadly all the same. Oh, a beautiful story! Let us hope that Adrian Alington does it again and as soon as may be. TWO PRIZE PLAYS: And Four Others. By Evelyn Emig Mellon. Boston: Walter H. Baker To. IN 8 sense these are all prize plays. For all of them have received stage recognition or its equivalent. One was professionally proe duced and broadcast from New York—a de= lightful bit of social satire. “The Old Order” is a prize play from George Washington Univer- sity, and “Mother and Son” won out also at the Hollywood Community Theater. Entirely modern in treatment, these dramas. Each is a one-act play, a fact not only calculated to meet a definite need in stage work, but a dramatic treatment as well that suits the new mood of swift action, of concentrate substance, of prompt conclusion—and away to some other point of engagement and promise. Modern, also, in outlook—given to the passing moment of social condition in ome or another of its manifestations, concerned with the present as distinct from an out-moded past, virile and capable toward this present, hopeful, too. Such front-face attitude, such outstepping approach is orie of the excellencies of this book of plays. ys sum to a nortrayal of the eternal con- flict between youth and age, to the revolt of the children against the authority of parents, Each one is but a momentary glimpse upon erisis in this struggle. That moment is in the tension, in the clash, in the th spirit of its actuality. A tribate work is its implication of tragedy, a implication, since it points upon the one-sidedness of the conflict. Youth is always wrong. Age, never. Habit, tenderness, chival- , & hundred inhibitions prove too much to So youth settles to the ways of its Clean, robust, straight work, clearly dramatic in conception and structure. A shade grim, save in spots, but true, neverthe- less, and vitally true. held- Books Received THE CAUSE AND CURE OF COLDS. By William S. Sadler, M.D, FACS, etc. Q= lustrated seventh edition, revised and en- larged. Chicago: Thomas S. Rockwell Co. Continued on Twenty-first Page WEBSTER'S NEW INTER- NATIONA L—~the “Supreme Au- thority”. When you need a handy book for quick reference in home or office, you can rely confidently W@ upon the convenience and accuracy of ings, pronunciations, and use of words; a dictionary of Biegraphy; Gazetteer; rules of punctuation; use of capitals, iati etc.; a dictionary of foreign words and Many other features of practical value. 1,256 pages; 1,700 illustrations. Look for the Merriam Circular Trade- Mark—the sign of highest scholarship and accuracy. The thin-paper edition is especially hand- someand convenient. Spe;iafi'{em'maoth. $5.00; Fabrikoid, $6.00; Leather, $7.50. 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