NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 33, 8 February 1908, Page 13

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

A NATIVE-BORN 'POET. "Tho Afterglow." By D. M. Ross. "Tho Promise of the Star." A Poem. By D. M. Ross. London : Jarrold and Sons, 10, Warwick-lane, E.G. We cannot give Mr. Ross's pretty little booklet the welcome we had' anticipated. It is not only that "Th© Promise of the. Star" is, as any one familiar with "The Afterglow" will recognise, an older work recast and enlarged ; it is the indication ■it nppears to give that the author has not yet learned where his strength lies. While it must be admitted that in rewriting "Immanuel" he has made felicitous changes in tho phraseology, and has cancelled faulty passages — has, in fact, improved his work technically— it still falls far short of his best. Like Mr. Adams's "Nazarene," which contained some passages exquisitely expressed, it lacks the living spirit for the absence of which no external beauties of form can mako amends. "The Afterglow," his earlier book, contains about one hundred and 1 twenty poems. The title-page was appaiently forgotten, for there is only a "half-title," bearing neither publisher's name nor date. The book, which was printed jn Auckland a little over two years ago, has gained the writer a rocognisod place in the band of New Zealand poets. Ho has the divine spark, without which the most rigid confoimitv to technical rales is yam. in tho ballad — which appears so simple and easy, and is really far otherwise ; in the tender love-lyi'ic, the sonorous sonneu, the patriotic outburst; in the hymn of nature, whether the tljeme be the snowy Alp or the songbird of tho woods — in all these Mr. Ross displays a fluency, a melody, and a sincerity such as are all too rare. Hia chiof defects bto an occasional mysticism — a love of pamdox and cryptic utterance which often seems Io stand for mere obscurity of ideas, and which makes his verses on sacred themes, with few exceptions, the least satisfactoiy part of his work. Like all serious \p ork, Mr. Ross's verse is touched with" the sadder aspects of life, and the frequency of the joyous note is the more welcome on that account — it is spontaneous and at times exuberant, flung forth to the free air, and melodious with the musio of nature. It is genuine and' stimulating, and its brightness is something to be thankful for. His pictures glow with sunshine. Here are some love-memories — four stanzas from many others quite as good or better: — Do you remember? Who that tasted living Could e'er forget how aweet it is to live? Cosild you forget, who hurt aucli ffifts for Riving, How sweet it is to give? Uemember you the rivet- with its willows — The poplars just a-tremblo in the breeze — The sotitliUig sounds of fjr-olt breaking billows Upon iuelod!oii3 ic;i3.' t The flelda of gulden gorse that etill aro OlooraWhcie summer bec3 sung of their happy lot, And o'er dark lunges one great mounUm'loomif£. GotVe white forget-me-not? An'l then the auuscfc through the pi!etl-up. glory Of cloiuk tlmfc 'esiiue to shroud tho dying day ; The !ar-:t lw word of i wild bu^li-birU's ttory Melluw tiud iar uwj.t? It will be 3een that Mr. Eoss does not content him3elf with bald Whilmaninn categories ; his pictuiea have nil .iho atmosphere, tho sound and colour, o{ the land he loves. And in hijb vorso h°, is an ideal wooer. He t?kes up the theme as old a3 humanity, but ever nciV, f^d one (loos net find timc-^orn I''o'irtscnlh of Polihiaiy phrases in his graceful vers*. One of his many ixnncts. an ft)josl.rophe to New Zeahnd, willsarve' as an ciumpb | of his patriotic musj': — _ . j Child oP Old Knipli's: tint brjovrd, alone!' j I''C V.-./.itd inoiiii and cll'lici starry iija j Ki.vt; nuidt then in'iifr m ihj wa>a:w:y«, I'i'iiaatn thp rh.ul'r.v nt '.'n utl '.-unv rh.ouc: When tho een lieiu Irii't uuo th\ Yyo* Of dfeuuiinij cilcncc, tiiraii^n the lAicple Isazc, V.'iiac !i'o-fl v,i.(jiie lit hl> i.i|)turc".t pn.-ir, Wlut hcait-hi pt^ j.ni,' to i ctan o i:i<" ( iioti'iic ! And lie pncliaucr, luth jiv <if thee io-c'jv, Who won Hire from tho um-clfnt ; li(» (jilc, Ihp Impels calm and the inccn-Jr.inl brp.-rc ; Wlicrt. out hcyonri Deaths sea-tiaoU, wot Ids awdy, Tlic p w:iidj arc wooed by lij triumphant sail To nwd an* ami 6'jporous s.. mj)hon!ei]. Though Mr. Ross, in many poems, gives expreEsion to that root feeling j whijhf.cenis to be a nrtitral icstinct— | aSectioii for aud pride h\ tko laial of ' oiii> - 3 fancy and infancy, — his patriot- : ism is not of tiic insv!ar or paiochial i kind. A cluracteriitic feature of tbt boi^lv is the group of poiu..s dealing with] the wider intercuts of the Empire, a; d here his trumpet gii es no . unwtiia i sound : a note, too, uot co ofton h;nrd ■ in these fioutht-rh colonies rt it might be. j V\"c aio ( so "practical" a pccple, and' th« story oJ bauglmj and mi^ajnngement in v.ar lvi; been &o often rehcaised, Unit we | Gsem in rlanier of forgetting the high j ideals and the spki.did patriotism thH ' aroconrpicuoua only; in Uirus of national j peril— tho things, in fact, that really ! count, the realities «hii.h coni.t.tute his- i toiy. Mr. Rcss goos to the root of things : — "What dues th<* Emji:ie/ i'ght for Aw.iv ,v the new umJc L-n-]"'" I ai-lscd. in Blrep, i,f ll.c goth win licen > j The key of the golden Ilimsl. "W.\» -icnsvanc? the Rjtioira M:ilchwo:d? Did the r.\ii',w £0 f )r th to It' Jl, Imm- tin- rtc.id, at ic-t mi the blobdv cvest Of lost '.Majubn IKJl?" Ho passes in review tho nation's great battles horn tup clays of Wake and K.ikij'h io oji- own ; 'be beholds in vi.'ion the shadca of departed warriors, and "their old tL- id-marshal Bpitke'" :—• "/»n «• now what the Ktnp ie I"*rlit3 toi, 'Plu-t tha day;, of w?r i.i-sv car.t'— l v n ° l t° T tn-W" <-r a st.itr- «i .ciown, »i«VI the fcmpiie f^-hti for l'eiru:" There are thos^ who would c;ibe at the ecnLimont, but the Transvnai Coi-sii'ii.t.'on iir.d tho lecent reception of Botha in London ;ue two facts out of mo ay that should put them to lilcntr. One of the- most, characteristic pccm.s m thebcok is "TlvTul's Templd and hi« Soiig." It is somen-hst long, but t,ho nppiodalive reader v.-oiiUl 'lot s»pr.io a st.inzo.. Tho poet ha* taken his stand "upon a shorswavd hill, a w.itchor iviating for tho light" :— .Ind fnrch there efretcl c<l c olicnf, budrot- dv'anco robbed mine iar of ."omul Lf.'gne fitter league fiom ihc jicai- -urand To fii.'iit peal.s tlmt, band J>y banrt ll^iclicd past the via.m.'a utmost hound. And hete ii gi-jnd vnlcsno loss, ''• Its M 'Mi:i:ix nii.niii:t wti'pt in flaiiie ; thiie. lisa tci.i'j lava flows Ukv^'j un the mii" iiiinicvnl «n.)w3 Cf z\ iciMs itt Wilhoul a n.inic : Lin? \i\n-., glisilfnirp; cii\ei- sn.i!.w, Ciept huns thiMr.guigc^ tn t'te pluina; Tin- slues wcie nurioiril ,n thr Jaltcr, And in tlin Lufli, n timu-and brMte* ] Vifio dewy w.ih <.«'. it'.j nightly rums. The fyir.nt ji'.t:,», {p.iai'.e'l mil! hnitJ, Ki'oc c:n.iE>r ltu.u ll, i- t- drcllil) ];isa, While l.iAvl'a l .- £„•.■(.!. in jo'luiv sr'ild, *lli : t pra'-'rel >o.'H'"'i p.ifiifVc of oid , W'tii.' siturcd iv.th enawy cleruatr. El jfl. C ml'od Hip l.i--:h, l»ni hig:i nn<] 1m G li£i-— I'i'l I c-.iitf '.n ciatr i.y 'f itr.±i l.amU•»!>ivo H:<> on sii ,! g, a\ inf-iv-^jiiic Ujnght th» c'n'il'i ni^irijrij-'i nlijr i\tc. 'lhat ihi:nul :n jf,il.l fn.m Orient hncis. Old tradition has told him that "the lost. Kden-song,' 1 "born of the sunahino and the bliss of man's lirst lingering holy j kiss," is hidden in thci,r solitudes Jiitontly- iistohing, 'he "found a whiapcr of | in Unit udo." Tli3 uhiapcr pn^seJ. like incen":" emolte, Friiin a bwmig ceit^ci, tv (he t'.ita: s'. fpv.nod a 1 4.w crowned jjr;,iph spoke — 'Jh.it all Hm lip.i.puly (-!,cnis woto In (.ony, (/n flowing iiaiad>e. It died, it lose, and d'ed .ig-im~ A ln.liion vnicee h!c:it lit oiu, i An<l old ulil l.ik-n'., ii-«t i,lni,ii Of love tlult tntuupiia moi (u.n, Ihrilied out oja.u. bejitalli tlis Sun.

And then— far, fnr, a s ; ngle note Hieutlifil its full inoensp on the ail, And liuured Kohi) lnunclicd her bn.it, And round the welkin setmert' to flout Affjj, siwny — I know not wheie. The glowing noon droopeil aud declined, btill the full thrnnted minstrel crave Sweet Urgf^se to the- wood i>nd wind, In Boiifr"! I fain would keep in mind, Ajc--even oub bejond the ffruve He goes on to express his longing that he might ,"willi iinclouded brow, sing, as thou only knowest how." Wb/sn, ia the relentless march of "improvement," nothing &ball remain of our native songsters hut "skins" in private and public collections, our gTMiMlchildrsu may form some idea of j one of the choir, though, by no mefina the chief, from Mr. Ros3'a lines. And they will possibly have something to say concerning t/kc wisdom of their forefathers. Mr. Ross's philosophy and religion, apparently, varies ■with his moods. Into the many poems dealing with these themes it is unnecessary to follow him. Those of the religious order aTe, as we' have said 1 , disappointing, though thoro are exceptions, like "Regeneration." Sometimes, though rarely, he is morbid, as in "Inflorescent" : "Is it cold in the grave, dear one .„.?... Is it cold in your shroud . . . ?" This sort of thing is out of date. ChaTnelhouse religioh and poetry, too, are dead as Nebuchadnezzar. A f-sw of th© verses, like "Intercession," are fantastic, suggesting Oalveriey's dictum, "Meaning, however, is no great matter." Thero are echoes (not plagiarisms) of Kendall, Kipling, Whittier, imd other poets, and a somewhat unfortunate ocho of Thomas Hood, who wrote : — Bbtighs cro daiH- rifled by the trusty thieves. Ana tuc Doolt or"lfat.urc gcttctb cnurt ol leaves), Mr. Ross writes: — The autumn wind is out among the trees, To seek and find their gold, like winged thieves. Remembered phrases lie latent in the mind, and! may easily be unconsciously appropriated; but Mr. Ross's phrasecompares ill with Hood's in point of rime. It is time that some literary authority, commanding enough to gain the world's ear, told the world what the soundest critics have reiterated for the last hundred years or more — that i the historic Magdalene was a woman of blameless life, quite unlike the- traditional figure who has supplied our language with a. misnomer. Mr. Ross follows the tradition, and adds one more stone to the colossal cairn of libel which is hor monument. "Immanuel ' is the story of the Temptation in blar.k verse, with a brief introduction. Mr. Ross was somewhat bold to follow the path of Milton to closely in an undertaking too groat even for that mighty genius. The New Zea'und pott has given much freer rein to his fancy, and the lesult will scarce, wo think, bo acceptable to ,the general reader, and still less to tho'ologiaus of any typo. In ''The Promiss of the Star," Uic introduction has been extended so as to make the ponn epitomise the whole earlier part of the Gospel story, -xxidx this sec- j tion visibly Buffers by too faithful study . of tho not very accurate Dean "Fairer — j as. Cor example, in' tho somewhat prosaic suggestion that tho warning to ' Joseph of Herod's designs ccmo from tho Magio. Mr. Ross's literary lcputation must still rost on his earlier volume, which enshrines nv.ny passages of lyric beauty — a book interpenetrated with the atmosphere of his native land ; verses net without wiifulucss and porvaisity, but the work of one who, within n certain range, ha 3 proved himself a true aitlst. "Her Comict." By M. E. Braddon. Lohdovi: G. liel'l and Sans (Whitcombo and Tombt). J Miss liniddon v 'A library marvel.. f Move than a generation lua .passed .since i this versatile Judy, after .tryit'ft snvcial cypsri'imsts, -including the stjfti 1 , i'.'iund her vcf.iilioa in fiction, and wt all the wrnld I;* Iking of the power unci orifcinahty of iinngiiiiitioa displayed in "Lady Andloy'o Secret." A long euccrssion of brilliant novels followed, a:id then a nenrtd wf wcll-cdiiitd icst. ' Lab:, j-tar, j however, '"Tl>e Whi.'o llousn." n novel or' m.nfc than niorago length, s-ltowed t !iti t sho had in no respect iosu her old fatuities of obser, alion and ch:u';icti'iisatioil, and that sho could construct her plot ns well as of old. • hi her latest book, just to hand, she lias rfnee mojo shown that she can be biilliant mid original, and uudutain tho iutcrx'st. of a i. lory from beginning to end v.vJmitt rcsoiting to any of tho questionable devices which arc more likely to'&cruns aotoviety tli.in. tipproci<itioii. Tip iiia«. ieV.' pag.s of "Kei* Convict" arroLt the reader, and show him tint tho thomo is uew and capable of intrcduo/rj strong situations. X vicar's daughter dwells wilh her father on the wide and lenely Dartmoor, her inngin ition oveishadowed by the thoughts of the great prison and its comicts not far away. From childhood phj hns dieamed of one unjustly centers cd, who makes his escape, eind iin.igir.fs herself befriending him. So strong becomes the> idea that us sho growj up she develops ell Lho details, and makes very ir>6lh'jdictl provision accordingly. All being in re tidiness, fiho waits in faith and expectation till onto day tho exciUd barking of her little dog warps hor of a stranger. It is withjut the least snipme or trepidation that sne finds it is a man in piisoi; garb. 'To his utier amuzemont she tolls him 'quietly" that sho has oeea expecting him, leads him to one of tho buildings of tho old vicarag?, "where a suit of <loihes is roneeulod, and provisions are iv loddiucss, and Rives him a meal and directions. Nothing has been for- j jjntten, e\en to the purs.) with' tho •nancy she has saved fnr the occasion, ond the man eooappb with unusual l'acil- 1 ity, thuudcrsiiuik to Jind h;>\v cornplulcly everything has been planned in I udvante. lnridnn tally, it nuy lie noted, j as the sqfule:* may busptvc, that bts is ujnlly un innocent man anfloiinj; for anolhtf's crime— his iathof's, in fact, li is lrm« brforo (hH two meet a^ain, meanwhile his identity nr.si:i.ps« ted, ho has succeeded in journalism and literature. Thoro lire, of cotiv&e. other interests int"r\vo\en ; there is the episode of a worthless youth who b slowly poisoning his grandmother, half of whose fortune he expertn to iuheiit. 'Jli6i<is tho vicrr, the hcroino'u father, whose hobby is the Antiquity of .Man; but those aiv. subaidiary. 'l'he- co r ivict cht>riahes in his heart tho imag3 of tho girl who saved him, &ho naturally iomembers the hero of her early di'ejir.s. In this car,?, tho course of true love iiins iia suiootlily as could be desired. rlber lbe render may be trusted to follow th» narrative to its dose, rind he will be con: trained to acknowledge that tho piuctiacd hand oF the gifted author 11.13 not lost its cunning. "All Moon-shine. " T'y Richaid W'Jn'tving, arLhjr of "The Island," ' Xo. b, Jolm-itrctt,' 1 etc. Lotlou : Gecrgr. Bell ;a.d Sons." ("WJiilcombs ai.d Tomb? ) ?<h: "Wl.i toinpf h known ;,s a v. rilcr vlio devot-13 his work to certyin assets o[ ti;o soci.-.l problem, and in the piesant book he hns recourse io paruhl-. — an undertaking of iiOmc mnynitudo -when it extends to tbirty-llve chapters .'ir.d fllla no'irly two hundi-ed and stventv jjagL'.-j. Like the I'il»rim'a i'logress, it is "afbfr the fcimilitduo of ;i Jrcam," but is les< tan»ib!u and cohorcnt. — i»ll the more dreamlike on that account. It is si somewhat diking conceit which gives th'! book such unity y^ it po&seKse.s. lie is at rci:tn:>r wnitins^ to v/iin >hs a nnval lovicw ut fc-pithead, unj h.ts been ic.'.din>4 :i silly-aiasan debate on the o'.vrponalotcd c-ntli, with a call to "jjrah"' | buch pait of the globe as was jet frco

to colonial enterprise before wo wcieforesljallcd by colonising rivals "No loom" w«3 the cry. Gradually, nil the world's poits v>-ere being- closed against strangers, passports in the shape oF banknotes must be pioducedi bcfoic the intending immigrants could land, and "undesirables" wcra sent back by every ship like paupers to the next parish. It was a "new gospel." Every mother of a family wits "a monster," an enemy to tho race, the greater malefactor "as one putting more of the sense of vocation into her wickedness." Tho institution of marriage must be put in the penal code, and the whole outlook of literature and avt reversed. So he soul for books of reference, and read up the subject. He was appalled at the total of tha human population of tho globe — something between fifteen and eighteen hundred millions. And as he thought of th© rising flood that, according to so many authorities, was to overwhelm the earth's habitable regions and exhaust its resources, his eye fell upon a footnote : "It has been calculated that, at four persons to the square yaTd, the entire population of the globe, standing shoulder to shoulder, could find room and to spare in tho Isle of Wight." Incredible — • aji island' "on all but the largest maps of the world a mere pin-point, a sort of grain of the dust of settlement." So he tested the calculation. The island, excluding/ river-beds, marshes, etc., contains 93,905 acres, equal to 454£ millions of square yards, with, nearly a hundred thousand yards over. On this spaco, at four to the yard 1 , over 818 millions might stand. Soldiers in close marching order stand nine to the square yard, and on this basis til© Isle of Wifflit would, accom-modat-e the human family twico over. To reconcile the overcrowded globe with the idea of "standing-room only" for its inhabitants on. less than fifty thousand acres was too gieat a mental task, and ho fell asleep. In his vision he sees from his hotel window tho whole of mankind 1 — their "astral bodies" — drawn up in review, and in a vividly imaginative chapter he allots them by race and territory to different parts of the island. At first they are in peace, but soon the desue for more earth and the love of dominion bring about active effort to supplant each other, and there is played in littlethe big drama- which, as he shows, accounts go largely for the waste places of tho eaith. lor hio own astral body accompanies that of au attractive maiden from the South Pacific on n< world tony to her island home and' back, and they look on the vast unpsopled areas of Asia. Africa, America, and, savo in cities, find no sign of the theoretical crowding. Hs finds a world in its infancy, maintaining but the infinitesimal fraction of the men and women it could sustain iv comfort and plenty. In his parable he suggofln but veiy vaguely, and in dreamland fashion, that there is a remedy, and that ib will be found. It is to fon;e in betUr Ifnrwlodjrc, wbcu all men shall know tint otber nations aie natraully friends, not. fotr, and thall rsfus? to fight at tho dictate of their rules. Even so — but mon JuiT(* Got yet learned as much of their fellows in the nesfc strejt, or even tho next house. Wo con scarcely take the book move teriously than it's author, who, though he has ruppliod much food for thought, seeing aftei all, to have justified Ins title.