BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 401, 9 January 1909, Page 9

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

' VERSES NEW AND, OLD.

TO SHAKESPEAHE'S MOTHEB. ( ' Vpi(J..he,'i.niadomia,'. on :.thy bosoi'ii turning, ■ Look in' thy. woman-eyes'nnd>ysee,. soft 'fires Slowing;and - melting,-pnssioiiing irihd yearning,. :( lit with the mother-light of. far desires r -v; Oh.did.h'e -fix his. still thfem,.. fv -iiearning'tlieir meanings majiifqld.and;strange, : Climbiug with wonder up: count and ;con therai: ' : /■' 'Ijj-;" ■ [ .r r ' L , .Ere : they'; should vanish land the • moment A ...'..change?-.. < ; " i j * i ThoVvisions that.' thy' soul 'revealed 'him then*, ' Thti' thou hast died, niadoiina, may V never die ' ' . They dwelteternal Jin' pure Imogen,. .Cordelia's truth.and3)esdemonas sigh,. Rosalind's'Arden; Mnfanda-s island wave, Girlish Ophelia's love, ana Juliet's grave. . —George Herbert Clark!, in "Lippincott's." r — ( v - 0 Madanv Mobn, m robes of-white ;'V' Like satins'shiniilg now, i- : 'C is; streets I plod by night - : . qtTou ride.';o'er slues of .blue; . ■ ■'And., at sucli melting modesty, , . ~ ; Sure all/the world must cry, There goes a dame "of- pedigree;j On -whom- no'slanders lie." ■■■ . •■■■ Oh,- ih % night's noon • ■ .■■You. hold your head'-.full.'high, . :v . Madam -Moon. '-•• v..'. -nj M i ' i .' i;But,-.Madam Moohi. .when 'yesterday ■ ~:;I' trpdged to -.town. at morn-.v, • ■-I -you-, on-.-your iihonleward .way, . yln -.wraps all.- dropped and.-tornv <. ■■ :Tour>toery;yds'.faded itheh,': ; ' , i- ". :*-.V' '■ ■ .-your .facei-was - _ . ' ! Thus vlatc''you hurried'home -again •. ; Across , a;inrgiioise.'skjv- '.'; . K { i;;i 5 vYet. in".'-night's(nootf-j.' >' ' i-.-'JMv. ' ;;You hold" your- head' so: ; high,;. = v : _■ -Madam Mdonl , ", tho," Glasgow Herald." •y:VV;»«>>T6 .'Viy Cf. ::A^y • , ' f SOSJRISE v / v-;' ;- ;=S ;v'V' zf Ali>ng 'the "mountain-Tidges ::clear .;h'is; rosy rherT >'K'X'■",>v.V The vapours down the valley go, .' Likejbroken^arDiies,'dark-.and'dow., ■: "' Iri -foLds-'of row' arid;, daffodil;.*; - / ■' The.spnrise banners flow. " ' 0 weloowe 'little :, : bii;ds J tKat;,sing'-the..cpmingfui : of, light! ' < ; For j new; and. ..new, and 'ever-new, . ■ , The golden-bud-.withinithe.blue;: . And ■ every.- morning seems to';6ay: . ;'.V-i';vV-.."There's-, something hapiiy,on- the-way, -And God. sends: love to "you ■ —By Henry .van Dyke, -in-"The jHouse . of,- - , Rimmon." 1 THE CHTJECH^ 1 Here stand I . '■A,' ; Buttresssdrover' tho 'seal Time. and;sKy. .. r. • .•. . ; Take no toll from 'me.

To me, groy, J Wind-grey,, flung with foam, Wild-foot, come ye home! Mother! 'r'-.Wi Mother I will be! , Ere yo die, Hear! 0 sons at sea!" r shau:xf a n; i ; : • • ' 'Leave, my. flock ; of igraves?, * '•%• V • ■• Not for all ( - Tour retellingvwaves! ... .' , I-stand'.fast-r :"s ' ; vli; ; ,'•'•••> Let .th'o. waters'cry! ; ''.'''. ' ' * v" ' y.: :,;fe Here, I! last-; V'&'£■ V:i f; ft To Eternity! . - — John - Galsworthy,- in-."The -Nation,."- ■;• DEFENCE'OF . Though-, rhyme is securely established in for: poetiy-and t we- are'-quite/ faijijliar- with its - beauties,- vet 'there- still s persists among \ ns;, aii;LideaL that : it;yis" BoiriefcliiDg r -airbitrary i and: irrational; , imposed 'Upon- verse to malco it like the 'blinkers'?of- a - golf ; course: - This was tho idea: of : Campion - and fiil':masters;/flf rrhjiiie'. yet •'condemned it' for much the 'Bamo; reasons—-namely, because | .' use,-.itj ibecauso; it; yas ; - 8 'hindrance .to -and. becauso it was: the ;inVention\of- ; a-"barbar6us.-age;<.Cam--pioir also said thdt it made poets'indifForent fa)i'ths niles";6f -metre;-aiid> jhave; supposed that ourir.etrcs -wore based- upon not : ;fail iiito -this error; but. he -failed, to, seo poetry., of ..accent i may.vbe:the?,better;-for rhyme,., although -poetry :of Idoe's not- need - it. , -For, rhyme i itself : -. is ■ only '■ a ■iiiid.'of:.^ccehtjyintroduced tb'-marb' tne'ehd/ or some period .of a verse by its likeness in sound .to some corresponding end or period'.'' luirincs are landmarks, CEisily rccognisablcj on the'.changing surface of accentuaL. verse ; but quantities - are - thehiselv^svfixed 'and; heed' an -incessantVvariety. of ; accent-to'preserve, thcin from monotony. Rlnnie, therefore,>ould .only: enforce- toe-monotony to ;ivhich' the .Terse of -quantity is' always liable. It strange-ithat Milton and Campion, • when they condemned; rhymo for the difficulties which ;,it..sets shbiild-not>haveSeen thatf lv® ft"™ ?f yerso' : .might,be' condemned ior ; the, same -reason;: If ■ rnymevmakes composition more difficult,- so does -.'metre - If .-.tp?-.easiest -kind: 'of ; oom'ppsiti6h.;;is the' wo should-all-write prose and /free .our.' lit-' ; emure;-frqm.: : the : : ; fetters, -chiidish - rms- e i. ■ °™ am , e nt '- has -; imposed % upon * - it.; ;±he ofj : a;-'serious'.'-wnter' : 'w to/sa/ , what; he' has to' say-as>plainly - as '.'ho:'- can, Dot c to. play. ; gamesj. with *■-wards,accordingto some obsolete aiid arbitrary rules'. s 4.1 ■ - e Y er y- one kriowsV.that -, thb "answer to \* 'fe s !V;'® r :.4si:'metre::is : concerned; is that v verse_- is,;,'not;. a'- gaine,;. but/: a:-.means , of -ie'x- : , pressing-,whatr.cannot: -he .expressed so- well without:,it; that, it gives /tb.;wbrds an emo- ■ tional power- which they; do not' possess - in a merely- grammatical - arrangement; that :^® r s e ? : ?as:grown/like:lariguag<ritsi>lf • aiid not been .mventfid;- and that-.its •. roles'are: no 'v°. re -. , I ?. r . ar 'V .'.than'^thfe^^;;rules : ?u-. ony : a^ men tS' ;t)f .6o m nion":- practice". i We know ; :thj B yis i true ofmetre:' but rtcognise-;'|lie' fact-' that'' if must :a'so:-be truejof;rhyme;-^:ifvrilyn^e':•is: , a really iur;::yerse^y®ia t ;j t .' ® ve '?/seems ! :t6;-/:- : be.;'.''efovgd' by .. the ipractice.,.'',of our. ;• poets, who *'•^ tilaflr a-. < V s v : -.r-V / ">yhile.;tp,-ask durkelves-'how' it pan he p expression There is this difficuity 'to ;:begra. may .argue,, tliatrhynic .isnecessary, ..to; aecmtuaK,ver^e', : ;yct the; practice of thepoets, and* paiticularly of Milton, proves nobje Etrumenit'in ■ and ;inTthe hands' of li|aily.:.Elizahetiiaiu, and it lias 1 biScn nobly.,used bv some,modern poets Also' somo beautifuKunrhymed lyrics- exist, though they. are foiv Compared with the quantity of good Bla:nk ? our, poetry is rhymed, iri.ed,/.before aftiy rhyineless lyncs ance 'of•' .fact..;that: i^B'o-jSaxon was : IvltWas not-ißnglish ipoetry/- : but .cpm)pqtel^on-®Bilfere^t::p|riii'ciple;;;alto^ Esther ; ,ai}d as: Anglo-Saxon poetry.: changed gradually auto.. Engltih; i-riiyme' crcpti ir.to -it togetlier-:.)i;itli 'regular ;.mfih'c; so that-the one was as natural a- the other. ~TKus tlie help: of: rhyme, arid, if some bt.lhein'hav'e ■ sinc.e.b'rtiii.'able.Up; do-: without it, .it docs not :: fqllowitnatiltheyicould have .-done; without, it from ; pus;?n(T. devoid-;hf -subtlety without considerable liceiise in the :sliiftina:6f accent; and it was: tlie: fixpd,: landmark of.,rhyme ;; that' gave ojir :,darlier "poets'.-,-tho - courage'' to', use .-■ that . .liccnsle. . -'WitKont: it 't)iey-Sw,ould;; haye : -'had lipthing -liut re'yiiiaritviof :acceiit'-;'to',r'distin- ,, giiisj'r; their, verse-frbnr. p'rosei'; in-.which case they would seldom liavo dared any irregularity"Hut when:.hlank .verse,.H-ns. first-. intto,duced:.trie.:'lieroic -Ijiie , faniiliar; :'and .all-itsfsub'tietjef had been developed'- by Chaiicei; under -'tho safeguard sdV)Vblankyiyerse, until -Shakcsbcare'dave-'it freeddihj.rwas. far stiffer.

and moro monotonous .than-.Ghaucer s riiyniT ;ing linos; and, that, freedom' \yhich Shakespeare gave it'.'was dangerous to 'lessor poets., :Fletoher, ; for.'all- his:skill,'Was* afraid of'.it,: and: developed- for: himself a monotonous kind of- blank : verse with - foniinino endings iri'stead of /rhymes for . landmarks j . ivhilo r the 'blank verse of other dramatists became more and more formless; until it was given up at the Restoration, after a short struggle, for. rhyme .or ■. prose. :Wo . must -r- rememborj too, that V' dramatic '. verso: can vdo better..:, -without - .rhyme, ./than . other kinds, because it is written.• to bo^.' spoken, not read j-and no doubt .Elizabethan actors emphasised the; rhythm when tlioy spoko it. Rhyme is of moro.valuo in poetry that is written to be .read, because., accent'. is. ,not sb; plain to the eye ' as ; : to the, ear, whereas rhyme is equally plain to both,. -Tho mind/ unassisted by. the car, is .apt to th'ink; moro of sense than, of sound; and even. a poet,: if ho composes only for readers, is liable to be too much absorbed in his.sense.. To him and: cfco the reader rhyme is a reminder that".,soundis a necessary means of expression, in- poetry; afrdlthat/^to.-: whiot"-dpes,- notuse it.fis only; • prose;.-.:.'; Thus -Wordsworth; often- falls, into mere-.prbse Excursion;,and ,; Athe Preludo; and those who road theso works only for the sense -are quite unaware tliat they bring only, a prosaic understanding even to the moro poetic parts of theni— \; P(»ts who'- write blank verse .to bo read afe' liable': te .two';:dangers, -and-,few, .of them, have' 'avoided both!. '.Either.'they..'tend; ..like' ;Wqrdsworth,"to 'write.-.incr'e'.prose in .their.' ■less inspired* passages,: or .else, 'like 'TennyV ■rou.'and ;Milton.himself, 'they;'contort.'tlieii 'language. so :thati it -may 'riot the :iahgua"e' of prose;.: ;The.danguage of-Milton: is; from., .speech tlian": that: of any ; great; English..poet, -and;jit' is : furthest'-removed .when the. sense'; is .most

.prpsaic.;-; f - The, virgins : also .shall,. on;feast{ul.;days, ;■ Visit -his tomb; with flowers,,, Sis lot. unfortunate ..in nupUal, choice*. iFrom whence .captivity and loss: of'eyes.;; ;Ip- lines-'.like; tjip--last; .fryp of. these," he .'set. a fa shi6n';of/;disguising prose;;- whicfc has ' lasted, t^ r ' our' o*\i;n; time.^;i!-There; is'.-always'.a"majesty.' vin'(,his.';disguises' : wh'ich' has . been"ludicrously ;6f-'.liis!;folldwjersi''-"Bs;6»^[^ts: ■convention' .when : he.-:^wrote.; blank •VeTse, .. and he ; abandoned ."Hyperion" . Kecaiise. .there, werje:.' maiiy':; 'Sliltonic * inversions : in; it. 1 Slank,.verW.'has;:th i :defect;, jseldom, :for^\niore ; ;thaii:; a outVfallifiginto -;prpse; ..; Without; rhyme.'we '■ fiijtificial; ;ago':have.:' ; l6'st': touch" with .tho "vernacular; /; :of ...verse : in. our, poetry besides the heroic .line; and many ;of ..these,, could/bertainly.-, not;liave.; been de-,. , y|eloped of - stanzas in English; poetry, is C-made | by, rhyme,' and; could;;ri6tJhave': thcm;;^ithputyit ; 'sonie :of." acceii:tjiation;..that...^'buld;'.destrpy': much ■pressive'.power of . accentual .poetry. It . is. •^iTO'{^tj''a';:fe\r.;bMiitol;.pqeffis.i^v«..'lieffli written' in: rhymeless stanzas,. s\ich; as Campion? s : "Rose-cheeked Laura;. Come," ', and iwntlen'iby.VTOtets;--;:.and.. for, r readers,V,accuse': tomed.: to rhymed stanzas. -They" have a iiysic:-thatv'hi'd :been ; developed. ;in ' rhymed arid ".thei'r . form would not,' perhaps, pft,' i : fecbghised;-;;«cbpt;' by : readers used to poems of tho same kind, emphasised by ;rhyine. . : '-The. absence, of rhyme - ;is -agreeable , '•in; themjust; because our;' 'ears' are ■sp' deli-; cately:., disappointed. df.'''-iti'-"iCampibn. ;disapi'. points'.usjinorev^cunningly*; evenJthan.ppUins;; ; -'iii^liis' {glMfraVaw;ay;;:frpi^ ; --Rose^h?ek'e3;.Laura,>-Come;:;: : '?/;. /'-f;';.'-; , • .Sing thou smoothly..wlth;<tby'beauty's'- . i;;/ Silent;;riiusiciv .;;;;?■ ;;.. Sweetly.'gracing..' -Here■.;weft; cSuld 'not ;'bea vcompleteeorre'-"; 'gpondence oj' rhymes.:lf, the 'two .middle lines. ;wero rhymed.as in-prashaw's'-poem—; ;. -• ! To thy loverv lDeir{s}ss(S7er— :^eAsKpuld;expeG^lfe: .the^aist/whicE'Cb^d/not'bbfis&ce';^^ : lfist 'liias l a has ;iaade,:.l'^Fithbuts ever have made * it: .unless, he; had' been used >hi^-yerfiejwaß really,of course,-; .-'accentual;with'* .'.subtle ■; irregularities that* ;/had':;-;;beeri;, developed;; !V-;in;-': ■ rhyriied' poetry • iWere p'osiible in rhymeless, "only because :'the ; influence arid memory of rhyme .were ppwerlul .iiutlie minds .both; of. .the/poet"and. Bis readers.. In:fact,...we. may say,.of all. .our is. a - kind ■ of-parasite uponr-rhymed ■, poetry,-, tfiid that even.iblankWers'bjqwpsvm^ freedom -.and-.beauty..:'to (.the;... 1 practice . of -rhyme;:/ to tho ':Veauty'and;exprc^ . mor,e;:than;;w:e,v.ca.p : ;tell;w doos so.;. ;The: connection . between beauty and expres-, siv'e 1 'power^inZall the arts is-' a niysterj;., AVo only know, by i observation and -experience • that .:are cldselyj connected,', and' -that those,rides ill ,any' ; art, which 'make;-for; ; beauty make' also. for : expressive power. 'Indeed they . are', .not rules, at all, but only means ;bf. expression. systemaiised by, experi-. ence, : which , tho artist us . free to, discard if he/ can'.' doi'i.better , 'wthout:. tliem. • So the :pbet,;need;Vnot/rhyme,j.unless.-lie chooses; but^^.he ;i )ias'^^npjight'-to:. .fio;wover^;weU : ;lie., blank Verse, ho .may bo sure that he •' could ineiver;. hayo/espres's'ed; himself so well but; for : ;the pradtioe: of - former "rhymers. - : Those fdt-: : ters ,;which :' t he.' has. cast pff ,;haye : ;given -him', he '..rajoyei.; • aiid ,to, most 1 at .all,' but. safe-/ •|s&rd6 and.; eye'ri ? .'spin's tp.;the:;fa'ncyV,-''Many;a/fiile'image.'.has;-come to a poet :iu; his search for : a. rhyme,-' •just;as.;a..g6qd : ;s]}ea^ ''points out';,of-linteririiptipiVis': ■ /liispirfitipii/caix." 'catchJat'; any 'hint, arid -use; it : x for its. own pur r . •:pqsM;j ; is'bnlyj'a more iritense.form,of. that difficulty pf/finding word's' which' is.-a necessary, condi';,tibu: of /the art of :-poetry.,,. How . trpublSsbme/it' iiiust be;-: we .think, .for the Vpbei .te/he; checked in the full; career,-and mom'ent\im/(i{ : his, inspiration -by the-need to 'firid a rhyine.; Yet ho is incessantly, checked . all; through'the process'of composition-by,the ■ need to, find-words and .to. arrange them ';;and the finding arid arrangement ■ off them/are'' the, creative i act"/without:, which'. his.' inspiration would ( .be''' iricomplete; and.iyague : everi; tb .himsblf > rhynies; 'he';;t'akes; rhynie', : . .like, language ' itself ,' as -a. conditipn:' of., that ; act',, oiie .that is*imposed' upp'n'iirri -' by; , liis'/art,, not by anv. fashion ..or convention ; ■ arid ;^cbn^o«islyv' v .hb.-'''''U'dasfe'- his:.-/ phrasing 'iiid-'his/Very;grammatical, structure;'tb^;his 'rhymes'.^/'-ThiEi 'adaptatidn/may.; bo' ;qarrie'd.'too.; far,; as "in the,;correct' couplets', of--• the eighth' eenth .'century, ; where a sentence /nearly/at; ways comes to :an -end *>with the , second ihjjnb; :^But; : ;verseVin: ;which ihe sentences; arp ./quite iuncontrqlled, "by ' the'. .rhymes/'is jiist ;.as tiresome,.as we.may;, see from;.the. .heroic;, poeriiS;; of ■ the . seyeriteerith .century, and .as Keats- discovered/when in Lamia'he refused;.nimsclf> the . liberties; lie -had .taken. in'. 1 Endymioni: and •, profited ,by . tho I example of Dryacn. r: ;\ ', t : . ;'rsit;^e,;ohpoM;'.'iat'r'a' ■ venture any splendid piece,'of/Hiyme'd/verse, whether regular. or : ir;r'egular'i;/wfe4shall certainly 'find' that . its "rhyme's,exercise control both, u'pbii its- grammatical'' vstructuro. ' and upon ; that' beautiful phrasing; which • comes of- the ' .jiqet?s j reason with emotion",,; grammatical i.with . metrical demands/ ; ,

: ! : A'',loftier . Argo : cleavcs tlio raeiin, . > : ' - vFraught.iWithi'a''richer prize; again, •,: .'.\> And loves,varid-weeps, and dies. ; ■ ~ : A :new: : inysses' leaves'once' more*,, ~ .Calypso for,his native- shore.- . ' t V ■ . ■■ - . . 1 ' . Here''everything:' 'is. controlled , by- the rhymes; and .Mv-for- them what is saidmjjSt have .been;'said.quite differently,.They give : iva'rietyj , not. only.' to • the ' metro, but also. to;, the'three'sentence's, all .so. short and sd;.muchi alike in' structure that in prose-.or ■rhyineless .verse they : would ; sound. snappy in, this-rhymed: stanza liow sjmplr and-pointed'.and "cpriciso, is their eloquyn'ce. * 'It' may secrnr a paradox,; but it ..is r >'.'certain:;fact',that- in. all kinds of art, as practised by masters,, elaborate, form makes .for:'; sfrnplicity'-' of - Expression? and thus our simplest poetry , is" nearly all -in rhyme. No blaiik'-; VorscVnoteven - the dramatic.-. blank iverse' of is- ever ' simple for

long; and • experience seems to' ■'pro've itliat simple .narratiyo .poetry must .bo rhymed ifit is to escape dullness and monotony. Homer's simplicity-always:becomes' dull and monotonous when he -is'"translated into . blank ..vor^e-;; and we may, be; pretty /sure | that,, uf •.liej -had . been, : an English''• poetjf he would,- like,Ohaucer, have' written iii:rhynie> Mattliew Arnold's argumentsagainst■': a" rhymed translation of Homer only amount to this, that it is impossible .to -find rhymes .without perverting the sense.-" Thai may or may not be so; but, as ho,saV, L; it' is far more impossible' to translate Homer*, into'; blank verse without perverting the.- ,stylo. ; and'with "it the quality of.tho. emotion.":- 4 ; It is strange that be should have;rejected bothrhyme and .blank ■ verso for a. niedium' fa.r more impossible than 'either, for a -rliymcless •quantitative verso to which-'-our/, ears■and our language . are ? still , quite' una.ccus-. i .* r ? accustomecf'to: rhyme: and that tact justifies it more completely- than any, arguments.—London."Tinies.'Vv^vREGQIO. A, contributor sends..iis'lne:.fpl| lowing delightful quotation from -a - chapter 1 By .its natural situation Reggio is marked' ■for-an unquiet history. It was a/gateway of. .Magna Graecia; it lay straight in the -track■ of. conquering Rome when moral'.' to-: wards Sicily 1 . V ■'. . Goth :. ahd-;Saraceiif Jeufon, and .Turk seized,-'pillaged;-: : and abandoned; each in turn this strongfiold overlooking the narrow sea,' Then .the earth* ■ quakes, ever menacing between,Vesuvius-and: V - '+1? J wro.ught'. destruction.■■ throughout Calabria,.;laid. Reggio 'in: so that- to-day .it' : has 'the aspect of a newly-built city, curving its '.regular streets;.: amphitheatre-wise, l upon the slope that •'•rises between shore and ■ mountain." Of Rhegiuitf little. is discernible above ' ground. -At first 1 one has i eyes and thoughts.for'nothing I vbtft the landscape.- From the .terrace road : albn<r the shore, via-Plutmo, .beauties and.fglones indescribable lio before one at fivery turn • A^promonte,-with its .forests and crags -"the: shining-straits; sail-dotted/ iopeiriing to a"sea--•?i rIZ( ? r nortil a . ntl . sonth ; . and on. the other sidethe mountain island; crowned -with snow. Hours long I stood and walked'■ aira.saw/buMn the: end fixing my,gaze .on, Sicily passed across. '■ the;:.bluo; sky,,' upon the . -.Sicilian ■ panorama-•/ -■made ■ceaseless"change of. hill and ' .Night.transformed-, noiP>all #^® r >:' a sh'6ftT4h&JHrKmr;. ■Ma the: streets ofi ;- many'"'a gleaming point: along the : islandtcoast; strand- . touching, .or high above/ signalled the homes or men.. • i-N v. ! .\ ••

_i Calm, .warm, and:clear, this', first'night at Reggio :=, 1.-.could not", turn away from' the 1 ' siren-voice of the .waves. Hearing, scarce a footstep but. my; own, ,1 'paced hither andthither, by. the sea-wall, alone with memories - myself: in front, of the .Oatneclral. As a structure it " mates: small appear .. . . v. but the : first - Bight of its facade -For, across the whole front,.' in. great - letters , which \ one who ■ ;ruris. may. read,;'is,,carved.'a line ; fronr Ihe 'Acts of the Apostles—. ■ '.■. .; J. "Circumlegentes devenimus Rhegium;" ' : Save;orily .those 'sonorous words which.circlethe. dome., of St. Peter's, -I have seen' no inscription on Christian temple which seemed to mo so impressive— .-. fetched a. compass aiid camo to Hhogmm." -Paul was on his voyage from Cesarca to and" her©his. .ships 'touched,'' here /a t AWPR° n >fsSW^'^P^w?!'^j : 'o<^piedVaß , l was'with: '.PJ„,? r V thoughts,! npt yet, occurred to : .mo ; .the .most', pious, pilgrim of ..an earlier 4ay' could not'. havo '. felfc ; himself --more' 1 ' arrested I when.il sight' of'th^se.'hvbrds. 1 ; . iHero I-to,.inhabit"Reggio, I should-llover .pass. the. Cathedral without -stopping'.to':.read-' and'; ijhirik'; .'the :.carving, would'.ncver ;'lose its '.power.. over .my. imagination. . It .unites for; :ine.two,elements of iiioving interest;■ ;i vivid'.' |,fact.from the:anpient;jrprld,,jr,ecordMl' : in' the'; ''fllMs m m•• 'All •. days the 1 '■i''Ao;dificab,o.teccleSi™ speech J;.a'ndi;Jib'f vis't\the s hist6i l ic"sigriifi(iaiwb : pflrsrichymoriuhi.erital.'iwbfdsl , '-M6raiisb r Mio? will';; with-delight, that, deOp-tone'd harmony ; ■ -and to thrill.-with .Those ;Whq|ohly. knbw 'George ,Gissirig. as'; 1 ..tM ,'historian-.of,:':grey arid ..'London I atmospheres (says our correspondent) will bo richly .rewarded^?, '.thoyrtum .to ,the;:classic ,; ob'arnr of 'his'.'"By. the; lonian. Sea," s'Everyi, 'chapter;.is;full-.of. .touch,and feeling.; 'Perhaps; tho'inost unexpected'turn of thought is thatt we. stand arrested for. a' moment •in ..the, glow, ,cjf'S.outh Italian.- beauty.Tp;tum to, anothei;.,! page arid reid'.tKere- once.,arid;.again:'— ,• i' i^And' after three 'mbnffls.'WdejfertejJ in a ship; of .Alexandria,-.'which ha'd: winter ,-isleiCwhose ,sign;-Avas' Castor; and^Pplluk.'i 1 ;*! "And- landing at Syracuse, we' tarried .there i three days; •• 7. ' ;,'rj "And from thsnco we fetched a compass' ■flhdvcamo'to Rliegium;; and. after one .day the south wind blew, and ive came the next day t'o- Piibeoli.. . -- THE DECLINE OF THE SHORT STORY. ;; In \the "Journal des Debats". M. Augustin Filon has been' sympathetically provoked by a which; Mr. MwiuPugK'., published in. the "Fortnightly" to : analyse 'of: 'the decay of . the short;,story. 'I'h®;..fact .'of ;deoay ia iiidisputablo,;' one to'remember that Kipnngj WellsV Zaiipvill,''.and. Ste;venson7 'graduated, witli "the .'short to;' cpmp'are " their" work'' .''sioi-v; ' realise how grievous has'.bben. tljd'decay. Nor is there . much comfort' t'o' 'be ; gleaned' 'from'' M. -lilon's assurance that Frari'cb;-Ss?6s badly: ■off as'ourselves'. The explanationr.of.-the decay is not as'obvious as tlie"'fac£r Probably two .classes of. "'e'fcorio-'' mic—aro responsible. The 'short ! s'tory is supremely.: difficult;.: it demands reticence ;imd' compression; "it has .no;'; room' for excess - ''or-' ; lapses. ,It .is" to -the novel, what the miisic- . hall;'turn is to tho play,, and the short-story writer must: be as sure an;artist as the music-hall pei-former who has to carry a, full, arid critical house .by his unassisted strength. First-rate mUsic-hall artists are,, we. are. told, not nSw to be. got.in any: quantity.for,;love-'. or. money,- and it would not ; be: surprising,' .therefore,; if, the race of, short-story- giants had thinned < out; and that wo believe •to be the-case.,; Perhaps,' too,; the, generation of. critical and appreciative "readers' has. dies but ' that s.eeai's more' doubtful. . The last twenty years have witnfessed-.'a: vast exteiiMoii;bf : .'the: • reading -public,,'arid' not;. the;,old--school I'.bL - readers, with, some' taste arid" refineirierit,"has ■ disappeared,- but thore has been tacked on tO' it an. .overwhelming mass of readers who read nothing before, andSvhb -want .to'bo.saved.-in-their reading the pain, of exercising any latent but untrained faculty of .'thought, or judgment.:' Tho old readers, however, should be market enough for the real short-story writer to-day,': as; teii or twerity... years ago.. The question, .however, remains: why those ,of,'tho.' older generation, whose quality ; is' undoubted, have for : the most part abandoned tho field and here the sccrct seeriis to be' partly literand partly- commercial. Most writers' of fiction have a pardonable ambition ,to ?write novels, arid look upon the sWt story; as a rather: vulgar, not wholly, "legitimate", form' —ari .attitude-, about as- just as'if- a crack sprinter'wbro- unable to'face the comparison in his; own ;soul of himself-with a Marathon race winner. _ There are, howover; much solider/ commercial inducements pulling in' the 'same,direction._ A good; Short story, must'takb" as long" to : write' as "a '• nbi-er of • the':' season, arid,there,ls inuch.more money in tho novel. ; Publishers have a curious conviction r that the public will not buy a volumo of . stories, tho.ugh it will: swallow any; number of'volume novels. ''The short, story: is, therefore, ddOriied. usually to inexpensive burial- in "a'periodical.' 1 —"Manchester:; Guardian." ' ■: -