THE READERS' COLUMN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 63, 3 August 1914, Page 6

THE READERS' COLUMN.

(liy James Wortley.)

THE PFRM.ANEXGE OF POETIC KXt'IIKSSIOX. Mr I!aliV;ir i,, ever ~t i,j s i,ost when following hi:; penchant for literature,and mingling in f<>nfcroii<.-i> with the student miml of tin- world The Morninf Post reports at hngth a very line addres, he rece'nlly gave us president of the English Association

Answering liis cwn query, "Why does anybody u<c poetry;" Mr' Balfour proceeds to outline some of the. reasons for which poetry is used and for which i* is remembered after every form of pros,, expression i, forgotten". The 'human mind derives great satisfaction in seeing a difficult tiling admittedly done Argument through poetic expression ahorda such gratification to everyone who really understand* one of the pleasures—and not one of (he least, of the p'oasurcs. which literature is eapable of iving us. For instance: "It is an argumentative poem, a didactic poem, that there occurs a simile which Dr. Johnston declared to lie the best simile in the English language-very high praise from a very great critic, 'it is that in i which the po< having oxpained that j in our early youth we think the field of learning may be easily conquered, and < that as we get on in life we sec the

5 difficulties increased before us, intre{duces to famous simile which end with the line: 'Hills peep o'er hills, and A'ps on Alps arise.' If may be worth your while looking up the passage; it is an admirable one." Then, too, Mr Balfour piveeeds to say, the poet lias a method of intensity and concentration not allowed to the prose writer. The latter is expected to proceed from point to point in jogical sequence, perfectly understandable to the ordinary reader while the poet leaves much 1 of the argument to he taken for granted, skipping from point tc point with what he (Mr Balfour) terms telegraphic concentration. This method of illusion a»d suggestion is admirably illustrated by quoting four lines from Keats' famous sonnet to Homer: '"Or like stout Cortez when with eagle I eyes Ho stared at the Pacific—and ail his men Eookcd at each other with a wild siirmise—bilcnt, upon a peak in Darien." NOTES.

_ Till' Time,, which ivcaitly was re-C.::.-:.l io one penny in price, 'reports its circulation a.-, now ( ilay, 1914) exceeding < opu-., daily,' when at twopence the highest tin illation reached was 53.130 in liti:;. Two hundred per cent, increase in cireuation in a lew months is surely good business. Very intcrc ting records have ben unearthed in a London solicitor's oflii-■ the shape of parchment re'or,:.. of the JJi.ick Prince. T..ohc re ale .:...... interesting domestic d'tail-, ;mil ti!•■ 28!) pages of paivlnnent are desirib.d as tile -Kaicnder of the ISlack i'.,w/. diary." One entry i, tiui.-. i.'a;isi:i.c.. "To our well-beloved clcr.; il.ar .1 • li'.akeboiirne, treasurer of oa>- h.iu :■- hold, greetings. Whereas we i;.n • given and granted ti. our heaved Jsi.i ■ ol Oxford. oiK-e our nurse, a tun o. v, ;•: >. We order ,t!iis to be done. l)e ivor .i' our wines of a tun o: g. O.i win.' :■ e.r. <;i\en in the Hostel of the liishon of Ely. ißih dune, 1357.'' •Numbers 8(i to !!U. inclusive, are ju-t published in the I); in.. Univer'sitv .library. The titles are: "Sex," j "Chaucer and ills Times" "The drowt.'i j »'' Kurop"," "Wil'-iai.i Morris," and "The Church of Kiigl.m-,!.'' _>'i;\v xovkls. '-Golil." by Stewart Edward Whit... I London: Hoildcr and Stcughloji, 1914. We are an adventurous people. Theiv h still in our btiod tliat which sent Drake and ILuvkins marauding and lundering.uiid drove the Ln.yib.li peoples to every point of the compass, there to colonize and found ccmniunities analogous to the idea! English community of the Homeland. 'Perhaps this is wliv, whether in actuality or by dipping into the pages of a bock at the -fireside, we follow the adventurous life such a writer as Stewart White grips us. It is in such a manner Unit Steveiisoi grips us with "Treasure Island" and

"Kidnapped." Fr>. are strangers to-"/ that period of our ! ."s of which Steven- * son speaks, when i'.in behind the sof. / tigers sprang and n,' -'cry lurked on the. other side of the door —mystery and enemies. And the-: ncniics'our "sisters id brothers, whon we would engage over the chairs. "Gold" throbs'with this pure clement o! adventurous romance, and may easily | rank as the first novel of the 'year of 1 its kind. Tile period of the story is that whie'i sent the. ronineiv and restless folk I streaming across Panama -and round j the Horn to the wonderful Californian ! goldlields. From the time Talbot Ward j met our hero in New York and they I set oli' on iheir wanderings until they ■me again into San Francisco, entirely successful, there.is not, a duli' moment —nay, a dull word even. Of the frantic rush to California and the wild and picturesque life of th? diggings we get. a vivid and well-drawn ! picture. "Gold" is a distinct relief from i "the novel with a purpose," and conies like a breath of mountain air after long experience of stagnant lowlands. It wi'l he read and re-read. '

"Maid of the Mist." by John Oxenhani. London: Hoddr-r and Stongliton. 1914. It matters little whether Mr. Oxenham tells us of the Channel Tsbinds or takes us across the At'antie, as he does e.w; we have either way the pounding waves on a rugged coast, and the characters smell strongly of the sea. ''ln the Maid of the Mist" he tells an unconventional and pleasant enough tale. Mr. Oxonham has made sea-lore a hobby, and he gives a graphic account of the life lived by those whom fate or irelinafion causes to I've in thr l desolate places wheTc sea spray and sand drift provide* all I here is of the world to see. *T>ool;j for revh-'v from Mr A. S. TSroe'ier. the U.K. P'ok Whop, ]>von st.