BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 15, 12 October 1907, Page 13

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

♦ - '• CURRENT LITERATURE AND, ' ? / COMMENT, 'V VEftSES OLD AND NEW. 1 •, SLAVING AT LIFE. . Under tho pillars of,tho sky ' I played'at'Lifo—'l knew/not why. ■ i. ■ ®h» f gruvft' recurrence of the Day •. f Was matter of my trivial play.4•' ' . ' The/Solemn. Stars; tho Sacred Night I.took for- toys.of my delight. Till; now, with startled;oyes l see ' Tho-portents of Eternity. -C. <• G. D. Eoborts, in' the • ''Windsor ''■ MagaainO." ; '■; ; s , _ THE RGAD-MAEERS ( ;•< . 'A rich: man, , and a ..man of milnito ... • :. Power,. . .',.■-■ : ■ '■* ~ Planned, out. a forest road itl. ilttktiown .v . '•!• lands;..... . ... !<■ v-;.: -;-; . ■ ,|v,, 'Arid, fortliwitn draw from every , side of ■:. -Mert toil,'.to how .and clear His. And they.' not 'knowing why,, greatly. . Soacraineu, , •. ~' Tailed; in,,their, millions), beating. out ' .-s I; tho:track.. .. 2V , y '(j,!Arid,ilrst~.they.:toiled for foodand had •■'■. no wage,. i But undef;.stripes thoy tolled.. and • hot w'lij; . -'i. Eaeh -took.: his, food and, Stripes, and : u. Vi ■ ■-! in the ( fulne'ss;a'nd.'dtie, growth of ' . t '' (Sleti ifioiight ,ft.' wtgS)'; aid .fought the :. •> MpOWOfftil.tfiaii! - ! bitter ,:. BtfUgglo.. dottfi, he r -•>.■•■■• i. .v. < : .;;eo, men;toiled- less, j^ot,.none. ,the mofo ' r^Vi^tliOS.knOwi:,.... ■ ■;,, :; *. All -their ; toll) of Thither drew the They iiawed and dragged/j cleared . • ' ahd iiiid the fOad, ' . '. Baohstookjbis • atid/ toiled) and Xnd.'at the Ond of mUtij'bittOr 1iv0A.,.. ■Metf tu'rtiisd aM asked ;theif brothofS: . '^v'-^. i 'Whrthi ß .tciii?;." . Vfhyl th is, great ,toi) ?V,And.. Vhithor. ,'Afld. while, the(fflahy'sitaply. Wrought,, ... V 1 ,tho fow ~ , ~ ,&i11,,-.dro\v aMrt,' : Jiile9titinedj add i!.-j: : ,1 ,'AndvSdifie, advpntvifoug, SOulS r tot)k. life, .: ' • ':V'\,in hand,'.'.. X:.,. ■ ; ■;, inta ;alonej' ~!And' ioSt ,thcti' l .Hves ,;to. find f the .'rich . . mß6'».gb.iii . And ; soihesought citieEl' J ,pf feold, some | ir; ;-^ibli?sful^resV'":, : :''X>■ iV, : - .r ' - I]or v .many'i tallcfefs, ;,told ' f the Simple, ■ peojSlov f -i.- t ' Initai-yin| wiß6/' the'.Biiifi find grid : of ?. itll(' ■' ' /'y >; i • But all tho Wise nlpn ( hewed aiid drag-; i. •'. • 'And-' afckM. no: wdfdj' but. pUifely eahied 'i ■ ' ;.,*tlie ; :'wAge'....' . '. , a fpfesl>twili6lit a .littlo, Rooking on his • ' tLe tfiik) When /dittiier Was. lAnd' minutes leit till , work ■To ilm/fiahtemplative orift came .and,

"Why all this toil, Whithef the road, . ' " >what 6ndP" i 'Aadf hdj huggirig thb pipe, coiit6mpla- ' l * tlve, ■' Made' answer thus !: Works but i for a wage? , " ,< -My .wage I have, in Soin, ill life, In i' . kindness, \ \ ■: •, i "i 'And knitting 6f the bands twixt man | , <■ and Man. . . > *.• is, .toil; and and i i toll, 1 •. Wifo, - children, home, the shade, the I :• sun ( tho air. . 4 I 1 , Buoh • aft' the measure is, - the measure's full. Car's the dfccp 'bluq -air, the starry lift, vlAffiiall things speaking comfort uflto ' i "tan. , . Ours thfe :right to toil, , and oiirs the : • wage j : . .■■■ . • i . , JWhy/should our life bo. buttressed ' • ... with a dream? . .• : '"i \ Iff hat ■ signifies tho goal, when Now. is horeP , ■■ 'Beds;if you will.the gaud; leave me >> tho face fieek yoit the. golden city, or the. pearl ; ' ■■■.*.. Seek you,, the .drowsy blisses and tho land : . Ojfv droams-come-tfuo, .and lasiy : plains ■ i-... • • .ind isles . , ' ■■ .Of.beauty, and of tohderne&s supreme. ■ Hefo rßib 1 Still l and rest, then • work :■ . and wAgo. 1 ' ■:< AVall,■ ill the "Lone Hand " ■ ■ LITERAftV. STRENCTH OF TO-DAY. , NOVELS OLD AND NEW. , • vie there a: more'irritating.COnyerB&tiOttal of- dlSCUssibuftl note than that ■ which 'insists upon tho literary ■: ■ ; Hiss ,6f 'to-dfty?-! asks Mr Erie Hatil.moiid,-. in a vigorous letter;of protest . to the "Morning l'o&t." ' v !;.'»{?Suwly it is a f«ir enough question . to ask?: 'Why should oilo, at. the bid--,dmg" of; tho vsupcriorj; pefso.fi, , be, (Or \ ;i'feignVto .bejvasnamed of .one's, time in ~' .. ; aiiy."'6ehse, especially indeed in the lit- • ••, trarytsonse ■ Lot ,tho . disCordants, se- ' ,'■■.?'leetj any .ceiituryi that may .appeai to notunearth'ih tliat ile--1 r ; parted • century any ' pentntin whose • :• Work" excelled that.of. 'Tho 'Children,' '.. • ; and. 'The;lMaiiiers';,of the 'Ghetto. 1 Tho , •'M3ttr'ass-liihkcr, , i .the .'Joyous .Comi-atle,', ■ thelight on those ' that 'Walk • irt .Darkness,' would take more beating. than' ouf, discOrdfmta can bestow*;' ,

■ 121 Prajse Of To-day. ■■ ■■ [ 'fl'jidye : iii my mind tho author of . fTreriure' Island;', and his Wofk; and , "him, .alid \tlie wbrk of liitn, .who helped m on with .'A' Window in Thrums.' Ji ;>&?Somebody's 'Little Novels,: of i .■ltaly'; will-iftit , bb.'forgotteii 'in:' due bastednof-frill .'Byi.Kecfar's,Tents' : be •• gu'on ithoigbrbyj -yet awhile..' The joint producers April', make that • iriohthr»T3l6ome;;tlie whole,year-round. ' Their.'Bath'Comedy: steeps lis gladly .iv.thVatmosphefo they .recreate, and. . 1 will steep (Air children' ill it just as joyously; 'Far ' frOhi' the Madding ... Ciowd' has, riot seen its" last days yet, , afid, perhaps, ~above; tho : ;discord, the . . <Voico..of /piantijofitlie Cr6ssways : may • : make -, mutfid. nioro than a .memory. Ibe.'o: areithreO:brothers^who are say- • • • ing. their.say,.each after his own fashion, 1 each charmihg.tliose who listen, • '6nd'.holpiiig-upward'and onward by tho chariti. 'The King's' Achievement' • : #nd* '.Tlto..Qncen'i»TrSgfedy'-' make ,us „, see and know that-thoro' aro two Sides to overy phase Of. life ; make us reauliso ~that .our individual point; of .view .'/' required whittling .dOwri in,SOtilb Wise. • • Has not the: 'Hill .'of.. Troublo' : lifted • 'cufvlagging'stops? ,Did-not.'The.lm- ' - age in tho'Sarid'.teMnfoftfi ud-o,f things' halfrrcmortiberod) If remembered at ■. all?'. : ; I"' i ■ "Those of.liS.who love 6wt'lndia are ■ unashamed. iil<Ouf adoration of 'Kim.' .■. whose .'ereAtor,;..sWoly, ,needs tl6 patv. ting-on'tho;'' : hacki,, i Ahoth6rriiovelisfc , exists afiiong-uS, to .oiif. Undying gra- , titude, whiise, 'Peggy', and her felicitoils 'IntrtlfiionS' prove, if proof tfefo in ahywiSo waiiting, that the divinity of truth and manhood and womahli.ltess. can;i even at this moment, bo. {nought to boar upon 'the common round;' . ... ■i ~ In Defence of the Modern Novel. ', "If I' nave clung to ,tho .novel and Epokori' ifiy .appreciation of some novel- . lsts-;of.yto-dayj classing them, not to frith their predocessors of the past, it. is because I dis'•tlnguish in the novel a force thai informs and educates imore readily, 'nay, I i.lielieV'i lastingly, than 'any other.*; It were idle indeed to deny that there'are novelists of to-day

having tho fancy and tho art. 1907 is no 'pale shadow of - tho glorious years that, lie behind tiS)' nor are tho dwellers on this, bright littlo island of ours 'tho; most ignorant and ; tho most boastful of all on tho.faco of. the earth.' 1 ebntondj. and I think with excellent roason, that i'tho present,_ \vitli its bewildering and ; contradictory crossctirrdntß, with its profound poverty and ottounding* wealth,' is a fruitful and very vital /historic period, and that it ■gathers Up tho harvest of tho past nud sows seed that; givos fino promise for tho futuro; in tlio reaim of'tlio novol not. tho least.' "To-day shine's fritlra lustre of its own, fadeless,' ineradicable, loaving,\ as ii) moves, Madiahco that must onduro. And, 'ftS- we'haVo seen, tho light that illumines - the lustro is; supplied by tlio oil of the novel writer."- . Mr. Andrew Lang's Views. ilr. Androtf Lang and, Mr. H. Bolloc Ihvo both ..crossed; swords , with Mr. •Hammond and his contentions. Yory well ; ' tlio oil is, good enotigh for Mr. Hammond, and oilo can only congratulate him on his poWors of onjoymont. lleally," "'rites Mr! Andrew . Lang, , "thero is' no uso: iri. .disputing about matters of taste.lf.ho thinks that,all' the romances' which hb : names—most of them unknown to mo—will live as long os tlio works of Fielding, Miss Austen, Scott, Thl6keray,.aud ; Dickens j that they are and deserve to bo familiar to ,all 'men' as household words, tlie cofrecthess: of his' judgment Can • only bo proi'ed or disprovedby Time. May ho 'live to' Bfce, fifty years hence) tho Oharactors' of 'In Kedar's,'Tents',' as, Well roiiiombet'ed as Mr; • Collins or AildreW Fairservico, of tlio" Mulligan, or Sam Wellor, or; tho philosophorSquaro. Fifty 'years hence.'niaj! 'Tho Hill Of Trouble' Still.'liftVtho 1 lagging stops of: nil; unborn' generation. May 'Tho Imti'ge' itt "tho' Sand' bo as bfton ropfiiitod as 'Old. Mortality,' mid may 'The Scarlot Pimpernol' ' out-last' |Tho Scarlet Letter' 1 Timo aiid' the' future alono' can judge between tlio author of 'A Nonconfofmiat Parsoii'. and tho author Of 1 ' 'Esmond.''' ;It 'is riot'' for an .'aged; arid infirm • sheoji'to prophesy; but, if; I ttiust' bo catidld, I confess tniit,l regard ' Jlf.\ HamlriOnd'sVmodern master-* pieces. i as' '' illoiiuinentJi' lefis eriduring than bronze. •... '. I: ain not'' donyiiigthat many dWUSihg' novelists 'exist j I' 6iily doubt'tho pcrmaiidiice of" their, ■ bfeations.' I am not saying that', 'the literary world is in extremis,' I only think that We are, not living in ail ago •Woh 'in creativO genius. l But"'Byron: thought liis own,age like tliat of Claudiali, 1 nOV Of •Virgil,' 'arid, why Should I, bo ■in ore infallible than Byron P, 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'.' may be fts good a hoVol 'as ''Tom'jJones,'' and 'The imago in tho Saild' iriay be sulierior iri human interest to ' 'The • Heart • Of Midlothian.' " ■! .'■■ ; What Mr. Belloc Thinlts,

"Tho literature of quite tho last fow yfears, and.what 'promises to be the literature of tho uflxt few, appears to. ire," writes Mr. 'Hilaifo, "to have two qualities ; ill 'which it. differs fiom that of the past;. Neither is to lts^advantago. ! ; The first of these qualities is what'l may call a lack of stay-' liig power; and the;,second is the absenco, and for that matter the AegligCncb, of i a' great number, of important literary, categories.Of tllo recognised divisions into which" literary effort may fall tho following seem to mo in ft very bad way just now in England.: History, Apologotie's,, PaMpliloteorihg,; Biography, and Satire. . . '. Then 'also there, are certain oktogoHes whieli, .so far as moderrt Ertgland is 'concerned, have dropped' out ,ef .oxistenfco. 'altogether; Among these I may mention' the Epic, tho Drinkilig; Song, the Marching Song)' the Good Speech, the 'Repartee (a Careful thoUghMiUt; Written thing iiß avrulo), ,tho Epitaph,, the DediCatiorf, L ' thd' J Ele , gy i ,'. the Ode, : tho Secular Hymh,' tllo Chronicle, and many others'ilow. dead. '' The Lack oJ Staying Pdwer.

■ "Now as -to',the other fault, which I find in hYcdei'ri. English literature, i mean the lack of: staying powor, that seoiri& ,tt>. ..tie; pit .tile Whole tlio graver bf 'tlid two. ! A)iiy 6110 of us Can call to riund fr6iii."foUttcen'.to.' twenty-eight first-class poets, fifty: or sixty epochnlaliifig 'nb'vois (mostly of, a. religious kind)/ nild a full gross or more of political prophecies .'which Wero to have been . classic, i mid" which; never. grew nibro, than., the j Wonder of a season. This .is triioj' unfortunately,. eyott of verse v 'Where ib the, man to-day who .frill/write you Verso oil occasion whqn it -is. ordered as Tennyson could .write it, or Victor Hugo Could, or as Mr. Gilbert (lid for the' newspaper "Fun". in the/old days ? And that; reminds.me of afiothef thing;in find department there is. no failure 5. that department i 6 tho department'; of Farce. , i ~ , Wo arc • worse, it- keoms to ;ine, in all ■ other branches than OU'r Obfttoiiiporaries in France, acquainted with tlio durious-Russian. tongue asaill'o 1110 tliat the Writers in this also okcel us." ...Chronicle mid Comaieut. Tho Nobel Prize Rumour. Tlio rumtnir montibned ill . this column last week that tlio Nobel Prize for" Literature' .has • this year /gtine to Mri Kipling, is : still jthcoiifil-mcd by ' anything ! in tlifi'- 1 papers that arrived from England this Week. ' The rumour lias Bet'on .foot, a disciisSlbii, lioWovor, iis to tlio proper person for the i reward. '; TII6 ''Manchester !' Guardian"; thinks Nobel's money ebuld be turned to bottor account than , tlio; rewarding of an'already Weilthyman.;" Writers who attain so'great.a popularity as Mr. Kipliiig," says the "Utiardiaii/' are in little" need of '• big financial rewards. But ' what it' number of instances one. call 'dorive'frbm: acquaintance with literary history wliero fetich''a lump sum as. tho Nobel Trustees allot each year Would have, proved the' turningpoint in'a career. •On'o thiiiks of Mr. Meredith,'toiling in poverty and neglect to ertdoftour literature with one of'its) finest portrait-galleries Sitis ah open' secret that''at" one' time lie' was reduced to cultivating' his' muse on literal .'oatmeal, in, consequence, of his stern''dotermihatipii to; educate : tlio' public up to his lovel,' rather than descend 'tb their' for' pbt-boilihg purposes. One thinks'of Oarlyld recording 111 his journal as ii document for the future historian of literature., that for 23 months lie had riot succeeded in earn- 1 ing a single penny by his pen,arid that jit the tinie when he had already pub-liishod-.'Sartor'.Rcsartlls,' arid was meditating'tho'great, epic' of tlio .'French Revolution.' How much of Browning's poetry should we' possess',' for instance, if he had not beon ,exempt by.a fortunate .heredity'from tho need' of earnihg his own living?. But of course tho thing is impossjblc.. No Nobel Trustees of any generation would havt\ endowed Carlyle bn tile,' strength of 'Sartor,' or Mr. .Meredith on ..the, strength of 'Richard ' Fevere!.' " One. thinks,, too, of poor, George CSissing,..';'; Some New Keats. v .' In tho new • Clarendon press edition of Iveats, edited by Buxton Forman, thero appears a facsimile of sixteen lilies from: the autograph of "Tlio Eve of St. Mark." These have novor been in print .before, ■ Whether tlioy wore to form part of the poem 61' had' already been.;rojccted when tho effort was givoil up is hot- clear. They, i come botweon "Was parcelled Oltt from time to time" and "Als writith lie of swevonis," and they, run: — Gif yfc -tfbl. stondoh bardie wight— Atnitidies of' the blftcke night— Biglite in, tho churcho porcho, pardie, Zo wbl bohold a; com panic Aprtouchen thee'full clolouroiise For Sooth to sain from evcrich houso. Be it Ih City or village, Wol come the Plmiito.ni and image Of ilka (font and ilka carle Whom.eoldo Deathe hath in parle And Wol some day that Very year Touchen with foule venime And sadly, do them r.U to. die- 1 Horn all shall thou see verlie— . , And evorichon shall by the pass All who must dio that year Alas.

It is of little intorcst oxcopt as making it quito cortain that this legend was to bo tho' mOtivo of tlio poom. "Appouohon", should probably bo "approcnen." Tho Novel play. "Tho oxistenco of tho novol-play," thinks tho "Glasgow Ilorald," "might bo defended on tho ground that tho particular novol selected was originally ooncoived in dramatio form, and that a novol may contain at least tho material for a play. Bnt what shall be said in extenuation of that latost litorary atrocity, tho play-novel, that blatant . attempt to paint tho black-and-white sketch, put clothes on the statuo, and- crown tho vogue of tho stago by tho oxploitation of tho circulating library? If tlio play was good, tho novol will bo bad; if, as is nioro likely, the play Was bad, tho novol will bo infinitoly worse. Thoro is chemistry but no alchemy. in art. The quartz of fact may bo sublimated either into a fictional ruby or. a dramatic diamond; but no real transmutation can tako placo between tho diamond and the ruby. There'is one' glory of tho sun, hn'd'another of tho moon; and anotlior of tho stars.' But these are not likely to bo kept in mirfd by a generation which looks for a story in a picture and a drama in a sym-: phony; nor to bo insisted upon by litorary huckstor6 who find their best account 'iri gullibility and. ignoranco. - A Love Song. .. I am dazzled; with lovo of thee, .. . .Eivlin a ruinl. . To. praise you is joy to too, .' ] ', . Eivlin a ,ruin 1 . ' • .' My glory 6f light/art thou I My Sqlaco'mdst bright art thou I ■My mirth and my Might art thott! ' ■•■•Eivlin; a ruin! ' 1 —i?rom tho,Erse. A Noble Tribute. V ! ' , A noble tribute to the . lato Karl Blind is paid by Mr.. Swinburne in tho "i)'ortuigtitly Review", for, Soptembor, to whioli he. contributed the Memorial Versos in, honour of; his dead ,friend. We quote the, two concluding fitanzaß: . .. OUiv glorious century gone Behold. no head' that shofto More clear across tho storm) above the ." loam,' ; 1 Moris' steadfast in tho fight ' Of Warring night and' light, : .True to the truth whose star leads ■ heroes home, .• • . , • ■Than his who loving all things fl'co ' Luved as with English. passion of (t(j----i. light our sea... , .Tho joy.of glorious age '; To. greet tho sea's glad, rage', . " . • With answering rapture as Of bird or '' boy ■' '•' V' "' When sundawu thrilled the®foain And bado the sea's ilock home Crowned all a foiled heroic life with joy.' ''■■■■■ ■ Bright as the light of living flame That glows, a deathless gloriole, round . his deathless name. : PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. ' "Modorn Argentina, the El. Dorado of To-day," by W. 11. Koebel." Illustrated. London,. Georgo Bell and; Softs.' ■' | "There Cxists, 1 ' snjs, the author, in his introductory chapter, "probably no. other country of the magnitude of Argentina of whioh less :is known in Europe).". His large and interesting volume, duly proportionate to tho' continental magnitude of tho , subject, should remove that ignorance for ever. Australasia has'beon sufficiently alive t'o the importance of-the Republic as a competitor in .the English European markets that it is worth ivhilo khou'ihg exactly how great is tho country's prosperity. ' For nearly four centuries the country "has been content to wrest from the land sufficient to maintain itself and ho' mdre. _But a few years ago came the revolution —tho refrigerator. Tho -Republic! awoke all at once to: tho realisation of tho possibilities . whioh ; its. lands held; and, Svhen: once awake, the ball, of progress l was set rolling with remarkable speed." As in NOW Zealand, ;there . are m Air*' gentina those who fear that tho progress of tho country has beon too rapid to bo wholesome. But "not the.tithe 'Of those rich lands Which lie in .readiness for the ploughshare," says Mr. Kroobel, "has: yet' been developed. ■Moreover,-the land is being sobered by prosperity. Commercial pcaco is more valued, than political strife. It is interesting to discover that Englishmen are especially; valued as cstancia managers:- The population !b made i up of people of Spanish, Basque:and Indian' descent,: and the. country moulds \hor, newcomots until they loso all trace.of their., national, origin: "If in Europe, Paris will know- them more intimately than Loudon, Whilo, ■■ wherever.,;' they tho biuo and whitoof the, Argentine flag will, rousp thorn to enthusiasm, though the tJttion ; Jack' lea* ves 1, them.; politely, unmoved.,, ..Thus, these, together with many other Northerners, go to form-a solid ejoiftent in this Surprising nation, that is,,in tho making., •' . , ' ! Buoiios Ayres is the subject of several chapters,' aiul a, strango, bright bit of; cosmopolitanism: it is. An Englishman .would i feel at homo, / ;thoro, for there, are vacuum house-cleanors, music halls, circuses,' a Jockey Club, English sports, labour disputes, banksj and [insurance offices, stolid and, safe policemen. Tho progress of, tho city is typical of tho progress of the ;\ .Rabbits arid anthrax are the enemies . of' tho _ Republio. We may quote'- the Argentine method of ! treating a' man who contracts anthrax. " A red' mark appears, "and develops into a: blue.boil, The cure is rough but efficient T "The implement employed .fOr the Vpiirposo is nothing moro elaborato than a short length of fencing wire. One end of this-is heated ,tO red-hot pitch in a fire, and by mea-ns of'this the affeotod spot is burned'clean out from , tlio surround-. ing flesh. 1 ' ' . : . ' The thirty-three chapters of this Volume present a fascinating and very vivid as well as COmprehonsivo pioture of a country that seems bound to do groat things in-tho future. Our copy is:from Whitcombo and Tombs.

' The Batchblor Girls, and their Search for independence," '.by ; Koblo Howard. 1 Bell's'. Colonial'library, London, 1907. ' The batchelor girls of this fitory aro two vivacious naaidens, who gp ,t6 London .with a Scanty capital in tho "hope of.; winiiiilg independence, fame, and forthno by work literacy iand artistic. Naturally their naive expectations receivo some rude shocks, and humourous, misadventures befall tiiem, which tlioy take with a frolic welcome. One of then*,' Who,; iA a desperate moment, is inspired to' advertise, herself, as a professional "olicercr-up," willing to visit doleful men,; finds lnirself in an iiwkwafd pliico when the oldest' and most irritablo of her patients wishes to monopolise her brightening influonco for lifo. A. bright and amusing book. (Whitcombo and Tombs.)

"The Gold-Spinner," by Dick Donovan. Bell'si Colonial Library, London, 1907, Dick Donovan takes an Old themo when ho Works out, in this story, tho hardoning and narrowing effects'-oil a mail's soul of the passion for accumulating wealth. In this book tho i passion affects also a woman's happiness. Tho sweet young girl of tho Btory comes to contrast tho callous, sordid nature of her cousin and prospective husband, the sweating tyrant of an iminonso foundry, with' tho generous sympathies of his Danish foreman. Thero is a second lovo interest in which the old black spot of immemorial fiction rests on tho lover's Character, until the day whon ho may looso his lips and explain all that seems unexplainnble. (Whitcombo and Tombs.)

"Lovo at Anns," by Raphael Sabatini.' Ilutchirtson's Colonial Library, London, 1907.' Italy, in the time of tho Borgias, a hero of noblo birth, whose pleasure

it is "to roam tho world, my harness on my back, free as the blessed wind of heaven," a lady of incomparable beauty, a reigning duke of iucomparablo meanness, but present power, -Suitor, for the lady's liand^—all of these aro of : tho very nature of Romance. Out of -thorn Mr. Raphael Sabatini has constructed in "Love at Arms" a very knightly Btory obliging with sword and music, breathing'of intrigues, bristling with- ambuscades. (Whitcombo and Tombs.)

.The October issuo of the. "Lone Hand" arises a little higher tlifl wonderfully high standard which it set in its initial number. Tho only doubt whioh it raises is whether it can "keop it lip." As usual, it covers an urbanely broad 'flc.ld of interests. Tho first article is a delightful account of the library of tho lato David Scott Mitchell, and the buying methods of that wonderful bibliophile. Norman Lindsay contributes several pages of his best' black-and-whito work in illustration of a verso from.tho Apocrapha. Mr. Archibald's story of tho "Bulletin" is interrupted to admit W. H.. Traill's account of his connection with that famous journal. Other striking articles are a review' of Australian Art and a contribution by Mr. J. 0. Watson on the Northern Territory; Tho late Victor Daley; Edgar. Hea'no, and Arnold.Wall.(whose'fine poem Wo reprint olsowhore) aro amongst the verso writors, arid thero is a fine budgot of pioturos and stories, . including a New Zealand story .curiously stiff and unconvincing, by ' Arthur Adams, The numbar, Worthily completes tho first half-yearly volume of a magazino-tllat Australia should bo , proud of. Our copy is from Gordon and Gotch, ■ -Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd. send three !of their new sories of "Now Zealand, booklets" : "New Zealand Wild Flow'ers," by 1?.. M. Laing (with superb,.reproductions of magnificont pbotbjti'aphs; "Feathered Friends of tho Bush,", by Jaiftos Drummond; and "Now Zealand in Picture and Song," (seventeen poems with photographic accompaniments). Tho booklets, devised ;for uso ns cards for frionds abroad, aro Vdairity littlo productions, , and suggest an opening for a series of a more ambitious range.

Realms of Gold.

ODE TO THE WEST Wl>'D. ■This poem was . conceived and written chiefly in- a wood that skirts the Arno, -near-Florence, nnd on a'day when that tempestuous wind, whoso, temperature is at once mild and animating, was eallccting' tho .vapours which 'pour down the autumnal rains. They began, as I foresaw,, at. sunset with a violent tempest of hail and rain, attended by that magnilicent thunder and lightning peculiar to the Cisalpine regions. • - The phenomenon 'alluded to at the conclusion of the third stanza is wollknOwn; to ■ naturalists. Tho vegetation at the'bottom'of the sea; of rivers, and of: lakes, syriip'athises with that of tho land in the ■ Change of seasons, and is conseqaentiy influenced' by tho winds which anriounco it.

O.Wi.ld West Wind, thou breath of ... Autumn's .being . Thoti from whose unseen presence tho ' leaves dead . Are driven, like ghosts ' from an onchanter, fleeing, Yellow, and .black, and pale, and hectic i'ed, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: 0 thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed The winged seeds, where they lio cold arid low,' ' ' . EaCh like a corpso within its gravo, ' until > . ... . . . Thine azure sister of the spring shall ' blow , ... ; Her oliirion o'er the dreaming earth, and . fill ■ .. ' ■' ■ . . ... (Driving, sweet buds, like'flocks to foed ill air) With living hues and odours plain and ' "hill! ' Wild'.Spirit, which .art moving every- .' 'whe't-o; . , Destroyer and preserver, hear, 0 hear! . , . ~-v II Thou, on whoso stream, 'mid tho steep sky's .cbuilnotibn, ■ Loose' 'clouds' like earth's decaying " "lhaVes aro shed,"; • Shook from the tangled boughs of Heavon ■ mid Ocean, -. . Angels of rain'and lightnings there are spread /' ■ .■ t '■ . On the bide surface of thine airy surge; Like tihe bright hair Uplifted frOui the head .. ■ • ... Of' some fierce Maenad, even from the : i dim verge•' '■ ■ i ■. ■. Of . the horizon to, the zenith's height -The locks of, p tho approaching storm. Thou dirge Of; the dying year, tri which this closing .night - z .Will, bo the dome of a vast sepulchre, Vaulted with all thy congregated might Of vapours, from Whoso solid atmosphere Black rain, and Are, and hail will burst,: ( Oh, hear! ' . ,• III...;. Thoti who didst waken frbm hid summer dreams , . ■ The blue Mediterranean, where ho lay Lullfid by the coil 'of his . crystalline ' streams, ' I . .Beside a pumice isle in Baiao's bay,.. And iiaw'ineleep old palaces and towers Quivering Within the .wave's iiitensqr day, All . overgrown with , azure, moss and fljwers,' ; ' , So sweet, tho sense faints picturing■ them! Thou • '• For Whoso path the Atlantic's level ' powers Cleftvo ' themselves into chasms, while ( '' far below ' ' Tho sea blooms and the oozy woods ' which Weir ; - Tho sapless ! foliage of tho-ocean, know' Thy vrico, and suddenly, grow grey 1 with ""' fear, " And tremble and dc6poil themselves s Oh, hoar! ■■ ; .■ IV '' If I were a. dead leaf thou mightest heftv j If I wbrd'a swift cloud to fly with thee; A wave to pant beneath thy power, aiid : ! . ■ sharo • : Tho impulse of tliy strength, only less < fre6 ■ ' Than thou, O uncontrollable! If even I Were ill' my boyhood,, and could' be Th' 6 comrades of thy wanderings Over • Heaven, ' • As then, when tb outstrip thy skyey '•> speed • • , Scarce seemed a vision, I would no'er , havo . striven .. .. ... As thus with tlieo in'.prayer in my sore need.' . •Oh! lift me as a wave,.a leaf, a cloud ! I fall '(ipon tho thorns of life! I bleed, A heavy weight of hours has chained and .'. bowed One, too, like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.. .

Italic mo thy lyre, oven ns the forest is: Whal: if my leaves are falling like its awn I■ . . The tumult of thy mighty harmoniCß Will take from both a tlcej) autumnal tone, Sweet though in sadness. Bo thou, spirit lierce, . | Jty spirit 1 Bo thou me, impetuous one! Drive my dead thoughts over tlio universe. Like withered leaves to quickon a new birth i And, by the incantation of this VerSe, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words nmong mankind 1 Bo through my lips to unawakencd earth Tlio i trumpet of a prophecy I 0 Wind, If Winter conies, can Spring be far behind? —Shelley.