BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 175, 19 April 1919, Page 11

BOOKS OF THE DAY

Roems by Edward Tregcar. 'Tin liul; a slender little sheaf of poetry that my old iriciul, Mr. Kilward Tretfcar, has,, in' his "Shadows .ami Oilier Verses" (W'Jiitconilie and Tombs), gathered together, as lie sn.vs, ">ome. memento of my personal self for those who have given mo personal friendship and alToclion." But What is lacking iiy (iiiantilv is amply atoned for by n line quality. The poems veflcel tae thoughts ot a man whose soul has ever burned with indignation over what it deems to bo wrong and injustice, a snul full of a beautiful pity fur the downtrodden and the unfortunate wayfarers through the vale of lile; a man who loallies meanness and moral cowardice. Who is. never afraid, lo espouse and champion an unpopular causc if it he only that his cnnseiehco holds it to be the cause of truth andiustice. The adyj>:;ced democratic opinions of the author iire evideneed in more than one poem. In others; dealing with spirit ual rather than material things,-a certain air of dreamy mysticism- is reflected in verse of great: verbal beauty. Throughout the' little hook there'runs n note of splendid sincerity. ' A true patriot, Mr. Tregear never indulges in ttyat cheap, semi-hysterical aduiatiibn of the land ami people he loves.so well that- lm* deemed by some ether writers to. bo. the nccessary hall mark of love and pride of country." New Zealand (A.n. 1693)■ is nil .eloduenily worded tribute to the beciilyahd charm of the country, whose sons-, ..however, the poet warns against the worsliip'of purely materialistic gods. - ' . Are these things nil, oil, sunny land? Are 1 ;. these,. .-.-■■■• - The gold and wool and corn poured freely forth' . ■ From Horns of. Plenty, these, these'thy' deities? Not there, the standard of a peoples worth, ... The riches of a nation, though ihc storm Of steam rears through' the forest of the . masts, ■' As iricenßo to the Rod whose gilded form . Shuts half, the light from modern eyes, and casts : . - ■• A. deeper shade ! than darkness, 'truest ' ' wealth • Lies in the upright life, the thinking . brain, ' The warm heart beating in the breast of health; .... ' And these thy -sens, possess. Not few arc they - . i IVlio, having .dared .the keen and icy "wind Among the peaks ,of l'nuh," behold the ■' day .■ '. „ With eyes of calm. Their unseen influence flows - : TO lower levels, slow' and relentlessly. As moves.' the giacicr from its heme of ■ -snows ' ■ '' ; To "countless laughters" of the rippling sea. ; -A.liatdr of war, still more so of aught that savours-of. '.'militarism," Mr. Tregear has not passed through • the four, long, intense, .'dreary, weary, years of the great struggle' without being -tnoved- to. ' admiration of 'thii splendid Spirit: which underlay and stimulated . the .heroism, of New Zealand's sol(lie'rs. As 'Witness the fine sonnet entitled "The Dardanelles": Reddened crags of Dardan, in . the dark-. . ,'iiess' sleeping— , Muffled secret footsteps stealing t'wards the shore. Their a whisper sadder Utan tho wildestweeping, "Captain, lear you not lest our dear boys who died ' (Faces, still unburicd, on the mountain side)' Hear the parting feet of comrades back- ■ wards creeping, Leaving .Anzac's priceless, dust for ever, ' evermore. Boy, the heroes..lying here trust tliti heroes going, . Know that, wo but speed their fame toward a. deathless goat; Know, a nation's .might will reap the liar- ' vest they (ire sowing; Se'e'through smoky 'darkness, born ,of Hell and War Bising over alien chorea the glowing Southcrn Star! Know fierce death as travail since One beyond all knowing / Brings- to life in stranger-lands the newborn Southern Soul." • In the filial poem, "Love,"'the -poet sings of the love that alone can bripg content and happiness as yenrs go'by,, and worldly ambition* and dt.-irfs erase to exercise their'hold over, man; Dear Lord, Tliou husi the niothcr-love that charms '- . The World's tired child to rest -\ _ "Beneath him' are the everlasting arms" That hold him i.o Thy breast-. Go Bliall we pass the toilsome mountain rondi The beating of the seas. Until He lead us into Love's abode . In an exceeding pcacc. I would fain, quote.'from other poems in the . little collection,., but space limits forbid. 1 ;■

'■'the Martial Adventuresof .Henry and Me." . William Allen • White, (hp author of "The .Martial Adventures uf Henry and He'', ("n.Y., -Melbourne, . the . llneiuillan Co.), is a popular - American novelist, whose name is alien lip m ihj list of "best sellers." ' ; His new book, however, is'not fiction, but a most amusing; and, in a why, very instructive record of the • European experiences of the author and his friend, Jlr. Henry A llen, a Kansas newspaper proprietor and editor,;whilst engaged on a special sion in connection with tho Cross. War is a prim and -tragic tiiiiifi at. (he best, but there are . certain by-issues nnd "side-tr-aclcs tliereof which are by no means devoid of the element of humour. Mr. Allen writes with mil eloquence of Hie splendid patience and--perseverance of the French, of the doggeo- determination of the British, of the splendid gallantry ; of . tlio Italians,-but (hat keen .sense of hunioiii' which is so strong a eliara'cteristic in the Western'ami Middle Western .Aniericai: enables him to alternate his picturrs of the sterner side of war with many genuinely huuiorous- touches. There is a distinctly Mark Twainish flavour about the'author's account of his and his companion's experience* -in J.omlon nnd l'aris. Like so many other Americans, lie cheerfully admits ■ that firsthand actfuaiutaiice with John Hull 'has considerably modified certain earlier estimates uf that gentleman's, t'hnraeh'r, both' national- and individual. Americans of to-day fully recognise how close is the bond wiiich binus together tlie best men and women oil both sides of the Atlantic. It is good to j»ad 'such u passage as the, following:— At every turn of the road, in every face, at the window, in every hedgerow and rural village is the everlasting reminder tliat. we who siieak llie English tongue are hound with the indissoluble links of our foster memories from the books audi tlie (irts, -to ways of thinking and living and growing i.u grace that wo call English. It is more tlian a lilood or breed, more, even than a civilisation, is tliia spiritual inheriUiuce that comes from thin Knglish noil; it is the realisation in. life of. a philosophy, the dramatisation of ;i human cresd. It may be understood, hut oot defined: yet it is as palpable end substantial in this earth an any material fact. Germany knows now what this Knglish philosophy means, and for half a century Germany has been preparing to combat it. Napoleon . knew it and believed in it when lir. declared threefourths of every fact is its spiritual value. France lias it, new Uussia is struggling for it. American life, hits it as an ancient ■ inheritance, and as we Americans rode through the green meadows of England tip from the i-onst, to London, for ever reviewing familiar scenes and faces and aspccts of life that we had i never seen before, we realised how much closer than blood, or geography, or politics, men grow who hold the name creed. linth the adventurers were.men of full , habit; anil their frantic but unavailing endeavours to get uniforms that would fit, and to mnke their physical camicities match those of certain of their guides and working companions at the front, are made the subject of some capital fun. There is n buoyant cheeriiies« about: the whole narrative which makes it, a motf readable production, a(ia many of the author's observations upon the possible outcome of tlie war in changing social conditions, '' remedying social injustices,, and upon the altered relations of both nations and jiulividuals aro replete with a fine spirit, of optimism as fo the future and narked by miich solid common sense,- expressed

—JAMES Thomsoh.

in. a characteristically breezy \ankee fashion. The book contains a number of vigorously drawn illustrations by that clever American artist, Mr. Touy Sarg. By all .means put "The Martial Adventures of Henry jiiul Me" on your next order list. It is a war book of a very different, kimt. from the ordinary war book, "Tim Shilling. Soldiers." In an interesting preface to a new book of war stories, "The Shilling Soldiers,'" by fl-jitis Garstin (dodder and Stouglilon), the well-known novelist, Mr. Hugh Millpole, places Mr. Gurstin's sketches of the war on the Western front on a lcvel'wilh Miss liagnold's "Diary Without Dates," .iohn Jlaselield's "Gallipoli," Cnplain liretl; Young's "Marching on Tuiiga," and "The Crescent Moon," all of which carry with tlieni, lie says, "an atniosI phore of individual personality." Mr. Walpole's warm praise -of the book will, I am sure,' lie endorsed by all who ica'i! it, for there is both poetry and realism ami a splendid all-compelling atmosp.iM'e of truth in these cleverly-wrought narratives of the heroism, tho patience, and unfailing g.-Sad. humour of the British soldier as the author met him as comrade and friend. There is nothing theatneal about lliese stories, although in more than one of, I hem is displnyed a fine gill: of dramatic prrsentiilion. - In sonle the psychological element is uppermost as in "The Diary of a Timid Man." In others, auch as ."Love o' .Woman" and "Trooper Keunaird," humour is i predominant. and iu others vet a.q:ain. .as '■'Wind in the Trenches" and "The Pigeon," the reader will recognise, with Mr. W'iilnni". a truly noetic vi<ioo. Tt is a tliensnid pities' that a'book of such fine premiss, as. this can have no successor. from the same lien, for tile author, alas, was/killed in Augu't last year whilst, fii'itiuf* with Ihc British troops against the Bolshcviki. Boni in 1890: Garstin was a scholar at Sydney Sussex Colleire. Ci'nbrWge, Mid in 1012 went- to a tutorship, in the Crimea, whence -he-'contributed lha'iy articles on Russian subjects lo the .linden Press. Oblaining a commission'in the 18th Hussars he went to France in the serine of 1!)1S, .and served w'lh the liieehinc-gun squadron at Ynres. Thietival, Albert, and Loos. In September, 1918 he was -sent lo Petrograd and attached to t'" 1 British Embassy in tlvat city on special nroparwiulii work.. In lift tiovth niul joined,the British forces ft b'em. The irony of fate decreed that 11° should moothis death "by- the people h" loved, beljeyiirg in'the future, of that land as ii'-riy of its own c't'zeiis did not.'' AYa-lpole tells us that Garstin viewed "the ope'ibii: pba--es of the Itnssian I?evolution with cascrness and. happy confidenne." To the day of bis death, says Mr. Walpole,.GaHiii/Miaverl -that "all tlie terrors of Ilolsheyism and tho horrors that accomnaii'ed it, were mere snate and turiiiicil on tli» surface, of the .current, that HW"d' '-Ircog cd certain to its annoint"d., destiny." - D»" ! n* his iifefime lie published a l-"nl-, "Friendly Eussia," of which 'Mr. Wnlpole speaks very highly. No one who reads his second, and, alas, bis lest- book, now before me. can doubt, that in Denis Garstin England has lost a., writer whose work gave promise of high literary rani; for its author. - LIBER'S NOTE BOOK A .Coming "New Conrad." \ There is, I know, u select company of. book-lovers who are always eagerly on the look-out for a' new story from the pen of Joseph Conrad. They will be glad to hear that a new- story by the author of "Tiio Uigger of the Narcissus," of "Lord .Tim," "Chance," and "Victory," will shortly ,be published under . the title, "The Arrow of Gold." It is, I read, . somewhat of a new departure iu subject, style,-and.treatment. The scene of the story is laid in Spain, about the middle years'of the 'id's "when Don Carlos de jiombon, encouraged' by Hie general' reliction of all l-liirone against tlie excesses of communistic liepnbHcanism." mode his -attempt for the throne of ' Spain." The novel, however, i= not historical in the narrow sense of the word, biifc sliows Conrad to more, than over the" romanticist.; Talking of Conrad, I notice, that two c-f his earlier,-and, ,as, I'think, his best stories, "Alniayer's Folly" and "The Outcast of the Islands" have recently been republished in Fisher Ihuvin's Adelphi Library. In each the bafckgrotuid ' is the Malay Archipelago. - 1

A Great Spanish Novelist,. When, 1. wonder,'will copies of the English translations of the novels of the Spanish writer, Blasco Ibane/,, reach New Zealand? In America they have had an .immense vogue, lbauez's masterpiece, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalvtise;" is i notice, now in its forty-second edition! It is described by one critic as the finest study of war since ."Zola's; Debacle." Two others of Ibancz's novel.?, 'English translations of which have been •published in America, are "The. Shadow 1 of the Cathedral" and "The Cabin." To the.former, (lie doyen of American litterateurs, ' the • veteran William Dean Howells, has--written an introduction in which he commits himself in the opinion that Ibanez is not only "the most 'commanding talent among' the contemporary Spanish novelists," but is "casilv 'the first Of living novelists outside of Spain. . . . The Russians Imve tcnsoil to bo nciivoly (he misters, \yith their lollowing_iu all .the countries, and .there is no l'l-enehnmn, Englishman, or Scandinavian who counts with 'Ibane/,,-and, of course 110 Italian, American, and, "unspeakably, no tierliian."

The Heart of a Fool. William Allen White is-an American 'novelist who recognises the value of tho Bible as a treasury of good book titles. Mr. White made a big hit with a story called "A: Certain Rich Man, awl lias n.iv/ produced another bearing the title "In the Heart of a Pool." Primarily it is the story -of a man' named I nomas yau Dorn, v.hn f;ivs in his lieari. -1 here is no God." Of course, the day comes when he finds out his mistake. Whenever "Liber" hears nf such a man ho. thinks of T. E. lirown s (the Manx poet) beautiful lines ' Sly Garden. A garden is a lovesonic thing, G " ll wol! lioseplot-, Fringed pool. , ferncd fcrot---The veriest school Of heii.ee; and ycL the font Contends that (!"d in not.--Not Clod| in ganicusl when Die eve is cool ? Mr,v. hut f have a aii'u; 'Tis very sure (led wains m mine. Fle?t Street in Fiction. ... ■: Stephen M'Konmi, whose "!>onia . and "Ninccy-Six Hours' Leave" have liolh lireii so popular, has written a tieok with journalistic life in Fleet Street as lis leading subicd. The title is "Midas and Son.'! I'shall be curious to sec how it compares with Mr. Philip Gilibs's "Street of Adventure," the.late Alphonse CourliMitler's "M'i'ihtier Than .'lie Sword, and that brilliant novel of Manchester >nli«m "The Iliml Let Loose, by C. M. Montague," all of which'_l. liwe on niv. shelves, and each of which :n i s ' own way. ilirows koiiu 1 fur-nns oil life'ill the centre-of English newsl.Kinerdoui. Stray Leaves.... lu com iiiemoi-Ji I ion of peace a new "victory" edition of the o y Bib c is being specially printeH at Oxford, at the famous Clarendon Press. Ihe size is quarto, ll'.in. by llin.; the .print is large black-faced "Clarendon pica, with the references in the central column, the book is-suitable either lor .pulpit use, or. when bound with illustrations a >■-<""ly rc"islcr, and, if desired, the Oxford Helite to the Study of Ihe Bible, as a most, handsome ami eonvenieih presentation or family Bible. _ Special ruled pages are prepared lor • insertion to record on a roll of honour tho names of members of the church or members of the household who fell or f oo ' l l "1 tlie Great War.-