The Letters Of Annabel Lee

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 12, 7 October 1927, Page 6

The Letters Of Annabel Lee

My Dear Elisabeth,So in your mountain fastness you long for news of the world and its ways, and, from the land of brown health and shaggy wood, your thoughts in this merry spring time lightly turn to thoughts of clothes. Very alluring are the new things artfully displayed on the immaculate waxen ladies of the drapery harem. Something to suit both prince and pauper, the printed voiles m a little shop on Lambton Quay being a joy to the eye, and of a surety will prove a lure for mere iman when worn by the dainty maiden of to-day. In gay colours these, roval blue, and red, and cool, calm green. But also for the greying hair, the Juncesque figure, there are soberer liues, more dignified textures. While noting fluctuations of the mode in the D),1.¢., Hlsie and I admired some clever marqueterie work achieved by disabled soldiers in the Christchurch district. Candlesticks, teapot stands, fascinating smallish oval mirrors, bordered with gaily-colonred flowers and fruit, also a lamp that can be moved around when onc is feeling restless, with a decorative shad: your soul would love, this latter desirable item: for the moderate price of two pounds. How well they work, our men, in peace and in war. Kveryone is clever nowadays, don’t you think? Yon absolutely have to be, if yon are going to count for anything at all. Life is in italics all the time, and the day of the dud is over. No Christian charity, remains for failure, as in the Victorian era; when age, no matter how ponderous, was be-pedestalled, and youth, no matter how dazzling and daring, was snubbed, ; Of the making of ‘lat. there is no end in these later days; but, oli! the. difficulty of choosing one among the many that so dab themselves, from the palatial piles that fancy themselves on The Terrace to a "but and a ben" at Newtown, Gallons of hot water, and an absence of noise of the more violent description, these are the gods of my domestic idolatry, ‘The strident?

gramophone, the bacchanalian ditty of the fate roysterer as he staggers up the steps, the big boots of boys, the clash and the clang of those who, through lack of imagination or the act of God, cannot unfold a newspaper or pass the salt without raising a clamonr. All these, and more also, are to be endured in flats, unless chosen carefully. However, here I am _ installed in quite a passable one; and, as ever, Richard, the kind and good, helped me over the stile by wielding the hammer with his strong right hand, and giving me the benefit of his excellent taste 1n arranging the harassing numher of household gods one collects, and hanging the pictures. which are a light unto my path. Fain would I have purchased a water-colour or two from the academy show now going strong. One handsome minx tempts me from her gilded frame, attired in the equivalent of Joseph’s coat, and reminding me of you. A%so would I, and I could, add to my collection a dim landscape by Miss D.K. Richmond, with delicate nuances of lights and shadows, and a flowery study by M. O. Stoddart, whose work I have long loved. But, dear heart, some pictures there cause my hair to rise and my flesh to creep; verily, if cut into squares, each bit framed and hung would convey as much meaning as these bewildering slashes of paint. The newest of the new in art is hard for poor, plain people +» grapple with; and many of the latest verselets of the extremists appear to me, a lover of literature all my life, something like a corruscation of hiccoughs! You remember Evangeline? She has just returned from a little journey in Wurope, and for the moment dress, and the appurtenances thereof, are her topic. Wer garments are wonderful in cut and line, ingennously simple, arrestingly short. One coat of allure is of the softest, slinkiest velvet, with enormous hem and collar of what looks like chinchilla and, being so, is worth a ransom; but I suspect it of being our old friend, the ubiquitous bunny, bred heyond recogni-

tion, especially to resemble the delectable chinchilla, at which species of camouflage I hear certain English furriers are very clever. Yet another entertainment for the Karitane Hospital, which some day soon should rear itself into a Hans Andersen Palace of Gold for beautiful babies, if people go on giving pleasant and profitable entertainments on its behalf. ‘Oh, Lady! Lady!’? produced by Dayid Deyitt, and his numerous and clever dancing pupils, went well, though wobbly in parts. The libretto was diverting, as was to be expected from the witty pen of Mr. P. G. Wodehouse; the music melodious, and the dancing of varied character, ranging from classic posturing, with drapery of the scantiest, through grades of aggressively high kicking and toe danciny of incomparable suppleness, to the broadly humorous effort of two amusing young comedians. In the acting of the operetta two performances stood out with crystal clearness: Miss Gretta Stark, with a beguiling little soprano voice, youthful, fresh, and appealing; and Miss Kathryn Murie quite amazingly good as ‘Fainting Fanny,’ the nice and naugnty little crook. Miss Murie, in addition to a graceful and charming appearance, brings to her work a sound and finished interpretation. When do you purpose cwming to town? The gorse flames on the Tinakori hills, the hyacinths and. carnations bloom (alack, for most of us, only in the florists’? windows), the pigeons preen and prance in the dusty city ‘streets. Do you want new curtains or clothes? And would you like me to chose some from the charming variety that, like a Magic Carpet, spreads itself before the blue eyes of Eve? Now that you have your wireless, bringing you into communion with the wide world, you will feel less inclined than ever to stir from the thatched cottage, the garden, and the man of men. So if you want anything sent along, books or begonias, flowers or frivolities, do let me know.----Yorr. |

ANNABEL

LEE