A NEW ZEALAND SHEAF.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 289, 6 December 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

A NEW ZEALAND SHEAF.

.HereJs a, bundle of booklets of New Zealand verse. "Bob'.' La>vlol - , who • has written under the pen-name of "liuthyn," publishes "Pink May, and Other Verses." These arc pleasant verses in humour and sentiment, about such subjects as the old windmill in Syinonds Street, horses in Quay Street, and dog days in the city, when one longs for the coolness and the sweetness of "Sleepy Tapu by the Sea." There is a deeper note in "Autumn Butterflies," which has a real out-of-doors beauty, and in "The Little Sisters." The drawings by' Hilda Wiseman, Richard Self and the author add to the' attractiveness of Miss Lawlor.'s little book. "Tho Mystery of the Moa," described as "a souvenir of New Zealand," by Charles Oscar and Elsie Palmer (Whitcombe and Tombs), is the most original of the four volumes before us. It tells how Tane, the forest god, asks Ao-tea-roa what lias become of the moa, and how birds and, trees are unable to tell him. Then comes the. identification of the moa from a single bone by the great scientist Owen, and there is mourning for the vanished bird. It may be gathered from this that the poem takes risks with the ridiculous, and indeed there are couplets that diop with rather a jerk, but the story has something of the swing and savour of a Maori recital, and something of the true primeval atmosphere of Ao-tea-roa. "Primroses For My Fair," by Esma North (from Harry H. Tombs, Ltd., Wellington), is a volume of miscellaneous poems that show deep feeling, and here and there some real success in expression. "The Song of the London Bus" will appeal to those who have seen London from the top of this friendly vehicle, and "Etchings from My Study Window" (Bedford College, London) recapture interest of London from another angle. The memorial to the friend whose spirit "slipped off to heaven in the morning chorus* of the birds" is touching. Mr A. C. Hanlon, an Auckland poet, has published two slim volumes within the last six months. His powers are not equal to his ambition which is lofty, though he does not disdain lighter mood. There is most merit m his sonnets.