The Press. Saturday. April 8, 1916. A Spiritual Anthology.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15560, 8 April 1916, Page 8

The Press. Saturday. April 8, 1916. A Spiritual Anthology.

The name of Dr. Robert Bridges, tho Poet Laureate, has not been blared very loudly by the trumpet of fame. There are vast numbers of "general

"'readers" who know nothing of him beyond his name: and many not even that. Ho has lived and thought and meditated and written in a world of his own. hut a world ol' exceptionally fine tone and quality. We do not mean that Dr. Bridges has pursued literature in detachment from the things which deeply affect his countrymen. Far from it: tho very things that most deeply affect them are those which appeal most strongly to his refined and sympathetic muse. Few men in tho present crisis have touched tho world-sorrow with a moro sure .nd tender insight. And of this ho lias just given fresh proof in a very remarkable form, fie has collected an anthology in verse and proso from the writers many ages and many lands. This anthology differs in its principle of selection from all other anthologies. Such collections hare been made on .ill sorts of principles. "We have those •from the poetry of an epoch; certain kinds of poetry, such as lyric, etc.; tho poetry of certain themes, such as birds, flowers, the sea, patriotism, etc. ; tho poetry of old age; and so on through a long catalogue, according to the fancy of collectors, and the fancy of the public for tasting things in compartments. Dr. Bridges has set liimsjlf tho task of collecting, from far and near, food for tho spirit of man weighed down with sorrow, sickness of soul, the vacillations of hope and dread, and all the woe and horror which submerge the world in this prosent evil daj-. He has garnered tho wise and lofty, or tender and consoling, things that men have uttered, 'n order to minister solace or steadfastness and strength to al[ who sorrow or quake as they walk through tho present valley of the shadow of death.

If the conception is worthy of a large and sympathetic soul, the manner in which it is carried out is sc original as to be at times bewildering and amazing. lier 6 is a man who goes his own way, guided solely by the clear light of a definite purpose, and sustained by the lofty sense of a mis-

sion. It is a strange journey this, through the inner experiences of tho soul of man: and, as we hold the hand of our guide (like Dante that of Virgil)., we often wonder whither ho is leading us. At one moment we arc with Childhood, at another with Death; at another we are groping among Faiths and Philosophies. and in a moment we are breathing the air of love and romance. Wo pass from Plato to Spinoza, and then find ourselves among the deep things of Holy Writ, newly translated for tho occasion. On one page Tolstoi, on another Blake; here a few words from Ilabindranath Tagore, there an exquisite and tender little poem of Keats. Hoary sayings from the Chinese, mystic utterances from the Russian, meditative wisdom from the Persian; and then striking things from some very recent writings of which many of us never heard before. Sometimes we have wholo poems, or at least, a whole stanza; sometimes two or three detached lines. We have noted theso selections of two lines each; they are from Burns, Spenser, and John Masefiekl's "Everlasting Mercy." And if one asks, had Burns or Spenser no more than this to say to the sad and the suffering, we must remem'ber that the field of selection was vast, and voices had to bo heard from many ages and nations. All translations are made by the anthologist himself into English, or modified from standard versions; only French extracts are allowed to stand in their own language. There are some notes; but we aro urged to steep ourselves in the actual words, and try to solve difficulties for ourselves.

It is all like some grand mosaic or woven tapestry of the human soul, and is well named "The Spirit of Man." It might serve noble and lofty purposes at any period or tinder any conditions; but it has been created for the present times, and it is by its capacity for healing and elevating under present conditions that it must be judged. It ■will do much: but too much must not be expected. Every heart knows its own bitterness, and human capacity for tho higher and grander consolations is limited. It may be, too. that the immense range and kaleidoscopic variety of the contents may militate againsf. unity of effect. The great traditional consolers, such as the. Bible. St. Augustine, or Thomas ii Kcmpis are absorbed because they are deemed to be the voice of one pervading spirit; and the simple soul which feeds on them is not distractcd by a multitude of voiccs or interpretations. Here (at least for the simple soul that needs consolation) there is a danger of bewilderment, and the sufferer may be driven

to seek repose elsewhere from what

appears to be a capricious jargon of many tongues. And. on the other hand, the dabbler in literary curiosities may bo impressed chiefly by th e immense ingenuity and learning displayed, which is the very last effect that the author would have desired. For he is no mere collector of literary bric-a-brac.

A deep unity pervades the whole, and everv selection is suffused with light from its neighbours. He tries to inspire us with his own sense of exaltation in contemplating the ways and manifold windings of the spirit of man. And it will be strange and sad if there are not thousands of men and women today who will rise from repeated perusals of this wonderful book with balance of mind restored, moral courage braced, and the whole nature purified and elevated to a larger and saner outlook.