The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 10, 1904, Page 7

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. A Remarkable Poem by New Writer. ssays upon estheti- Before truth ght into the ays ering! ) glow while n the val- happy ex- uld be found published poet. George s name to a ch is cer- orce the re- critics and tion of no The Testi- s misses be- > aps the readers 1 vote it great. me, “The Tes- s a poetic concep- f truth about verse which 2 to grasp. f this fact lies the er's words to the which is Sterling's. t says the great es the first glint i heralds it enlightened an of thought lls what of the g sought to y concep- ad the great ind the truth of arry by f is more than that. A heights of ta Testimony is daring; it could al- ward in the realms why” is the po- work, but it is not the human life , but the illimitable ' cata- s through his at an answer is crux of the en- of All that Is, is sonorous and awe s once wrote > upon his back on gaze intently up of the sky would and the his at omely illus- scribe in a him the utter ce. Here it is: where groan ? light nown? Sterling’s flight realms where is t blows between the worlds of the classic definiteness eridge or the mystic gropings of Poe. his “Ode to the Departing Year’ Coleridge dwells upon the ste- reotyped group of gods in the high heavens, come from every star; there is no mew concept there. Poe's misbegot- ten “Ulalume,” like other figments of that strangely disordered thought, pos- sesses no imege of the outer dark than the fanciful figures of Poe’s own usage. In its sublimity of concept and vivid- ness of portrayal Sterling’s picture of the war of the worlds in the unplumb- able abyss of the universe is without parallel. Rash and sudden though the statement may be, it appears, never- theless, that the new Western poet has caught & small part of the wondrous imagination of a Dante or a Miiton. Though In no way didactic, Sterling’s view of the pupreme heavens brings him to enunciate a doctrine which is at one with the remarkable sublimity of his conception. Does little man, liv- ing but for a fleeting breath on this puny world, dare to believe that to him there will ever come the stupendous revelation of all that great congeries of forces ruling the skies? Is there even an eternity for so small a dust speck in the cosmic scheme? How vast the gulfs of man's desire! f change, we dream to share igll of Altair, Fomalhaut expire; on worlds destroyed, careless eyes, skies, wart the void. There are other of verse in this first volume of Sterling’s which, aside from “The Testimony of the Suns,” are well calculated to give the author vence. The exalted note of sub- 18 in these subdued to a gentle of tenderness and simplicity. ere are lyrics of short length, the et is tried with success, and in an Music” the poet shows his fa- ; with blank verse. Into simple form are cast all of Sterling’s ef- here is no striving for effect 2 tortured construction or arbi- e scheme. His stanzas are d flowing and harmony has 1 molded to the thought. E. Wood, San Francisco.) vers: German independence Is His Theme. th HOSE who have followed Poult- ney Bigelow’s story of the Ger- man struggle for freedom ugh the first two volumes have welcomed the appearance of the third. This, dealing with what was the most critical period of the growth of polit- ical freedom throughout the states of Germany—that corresponding very nearly to our own period of the Con- federation—tells with graphic fervor of the sacrifices and reverses of men whose names are now honored in every household of the fatherland. It has been the scheme of Mr. Bige- low’s history to popularize (if the term may be so used) the subject of his investigation. He has tried to clothe the dry bones of fact with a raiment of romance. Losing nothing to accur- acy or appreciation of the general trend of his subject, the author has skillfully contrived to sound in his history a note of human interest which removes it from the plane of mere scholastic grub- bers. At the expense of minute records of official orders, diplomatic sparring and palace intrigues leading nowhere, Bige- low has filled this third volume with vivid portraits of leaders in the uphill fight for & constitutional government. With spirited style he pictures such strong men as Father Jahn, Fritz Reu- ter, Robert Blum and Louls Kossuth. He tells of their aspirations, their seem- ingly fruitless efforts to raise their country from tyranny, their heart- breaking disappointments. Bigelow's portraits breathe. It is almost impossible for us of to- day who see in the German empire & world power to be respected mightily, to imagine the deadly pall of reaction which settied over the dissevered states of the German-speaking peoples after the terrible Napoleon had been at last safely coged. When, from the crafty and all-powerful Metternich, at the court of Austria, there emanated the repressive decrees back the defenders of their father- lands all over Europe, when Kings were united in a hypocritical Holy Alli- ance to safeguard the principles of ab- solutism and no man's conscience was his own—then was the time when he- roes no less great than Washington and Lincoln arose to fight for their in- dependence. Bigelow shows the inter- dependence of the republican move- ments of one country upon that of an- other, the alliance for protection against these movements between one King and another. Not only does the historian recount the political movements among the Germans, which culminated in the rev- olution of 1848, but he reveals the part, the very large part, in the emancipa- tion which philosophers, poets and even musicians had to play. The revolution sprang from the universities, where such’ men as Beethoven, Heine and Humboldt worked and preached the doctrines of liberty. Father Jahn, to whom Bigelow is prone to attribute al- most too much credit for the awaken- ing of Germany, is carried in the author's work from his college through all the vicissitudes of a political agi- tator to his grave. Perhaps one of the best drawn por- traits and the one productive of the most interest is that of Julie Krudener, the woman who led Czar Alexander by the nose into the promulgation of the Holy Alllance propaganda. This wo- man, half courtesan, half mystic, is one of the remarkable female figures of history. Bigelow has presented a lively sketch of her personality. (Harper & Bros., New York; price 2 25.) He Aims His Shafts at Vulgar Rich. HETHER the average Ameri- can reader of “Dodo” Benson’s “The Relentless City” reviles the author as a British cad or smiles at him for being a clever satirist must de- pend largely upon whether or not that reader takes small black pills with every meal. Certainly there is excuse for the more choleric criticism; un- doubtedly the majority will accede to the latter appreciation. Not a few may argue that Mr. Benson is possessed of a bit of both qualities. After all it s a matter of a good or a bad digestion. “The Relentless City” purports to be a satire upon the alleged “smart set” of relentless New York. That the seed of sarcastic criticism is sown on fruit- ful ground few outside of the gilded circle of that chosen band will gainsay. ‘We haye had our monkey dinners, our stable banquets and our tawdry circus parade weddings ad nauseam. The an- tics of the nouveau riche on Manhattan who constitute themselves the ar- biters of swagger society have too long become & byword and a hissing abroad, as well as a4 gladsome. token to the stout British shopkeepers. That Mr. Benson, the'caustic English gentleman, should have a tiit at such mushroom growth should be a source of pleasure to every well-minded American. And right heartily does Mr. Benson's anvil ring, ring, ring. Mrs. Lewis 8. Palmer, whose husband lives on milk and soda crackers and makes a million at every revolution of the earth, is the straw dummy which the English au- thor sets up for plercing with his barbed shafts. She is ostentatious, vul- gar, of a shrilling voice and outrageous which pushed. manners..To her palatial home on Long Island there comes a certain Bertle, a bankrupt English nobleman, seeking matrimony hyphenated by the dollar sign. The fetes and the routs given by the loud Mrs. Palmer to -signalize the advent of so interesting a possibil- ity do not read more strange than the oft-recurrent press accounts of like events outside the realms of fiction. But in all fairness to those con- cerned, Mr. Benson has laid some of the scenes of his story in England. Though kinder in a measure to his na- tive folk, the author does not paint a very inspiring picture of life as it is lived among the class of privileged indolence. He does not hesitate to speak out in meeting against the ut- ter listlessness which seems to be the characteristic of the English gentley man—and lady, too, for that matter. He rails at his brethren for sitting, hands folded; and allowing the purse- fat Americans to point the way to suc- cess. Z In all of this Benson writes with a keen wit and a polish of epigram which gives his novel a distinctly buoyant and sprightly tone. Sincers as he at first appears, there is, how- ever, throughout the book an under- current of burlesque which leaves the reader in doubt as to whether or not Mr. Benson's uncivil remarks about some Americans are in themselves sin- cere, As to New York, the relentless city, there can be no doubt of the author’s genuine disgust entertained against it. The people, the press, the streetcars, the buildings, even the vagaries of the thermometer; come under a sweeping cufse by bell and by book at the hands of the English satirist. The word “beastly” can be read between the lines of every reference made to the unfortunate metropolis. (Harper & Bros., New York; price $160.) Jacobs’ Sailormen Re- call Dickens. LD readers of Dickens are able to O sniff a very familiar scent in the humorous writings of W. W. Jacobs, whose “Old Craft” hds recently been published. It is the tarry smell of the wharves and the typical Wapping whiff of the Thames which recall the haunts of good old Cap'n Cuttle, the odious Quilp and Rogue Riderhood. The waterman and ship’s watchmen of Ja- cobs’ stories are very akin to the im- mortalized characters of the great hu- morist. Dickens’ fund lay in carica- ture; likewise Jacobs’. The master story teller delighted in laying bare all the ingenuous simplicity Anq child- like improvidence of his people of the humbler walk; the present sketch ar- tist of Ratcliffe and Spiteaflelds allows himself the same pleasure. In his “Odd Craft” Jacobs presents fourteen short stories brimming over with laughter. They have for the most part to deal with the adveantures and cogitations of the disenfranchised sea- man, whose haunts are the docks and the “pubs” down at the rivers edge. His love affairs, his roysterings, his griefs of a day—all of these serve as the themes for Jacobs' inimitable sketches. The fleld is his own and he is acknowl- edged a master of it. Few such stories of the sub-strata have been written and none better than Jacobs’, The author’s people are not inherent- ly the kind who would appear at first sight to be the most lovable in the world. However, Jacobs has with rare art left their undoubted offensiveness to be only guessed at by the reader. From their debauches he picks out only the uproariously humorous incidents and thelr honeyed words in occaslons of stress he glides over with due defer- ence to the proprieties, By the irresistibly droll method Ja- cobs takes in holding his characters up to view through the mouth of some water-front raconteuf his storfes gain much. It is the pithy commentary up- on the actions of Ginger Dick from the oracular Small Small which brings the laugh bubbling to the surface. Such nalve bits of philosophy as come T F BENSON, AUTHOR oF “Toe RELENTLESS CiTY" COULURTEDY OF HARPER & PROTHCERS from Jacobs’ sallormen would have passed current at Madame de Stael's had they been burnished up in the po- lite diction of the galon. (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York; illustrated by Owen; price $1 50.) Booth-Tuicker Writes of Late Wife. L ROM the publishing offices of the Salvation Army comes a neat volume from the pen of Com- mander Booth-Tucker, the sub- ject of which is hfs much-lamented wife, whose tragic taking-off recently caused such a shock to the Christian world at large. A perusal of this work shows it to be one of the most readable and fascinating biographical sketches issued during the year. The writer having sustained the close relationship of husband to Mrs. Booth-Tucker, is enabled to draw aside the veil and give the reader a series of glimpses of a most saintly life, and ome no more saintly than soldierlike, from the standpolint of aggressive Christianity. Mrs. Booth-Tucker’s life is so inter- woven with the history of the Salva- tion Army mogement from the very time of its inception that her loss Is naturally felt to be a very serious one. And yet such a testing time as this must necessarily have been only seems to demonstrate the solidity of the foun- dation upon which the organization is built. Like the ring of the flawless car wheel at the stroke of the tester as the train lles in the railroad depot, fo do these periods of test and trial tend to emphasize the soundness and stability of the movement. The fruits possible to a life devoted to one particular object, when that ob- Ject is in the line of religious endeavor, are held up to view in a manner cal- culated to stimulate the Christian worker of any and every denomination. This “daughter of the regiment” (for she was such in a very sacred sense, having been raised to a life of militant Christianity from the time of her baby- hood) has done more toward the mak- ing and molding of character in the experiences of the quaintly bonneted Salvation lassies than any other one person, having acted as principal of the International Women’s Training Home in London for a great number or years—from the time of its opening until her marriage with Commander Booth-Tucker. Since that time we may infer that this life of consecrated service met its fullest fruition—as co-leader of the important American * field, with its manifold activities; taking a leading seat at its councils, legislating for its Farm Colonies, its Rescue Homes, its Industrial Homes for Workingmen, as well as for the strictly spiritual part of its work; as wife and mother (she had a family of seven), raising aloft the highest standards for the home- life and seeing that these standards were invariably lived up #0; traveling ° many thousands ,of miles . yearly to .hold up the banner of Calvary to crowded audiences; successfully insti- tuting financial appeals; bringing re- newed light and sunshine into the lives of her subordinate officers; her life a benison and blessing every day of the week and every hour of the day -—all this, in spite of constitutional physical weakness, timidity and ner- vousness beyvond the average, does it not single out Emma Booth-Tucker as a woman of women—a latter-day un- canonized saint? No glddy trifier in the realm of fash- . fon need remain in doubt after read- ing this fascinating “Life,” as %o whether it is possible to raise a family properly and likewise fulfill her wo- . manly obligations to the world in gen- eral. In spite of physical difficulties of no mean order the heroine of this volume seems to have settled the ques- tion once and forever. The world of superficialism may toll its bell at the passing of such a great soul as Emma Booth-Tucker and go on its way in rapid forgetfulness, but there will be few, if any, of those ear- nest spirits who are trying to wipe away the world’s tears and lessen its sorrows but will secure and read with actlvity this sketch of the life of one of the most remarkable women of the twentieth century, in intellect, in sym- pathy and in spiritual attainment. (Salvation Army Publishing House, New York; price 50 cents.) i WS @ New England Poet Records Fancies. N “Fancies” Henry Wise Wood, & New England writer, presents a dainty little volume of poems that are somewhat above the ordinary standard of present day verse. The longer poems are written in a breezy didacto-philosophical style that is full of freshness, and inculcates sound ethi- eal principles. The longest and most ambitious poem is entitled “The Forge.” Its burden is the unassailable fact that after all is said and done ‘“success is the measure of the man.” The ethical teachings are occasionally relieved by slyly humor- ous effusions like “An Extraordinary Bee,” in which is outlined. the short life history of a luxury loving but in- dolent insect. In the first short poem, entitled “Awakening,” the poet intimates that after a long residence in an affluent city he sought rest in a country village. It was a new world to him, and, like other singers, his muse thereafter largely turned from the didactic to sing of rural scenes and pleasures. To this change must be attributed the graceful little lyrics of our country themes, that recall the sweet odors of the flowers and the love songs of the birds borne by the breezes of spring and early sum- mer time. In these the poet is seen at his best. A few of the songs like “To My Shadow: “'Tis Only Death” and “Worry"” remind us of Barry Cornwall; they suggest that Wood has been a diligent student of that neglgcted but charming lyric writer. No poem in the collection is more representative of the author’'s style than the following ode entitled “Phan- tasmal Night": Come, greet with me the arriving stars of = v Pale, lucent pilgrims, threading silently The boundless environs of space. The sea, Far-casting, lles bedimmed with thelr faint light, All tossed and broken, ere to regal height. They rise! O speak, supernal melody Of motions! Leadest thou on to destiny The man, the state, the star, thé infinite? The east fulfills the promise of the west; Deep-hooded spirits at the pyre of day Invoke the morrow, and the interway 1s Night, phantasmal Night, whese rich be- est Of imemorial pasts—wan-winged array— Sweeps ever mutely onward without rest. “Fancles” is evidently Wood's first printed work. The poems are of un- equal merit, but they give promise that with further efforts he will be capable of producing lyrics of considerable merit. An hour or two may be enjoy- ably and perhaps instructively spent in perusing the little book. (W. J. Ritchie, New York; price $1 25.) Many New Text Books for School Use, ROM the publishing house of the American Book Company there have come a series of valuable vol- umes for school use. Alarcon’s “El Nino de la ola,” edit- ed by Rudolph Schwill, is a judiciously made abridgment of the successful novel of the well known Spanish auth- of minor characters, and the religious and political discussions, are in large part omitted. The picturs of Spanish Iife is excellent, porgraying vividly the. naive traits of the people, their insati- able curlosity, their love of idleness’and THE ROOKSTALLS gossip, their weakness fo all that is showy, and their continuous much ado about nothing. -The. editor has sup- plied all needful helps in the footnotes and complete vocabulary, and the vol- ume is well calculated to introduce the student to one of the principal figures in modern Spanish literature. “Dona Perfecta” by Galoon is edited by Ed- win S. Lewis of Princeton University for similar uses in Spanish classes. In the French there are the eld stand-bys, Merimee’s “‘Colomba,” ed- ited by Hiram P. Willlamson of Chi- cago University, and La Fontalne's “Fables,” revised, with notes and vo- cabulary, by Kenneth McKenzie of Yale, Clarence W. Gleason has written an admirable Greek primer for beginners. Although the book is intended as an introduction to the study of Greek, rather than as & short cut to the Ana- basis of Xenophon, the latter work has been drawn on freely for reading matter. The reading selections in and following the lessons are intended to arouse the beginner’s interest In Greek literature, and for that end are taken from as varied sources as possi- ble. To facilitate the acquisition of a permanent vocabulary, both Greek and English vocabularies contaln ref- erences to the lesson vocabulary where the words first occur. The sen= tences to be rendered into Greek are cut down to the minimum. (“El Nino de la Bola,” price 90 “Dona Perfecta,” price $1. “Fables, price 40c. “Colomba,” price 40c. “Greek Primer,” price $1.) et LR Verse Books @ppear in a New Garb. WO holiday editions of standard poetry have appeared this season which will each appeal powerfully to a widely divergent clientele. These are Howard Chandler Christy’s artistic edition of Longfellow’s “Courtship of Miles Standish” and a rich lttle volume of Moore’s translation of the “Odes™ of Anacreon, embellished with designs by Gerodet de Roussy. The one will call strongly to the lover of art; the other will be dear to the scholar. Mr. Christy has done a worthy work in acting as the first standard art inter- preter of Longfellow's tale of old Mas- -sachusetts. With a subtle skill he has investéd the text with & charm which it has never had before. The -lurking sweetness and purity of the poem has been embodied by the artist in pictures which are each a little masterplece of the modern {llustrator’s art. There are more than forty .full-page drawings; some of them in color. They certainly revivify the old tale to a remarkable degree. The “Anacreon” is the golden font of true poesy for every lover of the classics. The Moore translation, which Putnam’s have brought out on splendid paper and artistically bound, holds all the old Athenlan’s sprightly touches in praise of Phyllis and the good Samian vintage. To read the odes is to ecatch a 'breath straight from the old Aegean. (“The Courtship of Miles Standish,” Bobbs-Merrill - Company, Indianapolis. Price $3. “The Odes of Anacreon,” G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.) ———— Random Notes Upon’ Things Bookish. S always before, the serial story is on its last legs; and as always before, no centipede was ever so secure of keeping so vigorous and un- interruptible a gait. It is en its last legs with the old," the sad, the sated, with the overtheatered, overdined, overworked, ovérexcited inhabitants of the city, but with the country and the village dweller, with the young and cu- rious, with the lover and his loved, with the young martied pair beside the evening lamp, or the well-grown around it, with the girl dreaming of . marriage at her toil or her pleasure, with the boy straining forward in his impassioned ambition, the serial story is a messenger of joy whose myriad feet are still beautiful upon the moun- tains. We ourselves, if we may be so light in it, though we live in a city, and are in nothing, except our human- ity, akin to the amiable seriolators we have been specifying. We find the monthly installment of & novel, which ‘we get in a magazine, quite enough for our mental digestion, though we hope this is In nowise enfeebled by early ex- cesses. Even when we find it too much, we feel safer than if we had the whole book before us in a mass; and In any case we spend our hour or half-hour with it, and then go contentedly about our ‘business, with a little glimmer on our way of . The light that never was on sea or land The Burlington Magazine will here- after be published #n the United States by ‘the Macmillan Company. This monthly magazine for connoisseurs has become famoug during its two and a half years of life for its beautiful re- productions of unknown paintings of special interest, English,” French, Italian, German, Dutch, and even nese. In addition its illustrations in- clude woodcuty, and half-tones and color plates of pottery, porcelain, glass- ware, medals, panels, sculpture, flagons, tankards and pewter-ware. Its dis- tinction i that it publishes reproduc- ‘tions of uneqpaled beauty and accu- racy of all sorts of rare objects of art, the real appreciation of which is con- fined chiefly to the‘elect. The contents sometimes include freely illustrated de- scriptions of famous ‘collections Miss Marie Manning, author of “Ju- dith of the Plains,” whose travels have always ylelded material for good sto- ries, is ford of telling of a family she encountered while taking a horseback trip ‘in Tennessee. They were typical backwoods people, far off civiliza- tion’s highway. In conversation It transpired that the eldest daughter, Lu- ella, had recently returned from a town and had brought home a palr of curl- ing-irons. The entire feminine portion of the family had since spent their spare time in halr curling, but without avail. Not a curl would come. Miss Manning sympathetically inquired into the trouble, and discovered that they had never heated the curling-irons. Overjoyed at this discovery, general curling operations were promptly re- newed, and at the end of the perform- ance every woman of the family had a head, not onmly thoroughly curled, but equally well scorched, Early publication is annoynced by the Century Company of “Mrs. Mc- Lerie,” by J. J. Bell of “Wee Macgree- gor” fame. Mrs. McLerie is a quaint and delightful old soul, who rules her “man” lovingly if firmly, talks over everything with her neighbor, Mrs. Munro, and is a regular Mrs. Parting- ton in her mis of unfamiliar words. “Mrs. McLerie” tells all about the life of the McLerie household—a homely, simple life enough—with glimpses of dolings in the Munro family and of hap- penings In the neighborhood. Much of the quiet humor of the book is found in Mrs. McLerle's unconscious _ bulls. “Aweel, it's a’ yin,” she always says placidly to all correction. The late M. de Blowitz, whose vol- ume of memoirs, published this fall by Doubleday, Page & Co., is considered one of the main literary events of the year, was the one journalist the world has seen fit to honor as a man of com- manding abllity {p public life. One rea- son why he was succegstul is:plainly seen in his statement that his work ‘waa “the veritable passion” of his life. The other reasons are that Blowita was a man of keen judgment, coupled Wwith ingenuity, perseverance and intel- lect, which enabled him. to consort on & plane of equality with the greatest per- sonages and rulers of his time. The story. of his life reads like a novel. The remarkable part of it is that he became & newspaper man only by a series of accidents, it seems, and.then he was away on toward middle life, Henry Seton Merriman, the author of “Barlasch of the Guard.” or to give him his proper name, Hugh Scott, who dled recently at his house in Suffolk, England, was probably the least known in a personal sense of any Eriglish writer. He was almost a recluse, and one might go .for many years to-liter- ary gatherings in London and not meet him. This was not beeause Mr. Mer- riman was opposed to social life, but rather because he was indifferent to it. To his last days, moreover, he could not get over being amused at the hom- age he recelved from nis admirers and at being calied;“famous’” ‘and “great.” Henry Krehbjel's volume, “Studies in the Wagnerian Drama.” is in demand at present, say the Harpers, because of its scholarly accoynt of * ifal.” Mr. Krehblel inquires into origin of the opera, and shows that it was an offspring of two previous dramas by ‘Wagner, one -of which was entitled “Jesus of Nazareth,” the other “The Victors.” In his analysis of the. later and greater opera Mr. Krehbiel says: “The fundamental elements of the mu- sic of ‘Parsifal’ are suffering and as- piration. When they are apprehended the ethical purpose of. the drama be- comes plain, but not till then.” “Par- sifal,” in Its new English poetic ver- sion by Oliver Huckel, has reached its tenth thousand, say the publishers. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. . g “My Lady Laughter,” Dwight Til- ton’s new novel, is_expected to equal in the fascinating charm of its heroine the author's “Miss Petticoats,”. whose tre- mendous sale was undeniably due to the #&fart interest of - the chief feminine figure, Agatha Renfer. ' The stage ver- sion of this play s meeting with much success as givén by a company headed by Kathryn Osterman. - New Books Rcceived. “THE RELENTLESS CITY,” F. A. Benson; Harper & Bros., New York; pifee 31 50. “HISTORY OF THE GERMAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY,” volume 3, Poultney Bigelow; Harper & Bros., New York; illustrated; price $2 50. “CHARACTER, A MORAL TEXT- BOOK,” Henry Varnum; Hinds & No- ble, New York: price $1 50 “THE FEDERATION OF RELIG- IONS,” Hiram Vrooman: Nunc Licet - Press, Philadelphia; price 75 cents.- personal, find our rarest literary de- “THE CONSUL,” Commander Booth- Tucker; Salvation Army . Publishing Company, New York; price 50.cents. “BOOK OF PSALMS"”; Jewish Publi- cation Society. of. America, Philadel- phia. > g