[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
emotion:
ZULEEKHA (seizing him). Love me! or death!
Ha! dost thou think thou wilt not, and yet live?
By Isis, no. And thou wilt turn away,
Iron, marble mockman! Ah! I hold thy life!
Love feeds on death. It swallows up all life,
Hugging, or killing. I to woo, and thou
Unhappy me! Oh!
The language here is certainly rapid and broken, and the expression 'marble mockman' is, we suppose,
figurative, but the passage can scarcely be described as poetical, though it fulfils all Mr. Buchan's conditions.
Still, tedious as Zuleekha and Joseph are, the Chorus of Ancients is much worse. These 'ideal spectators' seem
to spend their lives in uttering those solemn platitudes that with the aged pass for wisdom. The chief
offenders are the members of what Mr. Buchan calls 'The 2nd. Semi-chorus,' who have absolutely no
hesitation in interrupting the progress of the play with observations of this kind:
2ND. semi-chorus
Ah! but favour extreme shown to one
Among equals who yet stand apart,
Awakeneth, say ye, if naturally,
The demons jealousy, envy, hate,
In the breast of those passed by.
It is a curious thing that when minor poets write choruses to a play they should always consider it necessary to
adopt the style and language of a bad translator. We fear that Mr. Bohn has much to answer for.
THE POETS' CORNER IV 119
Reviews
God's Garden is a well-meaning attempt to use Nature for theological and educational purposes. It belongs to
that antiquated school of thought that, in spite of the discoveries of modern science, invites the sluggard to
look at the ant, and the idle to imitate the bee. It is full of false analogies and dull eighteenth-century
didactics. It tells us that the flowering cactus should remind us that a dwarf may possess mental and moral
qualities, that the mountain ash should teach us the precious fruits of affliction, and that a fond father should
learn from the example of the chestnut that the most beautiful children often turn out badly! We must admit
that we have no sympathy with this point of view, and we strongly protest against the idea that
The flaming poppy, with its black core, tells
Of anger's flushing face, and heart of sin.
The worst use that man can make of Nature is to turn her into a mirror for his own vices, nor are Nature's
secrets ever disclosed to those who approach her in this spirit. However, the author of this irritating little
volume is not always botanising and moralising in this reckless and improper fashion. He has better
moments, and those who sympathise with the Duke of Westminster's efforts to provide open spaces for the
people, will no doubt join in the aspiration
God bless wise Grosvenors whose hearts incline,
Workmen to fête, and grateful souls refine;
though they may regret that so noble a sentiment is expressed in so inadequate a form.
It is difficult to understand why Mr. Cyrus Thornton should have called his volume Voices of the Street.
However, poets have a perfect right to christen their own children, and if the wine is good no one should
quarrel with the bush. Mr. Thornton's verse is often graceful and melodious, and some of his lines, such as
And the wise old Roman bondsman saw no terror in the dead
Children when the play was over, going softly home to bed,
have a pleasant Tennysonian ring. The Ballad of the Old Year is rather depressing. 'Bury the Old Year
Solemnly' has been said far too often, and the sentiment is suitable only for Christmas crackers. The best
thing in the book is The Poet's Vision of Death, which is quite above the average.
Mrs. Dobell informs us that she has already published sixteen volumes of poetry and that she intends to
publish two more. The volume that now lies before us is entitled In the Watches of the Night, most of the
poems that it contains having been composed 'in the neighbourhood of the sea, between the hours of ten and
two o'clock.' Judging from the following extract we cannot say that we consider this a very favourable time
for inspiration, at any rate in the case of Mrs. Dobell:
Were Anthony Trollope and George Eliot
Alive which unfortunately they are not
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]