NEW BOOKS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 990, 3 December 1910, Page 9

NEW BOOKS.

"The Old Clay Patch." A collection of .verses written in and around Victoria College. Edited by F. E. do la Maro and S. Eichelbaum. Wellington: Whitcombo and Tombs, Ltd. "Tho day," say tho editors of this book, "when Victoria College, with all its associations, can bo summed up as 'the old clay patch at Kelburne is passing away. There arc some to whom the college will be still 'the old' clay patch'■ when- her'.hillsides aro clothed with green and her yet unbuilt-hall 'with, ivy grown.'" With an eyo to that future, Jlcssrs. do la Maro and Eichelbaum have collected, from the back numbers of the Cojlego Magazine and elsewhere, the verses, nearly all written by students, which : make up this interesting littlo volume. Their pious labour is worthy of high praise, and the college is fortuuato in having thus' early in its' history inspired a filial enthusiasm of so practical a sort. Although- thero aro a very largo number of congs and verses in tho volume, the writers uro not very numerous. Quito half tho book is the product of one pan. Although ho is thus profuse, "S.S.M.'s" work is all of good quality, and .sometimes ho readies a height of cxcollonco that must ensure tho inclusion of some of his work in any representative anthology of tho best Now Zealand yerso. The influence of Kipling is plain in most of his poems, but ho is far' from being imitative; and his great skill in tho mechanics of verso-writing. has left him free t'o concentrate upon thoughtfulncss and grace. His, Odo on stho Laying of the Foundation Stono, although occasionally pompous and self-conscious—the third stanza exhibits both thesa faults, and also ranges far outside regions in which flowers appropriate for tho odo may . be gathered—is really a good performance. Messrs. Hubert Church, Eichelbaum, Hutcheson, do la Maro, and others have contributed to tho volume. Mr. Eiclielbaum's contributions aro nearly as numerous as "S.S.M's," but ho sticks to tho lighter vein, and has somo hanpy rhyme effects. ' Many of the college songs are excellent. Upon the wholo the serious verse in tho book is higher in its das:; than the lighter verso—a reversal of the case in England, where the collegc rhymesters havo produced tho finest light verse ever written. But there is

no need to wonder whether it is quite healthy 'that our college should not be full of Stdphenses and Godleys and Knoxos. There is no need to do more than compliment the editors of 11 the "Old Clay Patch" on producing an agreeable littlo book, and congratulate tho C'ollego upon having what will ono day be a valuable record of its earliest years. "Monodies: A Book of Verse." By Dick Harris. The author of this little book is new to us, but he mentions that most of his verses havo appeared in various periodicals. They aro curiously uneven in execution; hardly one of them is not marred by a sudden lapse into feebleness or triviality. "Retrospect," for example, the opening poem, is quite pretty. The first stanza has more merit than fault: Tho dust of dreams blows everywhere , I stop or stray; It blows a cloud about my heart : And makes it grey. .The third and final verso is utterly ruined by tho extraordinarily fatuous second line: ' We aro all dead in yesterday ■. .. How sad it seems! Ourselves, our deeds, our whimsey play, Are dust of dreams. From the jow key of most of the verses it is deduciblc that Mr. Harris is young, and, being young, with tho poetic temperament, but without much • poetic lire, he has much to murmur .about "vague monodies," and "arabesques in monotone," a "heart monotonously grey," and so on. For such a subject as "Late, afternoon" this is a useful mood, and Mr. Harris has, mado a pretty poem of it. It is quito a pleasure, too, to meet with tho brightness and gaiety of "Singing Youth" —in Australasia it is usually only tho elderly bards who dare to strip tho weeds and willows from their harps. Thero is evidence of an endeavour by tho author to manufacture 1 striking phrases, with the. result usual to determined artifice. Tho best phraso wo havo marked is tho ; ending of "Tho Crazy Pilgrim": ' . . . A_ hopeless darkness all astrain ."Witli rancour of the wind and rain. Finally, although Mr. Harris actually says in his "Cradle Song" that . • Each little starling Will watch o'er ypu, darling, yet there is 1 evidcnco of enough originality and sincerity in him, and a sufficiently delicate sense of word-values, to justify the hope that some day take a good placo amongst our poots. "Poems." By J. Raymond. Melbourne: ' The Specialty Press. 2s. Gd. V\'ho J. Raymond is we do not know; and, one can infer little from his dedication of his book to tho Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. His verses, however, aro of the sort with which Australasia is unfortunately' too familiar—correct enough, in rhythm and rhyme, but very barren of strong, clear thought, and sometimes mero prose. In one poem ho writes of his boy "Before tho Firo": He is absorbed: but now and then requires Assurance that my interest is with his. In a,serious moodj ho' writes "To Melancholy": , But, Melancholy, never oomc to me With hideous shapes of fear and gloom j Nor tell of what is not, but ought to Le, Of destiny, and fatal doom. Mr. Raymond's verses are not all liko this, however.' Ho has soirto quite good unrhymed' hexameters,- and he is generally successful when' his subject is derived froni or coloured by the. Greek and Latin legends. A long poem on "Pan," not without merit, offsets'the mediocrity of most of tho other pieces. "Sixpence, worth a shilling," is a lino.from the publishers' advertisement of tho December number, of tho "London" magazine, and it is a correct statement of tho excellent value given. Thero is a long "short story" by Leonard Merrick, and a striking and dramatic romance, illustrated in colour, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who hints a warning to Britain in the fall of Carthago. Thero are five other clever stories, ono illustrated, by Mr. Fred Leist, tho ex-Australian artist, who shows a talent very highly developed. "German. Clerks in British Offices','l will perhaps attract more attention than tho other special articles, which are uncommonly good. Dion .Clayton Calthrop writes and illustrates "Fashion Freaks of Fifty'; Years," and Harry Harper has a .breath-away-taking picture of tho rush of modern life. Mr. W. K. Haselden, the clever cartoonist of the "Daily Mirror," is the subject of au article very generously illustrated with typical sketches. On second thoughts, we incline to think the magazine is worth more than a shilling. ''The Lone Hand" for December is a very much better issue than usual. Tho articles strike tho Australian note very loudly, and are well illustrated. They include some interesting history aboitt. "Australia's First Players," an article by J. E.°M. Abbott upon tho facts behiud Australian "brag" with an obliquo illumination of the folly of that "brag" unless it is accompanied by serious thought, somo observations by E. T. .Russell on sharks, and a discussion (illustrated) of Australian book-plates. The numerous story-tell-ers iucludo "Kodak" and Edward-Dy-son. There is an unusually largo amount of verse. "The Steeds 0f.01d," by Will Ogilvie, will bo welcomed. "Optimists' and Pessimists." By Jno. A. D. Adams, of Dunedin, Barrister of'tho Supremo Court. Gordon and Gotch, Dunedin, Wellington, . etc. 2s. 6d. Mr. Adams, who is well-known as a leader in tho No-License movement, and is also the author of two other religious books —"Tho Voice of God Unheard and tho Reason Why," and "The Church as Revealed in Scripture"— frankly declares himself a pessimist. Tho term, of course, require? definition... "A pessimist," says Mr. Adatas, " is one who does not believe that tho Kingdom of God, or tho Kingdom of Heaven is beiiig brought in or extended by means now being used by men on tho earth. ... He says that tho world is aud must bo growing worse, and will continue to grow j worse until tho end of tho ago." To summariso - and eriticiso Mr. Adams's survey' of tho moral condition and tendencies of the world—brief as it is relatively to tho magnitude of tho subjects—would take nioro space than is available. But tlio author is by no means without hopo for tho future of mankind. Ho seeks to show that "after all, thoso who prido themselves on being optimists have not been looking on the best, or even on tho cheeriest sido of this mighty question, but havo left that cheeriest side to those whom they havo chosen to stigmatise as pessimists." "The pessimist's hopo is that the Kin;; of Kings shall come, dethrone the usurper, take the throne which beloncs not to the usurper, but to Himself, and reign on tho earth, and that at,' and by, His coming 110 will bring about all these things for which men havo been striving for, or hoping for, so long." It will bo easily understood that Mr. Adams finds it necessary to devoto an appendix to answering tho question, "Is it wrong to engago in Tempernnco work?" His answer, of course, is what one. would cxpcct from Mr. Adams, rather than what seems to bo suggested by tho preceding pages of his'book. The argument throughout is clearly and forcibly expressed, and tho churches, for whoso members tho little vnlumo appears to bo primarily intended, aro dealt with in the' spirit of a decidedly candid friend,