SCHOOLBOY WRITERS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21732, 14 March 1936, Page 19

SCHOOLBOY WRITERS

The Threshold. An Anthology from Those at School. Edited by R. W. Moore. Selwyn and Blount. 212 pp. ' (6/- net.) Through Whitcombe and | Tombs Ltd. The pieces of prose and verse collected by Mr E. W. Moore in "The Threshold" are introduced by a former headmaster of Eton, the Rev. C. A. Alington. He makes two comments which may appropriately be repeated: that the schoolboy writers will have learnt (as the reader observes) that to write reasonably good prose is harder than to write; reasonably good verse, and,,tftat h$ is grateful that most of the-young poets have chosen strict; even difficult metres. No doubt the schoolmasters of England are, in part, responsible for this wise severity, a severity for which their pupils, however great the freedom they may later allow themselves, will be grateful. It is good that the thoughts and feelings of the relatively inexperienced should not be blurred by undisciplined form. Reading the verse for what it is, the work of schoolboys (surely of schoolboys about to enter the world), one must admire and enjoy. Most of the poets show some evidence of their enjoyment and knowledge of the English treasury of verse, especially of Keats and Shelley, and it is interesting to detect direct and indirect allusions to Flecker, who is naturally the boy's poet of romance. One tribute to these writers is that their work inspires no general comment. Some are perplexed by thoughts of war, some are outraged by inhumanity, some are engrossed in classical literature, one or two are intoxicatedwith words. The least boyish is A. D. Winterburn, whose religious verse has a quality of intense reflection that is stronger than anything else in the collection. In form a sonnet by M. J. Moynihan, "To choose between the Symptom and the Symbol," is admirable, and in developed, compressed thought it is also admirable. K. S. Kitchin and Cyril Jones, in imagination and fluent rhythm, have surpassed their fellows. "Coventry Night" by Cyril Jones may be quoted: The low wind Approaching through the grass, Like the hiss of a swinging rope. The high moon Lifted suddenly and poised, Staring white-faced on the night Empty fields Undulating towards the sea, Showing their twisted shape to the sight. The black air Offering no resistance, ! Yet hostile, and heavy with slow intent. Some pieces of verse, translations for example, seem to have been written as class exercises, and several prose pieces are obviously themes. With a few brilliant ex-j ceptions the prose is duller and more stilted than the verse. The best work in the book is a short and fanciful story by J. M. Kisch, "Take Thy Rod and Stretch Out Thine Hand." This sharply conceived and narrated story gives a new turn to an old fancy and is right in every detail. Intelligence and knowledge, superior even to those of Macaulay's schoolboy, are displayed by A. C. Bailey in an open letter. to Mr G. B. Shaw..; This essay is not without bite, and its text is "It is only as an oddity that'you have become really famous." Bailey and the poet, Winterburn, wrote from the same school, Hymers College, Hull. From the same school comes an ingenious and effective one-act play by C. H. Whiteley, "Fate." If any examples of smartness or. sheer precocity were submitted to the editor, > he has suppressed them. Every contributor has something sincere or thoughtful to say, and has expressed himself without affectation. No doubt some of the names set before the public for the first time will soon be much, better known; but here at least they are in good company. The secondary schools, if the comparison is not odious, have furnished better work, and more of it, than the public schools. This' is not the first of such school anthologies, but it resembles the others in that.the girls of England arejwt given a voice, j