AMONG THE BOOKS. VICTOR DALEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 78

AMONG THE BOOKS.

VICTOR DALEY.

By A. G. Stephens.

Sydney : The Bulletin Newspaper Co. This little paper-covered booklet represents a "biographical and critical notice"' — is in fact an "In Memoriam" of the late Victor Daley, and a warm appreciation of his work. The few lines by Will Ogilvie which usher in the pages of Mr Stephens's personal anecdotes and reminiscences are worth quoting for their grace and fancy : Gone is the sparkle of wine in the glass, The garland' is withered, the laughter is fled, The feet of the fairies are stopped in the grass. . . . When the "little folk" meet by the red Rowan tree The dance shall be stayed in the ring on -the plot While they twine in his green Irish isle of the s-ea, The wreath we forgot. To the charm of anecdote and memory is added the piquancy of scholarly, if indulgent, criticism. A few words which may be quoted as an indication of the style in which 6O competent a critic of Australian writers as the editor of the Bulletin sums up Daley's place in Australian literature : "Considered in their full extent, Victor Daley's verses represent a substantial Australian poetical performance. In essential poetry, in Australian character, and in some of the components of technical quality he has been surpassed often ; yet no ther m this country has written so agreeably during so long a period. . . . The chief poetical qualities of Daley's ver&e are fluency of fancy, colour of phrase, and charm of allusion. His sense of the values of words was .not good ; often he fails in melody : he lacked high imagination, and was deficient in passion. His work is based rather on vision than on feeling : his decorative mind illuminates his theme as Columba might have illuminated a missal, and sometimes the ornament is excessive. Many writers are reflected in his verse ; his fabric of hereditary fancy is shot with rich threads borrowed from many a shuttle." And so on. Enough, however has been said to show the" scope of this modest booklet, and to point out .the charm and interest it must infallibly possess for lovers of Victor Daley's verses.