A VISION OF ENGLAND’S PLEASANT LAND

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 60, 4 December 1937, Page 7 (Supplement)

A VISION OF ENGLAND’S PLEASANT LAND

Vivid Sketches By Mr. H. E. Bates “Down the River,” by 11. E. Bates, with wood-engravings by Agnes Miller Parker (London: Gollancz). There is an aspect of the English scene, once its most important and noticeable feature, which has been vanishing steadily with the spread of industrialism until to-day it has become, so far as the average townsman is concerned, almost non-existent. It is England’s green and pleasant land, tne England which comes first, to the memory of the exile and to the imagination of those who know it only by repute. Those who travel by the highways, stay in the cities, towns and even the villages might easily know it only as a legend. This other Eden no longer shows itself lo the casual glance; it hides shyly from the madding crowd. Yet it is there for those who seek it. the traditional country of placid streams and deep woods, where Shakespeare’s daisies and violets, ladysmocks and cuckoo-buds still “do paint the meadows with delight.” Those who have found it: for themselves may have their own sufficient memories, but for those who must look On it from afar its beauty can be viewed to no better advantage than through the eyes of Mr. 11. E. Bates. Once before he collaborated witli that magnificent engraver in wood. Agues Miller Parker, to produce “Through the Woods,” a work of purpose and achievement very similar to “Down the River ” His lively prose formed it into something like'an artist’s sketch-book, with vivid anecdotes of birds, beasts and people, and this he has done again in his new volume. From first to last this is an exquisite piece of work. It is better even than “Through the Woods.” Mr. Bates loves all things in nature and writes about them with infinite charm, but one would guess that rivers were his first love in the out-of-doors. There, is so much of himself in “Down the River.” As a small boy he lived near the Ouse and the Nene, and nothing of the varied ’ life of the two rivers lias escaped him. He knows the trees, the birds. :be flowers and the people of his river valleys and his touch is sure. His praise is limpid as the brook. It can prattle over small delights or flow smooth and deep, filled witli tlie gentle philosophy iof the country folk. There is no phase 1 of river life and the life of the people lon the banks of his two rivers of I which he does not treat. He has a chapter on lace-making in those eastern counties which stands out by itself as a delightful essay. Some portions of his book do this. Others merge themselves with other nature writing to make a memorable whole. However, Mr. Bates cannot take all the credit for this delightful volume. 'The joy of reading is greatly enhanced II by the joy of studying the fine wood<engravings with which the artist has translated Mr. Bates’s mood into plcifures. Whether the subject is small or large, living or inanimate, the artist is a master of design.