POETRY.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 150, 25 June 1904, Page 11

POETRY.

THE HULKS. T.hey havo heanl the liuj; of laughter, They have earned freights of U>ui.s, 'JPhoV have faeul ihc groat gieen rollers, lippo'l wnh snow ; The\ havo tiuveihed all the oceans, They have tairied at the pieis, The'v havo come to rest at last in Rotten Row. ' Thoy have lost their swooping pinions, They aic ethoru of mast nnd spur. Not a footscp stirs tho echoes d«wn below. And tho booming of the breakers On tho far off harbour bar Cannot wake them ns they sleep in Rotten Row. They swing slowly tound the compass, Day hy day, and year by year, As they turn to stem tho soft tide's ebb and flow. And tho lowly seabirds calling Is the only hound they hear, And the lapping of tho waves in Rotten Row. Tho stormy hearts that manned them, And the gentle hearts that banned them, They nro dono with ban, or blesbing, long ago. And none are left to love them, Save tlio wandering clouds abovo them, And tho giey gulls flying seaward o'er the Row. Tniwa, in the Bulletin.

Tho Pall Mull Magazine for Juno has a beautiful trout ispieco, "Astciic," after a painting by Sir Jichvard Poyuter, P.U.A., und tho 'opening nvticlo is an appreciation of tho French painter Paul Albert Bcsmud. with typical examples of his work. Tho article of most general interest is "An Apostle of Light," an account by Ocorg Dioeclmer of I'rofchsor l«'iuf.en and his discoveries concerning the curative properties of positive and negative light. l ( 'insen, it soems, is a poor man, having devoted practically his nil to the Institute. Ho hns threo nblo assistants engaged in experimental researches, nnd bomo important discoveries in connection with radium and Iho Kocntgen rays will probably &oon bo mado public. "Howover splendid Finsen's achievement, writes Herr Broechnei 1 , "he looks upon it as only a first stop in tho study of tho sun's biological nnd hygienic qualities.'' It is with regret that wo lead Una nt tho ugo of forty-two the distinguished discoverer is a dying mun. Ho has, Wo uro told, taken euro that "hia mission shall bo continued whon ho himself is no more. Mr. Frederick Lees, who bemoans "Our Degenerate Stage," and looks to Franco for light and loading, ho has been seeking opinions and suggestions' from French dramatists nnd actors. Briefly, they seem. to tako tho commonsenso view thut national character and ideals differ, nnd that each nation should follow its own lino of development. Mr. Lees, however, would regenerate the British stage by abolishing, censorship, would permit unrestrained freedom with Scripture .characters and incidents, und a frank admission of the thesis that "the drama lives on passion, on forbidden passions, on nil shades of voluptuousness, ' The stage, thus reformed, should bo subsidised fry tho Slate. Ho would educate tho public —which so perversely prefers wholesome comedy and spectacular melodrama in ■which persecuted virtue , always emerges triumphant — "up" to his own ideals. Fiction, poetry, and illustrations are, us usual, excellent. Madamo Nordica, the great American dramatic soprano, has succeeded in her divorce action against her husband, M. '{■pocmo, a Hungarian, tenor of no celeb* jjgM'. Bolides tho usual allegation of dmsconduct, tho plaintiff declared that her' -an ing spouse had squandered '£2o,ooo* of hir earnings. Madame Nordica's experience of husbands hns not been fortunate, for. lier first went up in a balloon ono flay, and nevor .returned home. Tho clopowas successful, for ho was never traced.