The Library Comer

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19301, 2 May 1925, Page 7

The Library Comer

By

“Bibhophile

*’Borne bootee an to be tasted, otben t> be rwalloand, and scsaa few to be chewed and digested.”— Bacon.

Arthur Hugh Clough. The Victorian Age was rich in singing birds, and apart from poets of the first rank. tht?re were many fin? spirits finely touched to song. One of the most outstanding of these was A. H. Clough, whose poems are in themselves of great value, though still containing the promise of something greater, if he had ived to fulfil it. Arthur Hujh Clough was born in England in 1819, but most of his childhood was passed in America. Upon the return of his family, Clough entered Rugby, then under the headmastership of Dr. Arnold, of whom he was one of the best and favourite pupils. After entering Oxford, Clough came into immediate contact with Newman, whose influence was then of its strongest, and Clough afterwards described himself as having been for two years. “like a straw drawn up the draught of a chimney.” He finally found himself in a state of uncertainty as regards religion, and his honesty of mind compelled him to resign both tutorship and fellowship, though it involved a dreary time of isolation and cold treatment. His state of mind is best described in his own words:— “Here am I yet, another twelvemonth spent, Sails rent, And rudder broken, reason impotent,' Affections all unfixed; so forth I fare On the mid-seas unheedingly, to dare To do and to be done by, well content.’ ’ His life as Warden of University Hall, London, was not congenial, but he found much help in the warm friendship of Carlyle. He went to America in 1552, intending to settle there, but in less than a year was brought back by the offer of an Examinership in the. Education Office, which post he held till his death. Elorcnce Nightingale was a relative of his wife’s and he took a keen interest in her work, and was always ready to help in anything connected with social service. Clough’s first long poem, “The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich” was written soon after he quitted Oxford, and sets forth with breezy life and vigour, in a perfectly original form the views of life then i fermenting in the minds of young men stirred by the thousand anomalies around them. The graver parts of “The Bothie” arc set in delightfully bright descriptions nf Scottish hills and glens, fresh with the very breezes of the Highlands. It may be claimed as one of th? few English poems successfully written in hexameters, another being his “Amours de Voyage.” “Dipsychus” is a poem of much deeper significance, in which the representative of idealism is vanquished by the spirit of the wqrld. The larger poems of Clough are not likely to ever appeal to a large audience, and his short and often very beautiful lyrics are perhaps the most permanently valuable part of his work. His poems show fearlessness ami honesty, ami they are often irradiated by humour of a rare and exceptional quality. In them we find much uncertainty, but no dispair; and can recognise the accents of victory, subdued though their tone may be, in the last poem he ever wrote. To most readers this is the best known of Clough’s writings, but can bear quotation:

“Say not the struggle nought availeth. The labour and the wounds arc vain. The enemy faints not, nor faileth, And as things have been they remain. If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars; It may be, in yon smoke concealed, Your comrades chase e’en now the fliers, And, but for yon, possess the field. For while the tired waves, vainly breaking. Seem here no painful inch to gnin, Far back, through creeks and inlets making, Comes silent, flooding in, the main. And not the eastern windows only, When daylight comes, conies in the light, In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly, i But westward, look, the land is bright.’ ’ Woman. It has been said that no man can understand a woman—and that, indeed, j she cannot understand herself. There are some who can make a good try, ihowever, and among novelists of the 'present generation none holds a higher reputation in this line than Air W. L. I George. From A. D. Willis, Ltd., has ! be r f ; n received a copy of Mr George’s I lhe Story of Woman” (Chapman and (Hall); and in its pages arc contained | a vast, amount of interesting material. iThe author surveys the history of woman, Jove, and marriage, throughout (the ages. Though, written in a popular form, it covers the subject completely; : prehistoric woman, woman in Biblical (ages, in Greece, at Rome, woman in her I relationship with Christianity, in the I age of the troubadours, woman in sojcicty and in poverty. Although Air i George makes some remarkably kden [observations about woman in general, : the book must not. be taken as recording merely his own fancies. It is graphically written, and without any of the I mustiness attached to the usual history (book, but is still based upon authorities, and displays a wide and deep [knowledge of facts. In the first section dealing with the prehistoric woman, j there is one chapter showing lhe coming of Love, and it is couched in a (story of power and in fight. In dealing ; with woman, the author has perforce to [give a sketch of the times and places, (and from this we get quite a new view(point upon certain stages of human history. He says that:

“The glory that was Greece, And the grandeur that was Rome,” was truthful only in a limited way, and proceeds to show us the ®ther side of the story, illustrating it from the writings of the Greek and Latin authors. ; Where all sections are interesting, it is difficult to particularise, but the one dealing with the Renaissance period gives a very fine picture of the Rebirth of Learning, and the gradual development of a change in the relationships of men and women. The last see-

tion is entitled “The Way to the Future.” and shows woman iu rebellion, struggling towards freedom in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Mr George is no fanatic fbr the woman’s cause, but ho holds that her equality with man must he recognised. “There cling to-day about women’s feet many swaddling bands; though in the days that approach, woman thus hampered may still trip slowly, no period which now lies in the womb of time will find the strength or tho desire to add new bands to woman’s feet, as she pursues her unknown course into the future.” Recolnmended as a very interesting and instructive book. Recent Fiction. “The Red Riders” by Thomas Nelson Page. (Scribners) per Robertson and .‘.fullins, Ltd. Atelbourne. The author died before he had completed the manuscript of this novel, but there was sufficient material to enable his sister to finish it as was intended. It is a story of the United States in the Civil War time and the years following, and is very striking in the drawing of the characters, especially those of the Southern States. Sinklcr Ashley, the hero of the tale, is a boy of fifteen about the last year of the war, but nevertheless he plays a man’s part in the closing stages. When the war ends, ruin comes to many a Southern home, and there are incidents and characters in those pages that recall the descriptions in Dixon’s “The Clansmen.” Young Sinkler, to save him from the vengeance of a dreaded enemy, is sent to Washington to try to secure entrance to a northern military academy, his relatives considering that the United States are again united, and that there is no reason why a Southerner should not seek admission. In Washington, Sinklcr has an interview with Abraham Lincoln, and his mission appears to be successful, when the assassination of the President compels him to return home. A sketch, is given of the South at that period, and then some years are allowed to elapse when we find our hero as one of the chief spirits in the Red Riders, who were organised to prevent the complete domination of Carolina by the negroes and carpet-baggers. There is a romantic love interest in the story, and as in the previous novels of the late author there is reflected the romance of the old South, and the beauty and inaffable sadness of an era that has passed. “The Diamond Thieves,” by Arthur Stringer (Hodder and Stoughton) per publishers and A. D. Willis, Ltd. Mr Stringer can write quite a rattling story and he has done nothing better than this novel. It is very American in its phrases, but the reader scarcely requires a glossary, and the original expressions and thieves’ slang lend quite a piquancy to the book.

The heroin?. Balmy Rymal, has resigned her post of hospital nurse owing to true love not running smooth, and has started with the Security Alliance, a sort of insurance company safeguarding jewellers’ effects. The Alliance work in with tho police, but jewel thieves have been eluding the vigilance of both bodies, and Inspector Sloan, of the police, wishes Balmy to follow a certain line of action which would furnish clues for their apprehension. There are some very surprising results and Balmy finds herself in a position which compels her to follow police instructions, no matter how distasteful they may be. She is sent by Inspector Sloan upon many peculiar trails, and in the whole twenty-two chapters, which comprise the same number of practically separate stories, there is abundance of incident ami adventure. The reader follows Balmy from New York low class dives to the luxury of a millionaire’s country house, and the swing and raciness of the narrative grip one’s attention throughout.

There are many glimpses of the underworld, but on the whole Balmy is on the track of the aristocratic criminal who keeps to big deals. The foreword to the book is a pathetic document from Balmy to her lost lover, but it in no way interferes with the interest of the stories to reveal that the clouds at last clear away, ami Balmy obtains happiness at the same time that she makes her greatest capture as a detective. “King Charlie,” by George Owen Baxter (Hodder and Stoughton) from the publishers and H. Rowell.

A Western story of an unusual strain. King Charlie is the “king of tramps” known and admired by the fraternity all over the States. Charlie had earlier tried his hand at safe-breaking, but has decided to leave that work alone after some terms in the penitentiary, and relies upon his gentlemanly air and courteous demeanour to always secure him sufficient food and money without demanding exertion. We first meet Charlie before he arrives at the Far West village of Carterville, where his luck is out and the sheriff, who had seen him elsewhere, demands his immediate departure. There is a bronchobucking carnival near the village, and there Charlie meets young Billy English, a boy in years but a man in action, who in the horse-riding shows the grit and pluck he possesses. Charlie resolves that Billy shall be his “meal ticket” in his old ago, and by clever wiles induces him to go in company. Charlie is an expert at stealing rides on trains, and there are some thrills where he shows young Billy how to do the act. To hold the boy to him (Billy is in a sense a foundling) Charlie pretends to.be his long-lost father, but Billy does not care about some of the company with whom Charlie consorts, and deserts.

A year later we find Charlie in the same locality and he again encounters Billy, who has been overcome by what he considers his supposed father’s “bad blood” and taken to the road on his own. There is a big scheme on, which is prevented by the appearance of a girl child. Billy, boy though he still is, determines to take care of “Lady,” and turns to ranching and determines to go straight. Years later we find Billy again falling under the influence of his evil genius, and there are many thrilling events before the reader comes to what is in some respects an unsatisfactory conclusion. Better than the average novel so far as interest and entertainment count.

I Cheap Reprints. Cassell and Co. as holders of a numi her of R. L. Stevenson copyrights have ; published numerous editions of the .books, from a Library edition (7/-) to a Popular Edition (2/-). They have 'recently issued a well-bound and clearly printed edition, for which the N.Z. ' selling price is 2/-. Prom J. T. Ward ! and Son copies have been received of Hhc following: Treasure Island, The Black Arrow, The Master of Ballanitrac. Kidnapped. Catriona, Island Nights Entertainment, and The Wreck- ' er. Such value as above take one back i to the pre-war standard. • * • • ; Occasional Notes. j The firm of Jonathan Cape have recently added to their z 6 list the following books:—“The Dream” by 11. G. Wells; “Lummox,” by Fanny Hurst; I “Sea Wrack,” by Vere Hutchinson: 'and “Alain St.,” “Babbitt,” and “Our Mr Wren,” by Sinclair Lewis. A very interesting recent publication is a biography of John Keats by Miss Amy Lowell. The chief source from which Miss Lowell derives her information is her own collection of

Keats’ material, which is the most comprehensive in existence. She has been able to redate some of the poems, to clear up points hitherto obscure, and to | reveal more fully Keats’ psychological processes. Seven previously unpublished letters from Keats and five unpublished poems are incorporated in the course of the narrative. A new novel by Sinclair Lewis has just, been published by Jonathan Cape, under the title of “Martin Arrowsmith.” The author of “Babbitt” makes the most of an immense range of scenes and characters to depict his fellows in all their half burlesque, half pathetic complexities. It is a story of a scientist and the things that filled his restless and passionate life. Air G. F. Scotson Clark gave pleasure to many with his “Eating Without Fears,” and h’s latest book, “Kitch- | cnettc Cookery” will find many appreciative readers. It is for those people who must or want to do without servants, and still enjoy the pleasures of tho table.

Jonathan Cape has just published a book entitled “Wand-erings and Excursions” by the Right Hon. J. R. MacDonald. Mr Ramsay MacDonald has been a wide traveller and reader, and has brought an individual eye to bear on whatever he saw. This volume contains a selection from articles which he has written during tho past ten vears, including some early reminiscences, travel pictures, and notes on men with whom his work has brought him in contact. Air Ilousman’s recently issued book, “Trcmblerigg,” has brought forth a great deal of censure and prai.se. By some it it regarded as an unjustified attack upon non-confomv.st ministers, while others consider it a fierce satirical portrait of a certain statesman of recent fame. The “Memoirs of Stephen Burroughs of New Hampshire” was first published iu 1812, and has been long since forgotten. Jonathan Cape has issued -m edit on at 12s 6d, of what may bo regarded as a lively contribution to tho literature of the Eternal Scamp. Stephen Burroughs was one of the most original rogues and charlatans of tho eighteenth century, even when put. in the company of Ccsanova and Cagliostro.

WANGANUI PUBLIC LIBRARY This week’s accessions to circulating department:—• Fiction —Goodchild, Geo., “Tull Timber.” Non Fiction. —Graham, Tv. B. C., “Conquest of the River Plate”; Melville, L., “Nell Gwyn”; Statham, Col., “With My Wife Across Africa”; Trevelyan, G. Al., “Manin and the Venetian Revolution”; Ward, Dudley, “A Romance of the Nineteenth Century.” Juvenile Department.—Buxton, E. AL Wilmot, “Britain Long Ago”; Farrar, F. A., “Old Greek Nature Stories”; McSpadden, J. W., “Stores of Robin Hood”; AlcSpadden, J. W., “Stories from Dickens.’ ’