BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 27, 26 October 1907, Page 13

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

; VERSES NEW AND OLD; | SEA-SHELL MURMURS. j ' The .hollov,-.:sea-shell .which for. yonrs hath . !, .Stood i.--:.-,-11 -On dusty shelves, when .held against, tho ■ oar .... : .. . . • i - :■ 'Proclaims its.stormy parent; and wo hear rho faint far murmur ot tho breaking:flood. Wo hoar tho soa. Tho sea? , It is the blood : 111. our veins, impetuous and near,..,-. ,i . And 1 pulf«! keeping .pace ,with.. hopp .ind and/fear,'j; / /,-,/ . . And with our toolings' every shifting.ldWXi.. ~ Lol in'my?heart I hear, as m,a shelf,... , 'The murmur of a world boyond tue fiiavo, ~ / :Distinct s ,distinct,., though faint and ~'ir it ho; ' ' . .. . , ■V- ,-. Thou-fool; this echo is a. chcat as noil ..' instiricts; and We crave V as the shell-heard sea. /I''-'. : ■' ■ ~, f 1 •'■/'/'. • SUNKEN GOLD » lii dim green ■• depths rot, .ingot-laden, ships,, ' "While "gold doublooiis that ' from tho ■ • drowned-hand fell Lie nestled m the ocean s flower bell With love's gemmed rings opce kissed by, now; '; dead lips.: < ~:• :........ And round' soino' wrought-gold cup. .the sea- ' . grass whips .. ~.,. ,:. -'And hides, lost pearls, near pearls:.still-in ~ • " their shell, , ■ 1 . . ; . ; Where'sea-weed forests -fill; each' ocean doll, sunlight; with' their,countlras .j/i-tips.^; " ■ So. iie: the .wasted: gifts, jtlie loiig-lost' hopes; ■ Beneath', the npiv' hushed' surface of -myself. '' 'fn'lbrielier'depth' ; than;Svh'ero-the'diver gropes > >• They 'lie deep, deep; but I at• times De-. ' 1 hold 'In' doubtful glimpses, on some reefy shelf,. - Tie gleam of irrecoverable gold. j.ii-iv. ii.'-.-i -:-. i-m.i—Eugene Lee-llamilton. ' r< A BORDER LAMENT . There is music to-night.in Joyous Gard In the King's Hall by tho sea.!' . J, Let 4 thom sing an''they will, who have the . n^skiii .;/>; the song for,l'iib,, ]f> ;/ . '-' v -. •■■■•' She said, ~ /'''!' only .hear 'tho;sea:',-'./ [-j" ' "They are dancing tornight.inJJoyous Gard;" '' , li l -tlis < ''oaftlo\6^d^';tho.'waVe'.",''.' ''Let tbera danco tiway, whose hearts are gay, But how shall I danco on a grave?" ■ .'.--.'i- She said, "'""/' "I cannot danco on a grave." j 1 . •There'll.be noon all night m Joyous Gard, "Till • the: morrow' 3 sun-shall rise." • The' East may bo red, ere tho■ lamps are '"'"".dead;:-.- r < ■ - , - • : -Death's- darkness'-'never dies," . , j.. .i Sho-said, "And Death never dies." " i : • . "Tho guests aro thronging to-Joyous Gard, " ;' 'Like'.fleeks'of'the'wind-swept'foa'm'. 71 ' I .'.'' " ,: "What'•matter tlio tread, of a world?"'.'she' '/ •Y^.\?;saidj M ?- : ' .''<' i/ f;" fl ''' , '"One footstep*conies -not-homb,"'''. ; -i" >.- ! ;! ; ?!':' : 'Sho-said; /"And'one'wiU'novbr come.";''".' ' I "ion,"'iii.the l "Spectator.'' .' :j. y-:';.-v - ; , ; i,,. ::/• T-iv-:',:.: BALLVDE OF THE KNIGHT REPORTER - '•?*? r i'' ' ''' 1 ' I. <- '■ 1 ' I' 1* I ;*-'•» J : I ''' J -i;,',. .....(For the Dominion.) . .. .. . . J}bw':ihim.l. caliia'gallant' knight.w;:: This . 'man-.who; bears-a/ pen; for.,:swprdj- , ; .War-bqrne.on/his own-haunches light,.. './His/own ..thickiskln.-a/target^biipad;,- , Through' 'wenrxiiours he keeps good "ward, "'•O'er mfcn'-'tliaf'-'bilttle;' Tciiayes that' bawl, ' "o'n '\poifft|^tfda' pjiij' 1 ; afford;' r.Z ; ' . * l: His heart'is'merry {in ''spi to •of , all.' , 'V'-: r- . -Eidiiifc ,afar. by day- and night •— • • ' i.' '/-.(Oft j.Sqre'i.that: steed of his,;.good!Lord!).. - Jousts? : weappn.-bright,. i. 1 ..;, ■ v J'Hpt; bickerings, at- Council-board... j-,-, j •, '-Make . ply ; ! . his steel ; -,ahd . afterward ~, , . /"/'Foul stroke!'? cries one.'.who,'had "fair/,J • ■faiii/.-,:i' ; -:/■'' /'His'Jirai.n'bides/cool','midst ,a' severed horde;. -His. heart is merrV in spite of all. ■ In -his - own -.castle -foes of might " . - , <-.i-Imperil'him .by:..arts' abhorred; -.-,n-•jriio,.trftitbrous.:'men-at-arms:,do smite ' . oft,,'.Misericorde! .; ,The,.'elerks;Confuse:,his, fair.: record, t ■ °;;H^ll-'md;.gin < ' ) puld,lfaia/;appal;.;''.!,";i./ Still.- an good sortio bo assured, . -':^^' : 'h^^ i iß , "merry ) 3n'' , jj!ito of'.all./," ! j', ' UN voi' : Spoilt of late, 'all' his-strength -outpoured,' ; , 1 'Better'now. with his back- to'wall; ' • '. ,One,feat (jtroko; from his Dnlco ono word; :- jr;llis/:heart: is >inerry, in', spite 'of t all. ; :li • ' .v.',",,W.,'F. Alexander.: ■

• How. far.oaii-tlid'spDctaoular'qlcinent in the , fch"ea'tre;.be [carried without detriment''to the 0 .; olpmehfc in/ the plays, presentee!? Managers. ;S.oek, now/to,.outvie, one- another, in, the •'Sumptuous; mountings .which ; they offer,, : /bf the! human talent -required,', except^'perhafisj'i'ih./t&p';'ma'tter'of' fominirib.' ; beauty;, jwhich; ,tho. dramatic point pf ; ;view; ought, to bo [classed:under the lieadingiVofysplendid.' upholstery, rather/ than . that lof; a 'capacity "for/ unfolding "the. 1 inner ■ : subtleties of'-'a finb'-'piay.'/'Thp prevalent- idea' ' is\.tO:\mako.. with light- and . bodily- into Buch ; .fairy lands/as those, of, ."Tho/Arabian Nights" twhen .they:-wore'first,read aloudito ■ him ■ in his childhood. But on the gazer ! at, these- magnifibentstago -pictures there.creeps at .times, a [rather' shame-faced'feeling .'of imi. think that'all' this'iblabbratocarpentering [.and; painting 'and; electric, lighting is. needed: to. .produce aii illusion inferior' in; effect .toitliat.vwhich.'.thb Eastern: story-teller' can',jvaft[prc'Fthe imagination of a child with his': prodigal .word 1 'pictures; of [gold ; and sap- _ phirts.-'and.'.fountairia'and'porfumes'-'such'as ney j er-.blpndcd.:iVith;this i ;parthly ( atmosphere.' Thb.'ipl.ea of..the,''theatrical' manager-for this profuse'adbrnment .bfCtlie''plays ''of Shakespeafq is-that ~qf,.,rendering honour where '.' honour is.duo. ~No'setting::can."bo! too,mag- . nificent for the'mbst'splendid 'jewels of litera,turp. . Unfortunately,',for -'this view, it is a fact thatmuch of'the/poorest dramatic nonsen'se''i,s' H farm6ro' > ; richly':staged than the greatest; [plays of Shakb'spearb; l The' point is[ Bo'mctinVes;;mootcdwhether'''the dressing up . °f ;'S^Kcspearo-;in: ; the -sams.'finery as is neededi to makb thpsc' meretricious : play 3 at-,-^tv^~'.'n^t'to''hisi-quality. ' ' . Avhen'Shakespeare'Hva's man aging the prodn?*].?n!,Pf/n'3 flwii plays no hadlittle enough' scenery' or floor, space for composing effective stage:'pictures';-'' At the back of the stage a two-storied"- wboden''erection i was ' provided which ■could'be -fitt'edin'p 'or 'draped' to'repre- - serit a''castlcv,h'6wi and "again tho balcony for/ spoiib'i'n::''Romeo and Juliet,'' bup; Tho plays were" giveii,-:in [''daylight',.: which was- 'admitted through'^'largc','opening irrtho middle of tho thbafe :; Tho stage was brought towards the middlo of tho theatre to get plenty pftheiight streaming from above; So in'''Shakespeare's. : tiree tho audience partly surrp'undod'thp-stagoV- 'Shakespeare had to' manage Jiis :stage- more iike grouped statuary ~ to,bo;,seen from many different points of vipw ! a which is looked at from practically, only one;' Yot what a panorama of city and sylvan landscape'passes in suggestion before tho eyc3 of one who simply turns over, tho pages of ShakcspeaTp 1 Itis hard to ~ believe that the great dramatist had only tho roughest appliances for-indicating tho boautiful; backgrounds'that he saw 1 in his mind's eye.-. To get the effect of thorn ho had to appeal to tho imagination of the audionco. And thio-ia one. of the reasons why the plays of Shakespeare make such delightful reading; why so .many, accomplished critics havo declared-, that thoy. would rather quietly read one of the plays onco again than attend tho most; gorgeous performance of it. At tho samo timo, as the ossential dramatic business of.,the:pl".y is go'nrr, forward, Shakespeare is cai'iSiii.T hi- f'-T---': —. ••-. -j n ' word

hour aro working upon t.iem. In. this .way tho reader builds up unconsciously, through tho literary , art alone, a sufficient picture of tho scene.'

There can. bo very Utile question but that bliakespeare, if ho had i had command of our modern scenic resources, would have used them-to the.-utmost in hi.: own way.' But ho would 'havo .written tho plays differently. Being freed from tho uoc.ESity of suggeuting scene and season by wo v rls, he would have used-his litorary art to' keep tlio' splendid stago ; pictures m tho background by still further intensifying the human interests ill tho characters at the front. ■ - The dilliculty about our elaborate modciri stasing is that wo overlay literary presentation of tlie scone was a 'pictorial one which 'makes his partly unnecessary. This was 1 conspicuous at tho last-production'of "A Midsummer Night's Dream"' in -Melbourne. ' The ithreo middle acts take piaco ill a wood near Athens. Throughout theso . Shakespeare, in tho text, .is keeping alive-tlio impression of forest landscapes ': around his fanciful eoncatenation' ;of characters. But' with an olaborately. painted woodland ' scene,' upon which night dosccilds; and throiigh which the dawn, breaksj 'niahy of Shakespeare's poetic devices are 'supersede*! from 'the dramatic point Oi view. Tho dilemipa of the modern manager' is this: that .when lib supplies the scenes 'that- : Shakespeare"' bad in his mind's byo; lib cannot cut 'oiit the reduiidant', literary iiotes from! tlio. pictures' . without '■ seriously damaging' the 'poetical vala-x of tho wliolo. , Tlio happiest sblutioiiiOf the problem; -would bo 1 the 'appba'rance' of, V' modoriii'Shakpspeiire who could 'take/tho lavish scenic resources of our day'in ; hand and 'contribute to the total '.emotional 'and-'intellectual 'effect without oxcessive assertion." Wagner, in his boundless ambition, essayed to blend scenic art, music';, and the literary drama iii a perfect moilorn whole. in fighting for the just .measure of recognition which was at first denied :| hinij' got themselves to believe that he 'liad succeeded in : his. task:'_ But the more •'fully- Wagner's'operatic "achievements aro- appreciated,',the ; morb-plainly does it appear 1 tnali' lie ! is : 7ery' far indeed' from being a ■: modern' : I ?Shakespeare, "Beethoven, ' and Mfchel .'.Arigelo "in brie. - Tho'- intellect and character behind his musical spectacular plays are second-rate. His music,' though so rich in theatrical bxcitenleut, ' is"dwa'rfed by the! range- of-"Beethoveh 'and -Brahms. \Yct /Wag-, 1 nor's principle is /probably true, '• that tho theatre" is : tlio"'natural' meotirig piaco for. iill tho arts/'-'-Shakcspeare believed' in it, .for, lie freelv compensated his aiidiences for.the lack of 'pictorial| scenery /by':•pretty' and j fantastic pageants, wrestling "matches,,, fencing tournaments, and' dancing.'. : 'Music,' too, he "drew upon l for avbeautiful 'varicty'of; effects.: -And yet,' while Shakespeare l made liis plays fit the practical- ! cphditions' i of the. theatre, of his pivh time,"'he, ! fieinhtecl'"thorn. artistic treasures altogetfier lieyond'-the compVohonsion of 'his: contemporaries, and.'discoverable, only in a ihc.'litativd reading;of their scones. ' fore the' plays were printed: and availablo for - study any clioicb spirits' who felt s'omothing of' tho,real greatiiess' gf Shakespeare at, tho performances must have''been dazzled .and: be-wildercd-'by'• ,tlic ; train''of;'deep 1 -^thoughts aiid lovely uttcrancos that vanished irrecoverably into thin air' from the litis' of thef actors././. In 'spite-'of all 'tjiat..-'has.' bcen"'said about tlio illitoraoy of tho modoin English theatre, the' fact :; romains' that Shakespeare: made, his plays 1 capable to' meet tlio demand of his day, though charged with poetry. ' The samo thing can be dono again. Jiyon. our ..extravagances of staging can; be- disciplined "into the'doing of sound artistic duty, by the compelling power of a genius who feels the whole of our modern life 'a' 3 'sympathetically 'as, Shakespeare, felt tliat/ of his time.'—Meibournb".'Ago." .