Part 5 (1/2)

_The Boys' Herald_ for August is an issue of unusual elaborateness, announcing the engagement of its editor, Mr. Edwin Hadley Smith, and Miss Nita Edna Gerner of New York. Excellent portraits of the happy couple follow the formal announcement, and Miss Gerner, now a.s.sociate Editor, describes in an excellent prose style the romance which culminated in the engagement. ”Gerneriana,” consisting mainly of a reprint from an earlier issue, is an interesting account of the late Richard Gerner, an old-time amateur, and father of the prospective bride. This article is well supplemented by the reproductions of parts of old amateur papers which adorn the back cover of the magazine. The remainder of _The Boys' Herald_ is wholly statistical, dealing with the amateur career of Mr. Smith. Few members of the a.s.sociation could produce superior records of activity.

_The Brooklynite_ for April maintains the high standard set by the previous number. ”A Miracle,” the opening poem, was composed by Alice L.

Carson during the course of a meeting of the Blue Pencil Club, yet exhibits all the grace and harmony expected in a carefully planned and laboriously polished work. ”Spring Thoughts,” by A. M. Adams, is a humorous prose masterpiece by the National's new Critic. Seldom is the amateur press favoured with such a well-sustained succession of brilliant epigrams. Miss Owen's ”Ode to Trempealeau Mountain” is a n.o.ble specimen of heroic blank verse, containing some very striking ant.i.thetical lines. The t.i.tle, however, is a misnomer, since a true ode is necessarily of irregular form. ”Some Late Amateur Magazines,” by W. B. Stoddard, is a series of brief, informal reviews. As a critic, Mr.

Stoddard shows considerable discernment, though having a rather unpleasant air of conscious superiority in certain places. A little more stateliness of style would add to the force of his criticisms. ”Spring”

reveals Rheinhart Kleiner in his favourite domain of amatory verse. Mr.

Kleiner's tuneful numbers and pure diction render his poetry ever a delight. ”Rebellion,” by Miss von der Heide, is a metrically perfect piece of verse whose artistry is marred only by the use of the unpoetical philosophical term ”subconscious” instead of ”unconscious.”

_The Brooklynite_ for July is of especial interest as the first paper to print an account of the Rocky Mount convention. This description, from the facile and versatile pen of Miss von der Heide, is of distinctly informal character, yet is none the less interesting as an animated chronicle of an enjoyable event. Rheinhart Kleiner's account of the National convention is more dignified, and may be considered as a model for this sort of composition. Mr. Kleiner s.h.i.+nes as brightly in prose as in verse, and each day surprises us with revelations of excellence in various dissimilar departments of literature.

_The Conservative_ for July is notable for Mr. Ira Cole's delightfully pantheistic poem, ”A Dream of the Golden Age.” The unusual poetic genius of Mr. Cole has been revealed but recently, yet the imaginative qualities pervading some of his prose long ago gave indications of this gift. The pantheistic, Nature-wors.h.i.+pping mind of our author lends to his productions an unique and elusive atmosphere which contrasts very favourably with the earthy tone of some of our less fanciful bards.

Metrically, Mr. Cole adopts instinctively the regular, conservative forms of a saner generation. In this specimen of heroic verse he inclines toward the practice of Keats, and does not always confine single thoughts to single couplets in the manner of the eighteenth-century poets. We believe that Mr. Cole is commencing a successful career as a United poet, and await the day when he shall be accorded the honor of a laureates.h.i.+p.

_The Coyote_ for July reveals a wonderful improvement over the March number, both in the literary quality of its contributions and in general editorial excellence. Never before have we seen the perfect amateur spirit acquired so quickly as in Mr. Harrington's case. ”Night Fancies,”

by Helen H. Salls, is a sonnet of exceptional power and artistry, whose faultless metre is equalled only by its bold and striking images. Amidst this profusion of excellent metaphor, it is difficult to select individual instances for particular praise, but we might commend especially the pa.s.sage:

”... the stars still keep Afloat like boats that black sky-billows ride.”

Miss Salls is clearly an amateur poet of the first rank, and it is to be hoped that she will be a liberal contributor to United magazines. ”The Rebirth of the British Empire,” by William T. Harrington, is a clear and concise exposition of the virtues whereby Old England maintains her proud position as Mistress of the Seas, and chief colonial empire of the world. The style of the essay is admirable, and well exhibits the progressive qualities of Mr. Harrington. ”An Ideal,” by Nettie Hartman, is a short poem of pleasing sentiment and harmonious metre. The notes on amateur affairs are interesting and well composed, revealing Mr.

Harrington's increasing enthusiasm for the cause.

_Dowdell's Bearcat_ for May is another striking ill.u.s.tration of the improvement which can affect a paper within a very short time. Since last October Mr. Dowdell has been progressing swiftly toward journalistic excellence, and even this cleverly conceived and uniquely shaped issue fails to mark the limit of his ambition. ”Knowest Thou?” by Mrs. Renshaw, is an expressive tribute to a nation whose recent infamies can never wholly becloud its rugged virtues. ”With Nature I Rejoice” is probably the best poem which Joseph R. Schaffman has yet written. As his remarkable talent matures, the didactic element in his verse is gradually giving way to the more purely poetic, and this latest effort is one of which he may be justly proud. Concerning Mr. Dowdell's own spirited prose, we need only repeat the previous suggestion, that a little less slang would add much to its force and dignity.

_Dowdell's Bearcat_ for May 26 contains another poem by Mrs. Renshaw whose national tone is not likely to be popular just now outside the country to which it refers; in fact, Editor Dowdell has deemed it wise to make an apologetic statement concerning it. However, if we call ”Ein Mann” Col. Theodore Roosevelt, and s.h.i.+ft the scene to San Juan Hill, we may be able to appreciate the real patriotism delineated.

_Dowdell's Bearcat_ for June is wholly given over to notes of the amateur world. Mr. Dowdell is indeed a pleasing young writer, and leaves none of his topics without a characteristic touch of light adornment.

_The Lake Breeze_ for April is distinguished by James L. Crowley's poem ent.i.tled ”April,” a brief lyric of marked merit, highly expressive of the season. ”Writing Poetry,” an essay by Dora M. Hepner, is a clear and tasteful a.n.a.lysis of the poet's art and inspiration. ”The Norwegian Recruit,” a dialect monologue by Maurice W. Moe, is the leading feature of this issue. This exquisite bit of humor, recited by Mr. Moe at the United's 1913 convention, is a sketch of rare quality. ”The Amateur Press,” now firmly established as a column of contributed reviews, is this month of substantial size and fair quality. It is needless to say that the news pages are interesting, and that the paper as a whole well maintains the high reputation it has ever enjoyed.

_The Lake Breeze_ for June apparently opens an era of unprecedented improvement, being of distinctly literary rather than political nature.

The plea for a Department of Instruction is a just one, and ought to meet with response from some of our pedagogical members. ”Broken Metre,”

by Mrs. Renshaw, is an attempt at defending the popular atrocities committed in the name of freedom by the modern poets. While the article is superficially quite plausible, we feel that the settled forms of regular metre have too much natural justification thus to be disturbed.

The citation of Milton, intended to strengthen Mrs. Renshaw's argument, really weakens it; for while he undoubtedly condemns _rhyme_, he laments in the course of this very condemnation the _lame metre_ which is sometimes concealed by apt rhyming. ”Some Views on Versification,” by Clara I. Stalker, is an essay written from a sounder and more conservative point of view. The middle course in poetical composition, which avoids alike wild eccentricities and mechanical precision, has much to recommend it, and Miss Stalker does well to point out its virtues. However, we do not see why even the few irregularities which are here said to be inevitable, cannot be smoothed out by the bard without destroying the sense of his poetry. ”Disappointment,” by Mrs.

Maude K. Barton, is a clever piece of light verse whose sprightly humour makes up for its slight metrical roughness. The imperfect but allowable rhyming of ”bear” and ”appear” in the first stanza is entirely correct according to the old-time standards which we ourselves follow, but we fear that the delicate ear of a precise metrical artist like Rheinhart Kleiner would object to its liberalism. ”The Amateur Press” is distinguished by an excellent review from the pen of Mrs. Renshaw. The style is satisfactory, and the criticism just, making the whole well worthy of the prize book it has secured for its author. ”'Pollyanna,'

the Glad Book” is a meritorious and entertaining review by Mrs.

Griffith. ”Hope,” by Marguerite Sisson, is commendable for its use of that n.o.ble but neglected measure, the heroic couplet. Mr. Daas'

concluding editorial, ”Literature and Politics,” is admirable for its concise exposition of the United's new ideals, and its masterly refutation of the common fallacy that political quarrels are necessary to stimulate activity in the press a.s.sociations.

_The Looking Gla.s.s_ for May is a journal unique in purpose and quality.

Edited by Mrs. Renshaw in behalf of her many gifted recruits, it reveals a condition absolutely unexampled; the acquisition by one member of so many high-grade novices that a special publication is required properly to introduce them to the United. ”To a Critic of Sh.e.l.ley,” by Helen H.

Salls, is a long piece of beautiful blank verse, marred only by one accidental rhyme. Miss Salls is evidently one of those few really powerful poets who come all too seldom into Amateur Journalism, startling the a.s.sociation with impeccable harmony and exalted images.

The present poem grows even more attractive on a.n.a.lysis. The diction is of phenomenal purity and wholly unspoiled by any ultra-modern touch. It might have been a product of Sh.e.l.ley's own age. The metaphor is marvellous, exhibiting a soul overflowing with true spirituality, and a mind trained to express beautiful thought in language of corresponding beauty. Such unforced ornateness is rarely met in the domain of amateur poetry. We feel certain that Miss Salls has already become a fixed star in the empyrean of the United. Exalted poetry of quite another type is furnished by the work of our new Director, Rev. Frederick Chenault, whose two exquisite lyrics, ”Birth” and ”The Sea of Somewhere,” appear in this issue. With little use of formal rhyme and metre, Mr. Chenault abounds in delicate conceptions and artistic renditions.

”Retrospection,” by Kathleen Baldwin, is likewise a poem of high order, and of fairly regular metre, evidently following comparatively recent models in technique. ”The Faithful Man,” by I. T. Valentine, shows growing poetical talent, but is cruelly injured by the anticlimactic line. Not that there is any anticlimax of sentiment, but the colloquial mode of expression shocks the reader who has been perusing the more dignified lines which go before. ”The Stonework of Life” is an excellent prose sermon by Joseph Ernest Shufelt, which displays great ability in the field of metaphor and allegory. Mr. Shufelt possesses an admirable style, unusually well fitted for didactic matter of this sort; indeed, it is regrettable that he should ever depart from such congenial themes and turn to the wild sensationalism which he shows in _The Badger_. In demonstrating the beauties of morality and religion, he has few superiors, and a task so appropriate to his genius ought to claim his whole attention. True, his thoughts may follow strange courses in their quest for truth and beauty, but were he always to curb them within the bounds of probability and conservatism, as here, he would never lose the confidence of his public, as he has done with his strange war theories.

”The Autocracy of Art,” by Anne Vyne Tillery Renshaw, is the leading article of the magazine. Herein the author proclaims the supremacy of spiritual utterances over all restrictions created by the mind, and urges the emanc.i.p.ation of the soaring bard from the earthly chains of rhyme and metre. That the inward promptings of the poetic instinct are of prime value to the poet, few will dispute; but that they may give final form to his soul's creations without some regulation by the natural laws of rhythm, few will agree. The metric sense lies far deeper in the breast of man than Mrs. Renshaw is here disposed to acknowledge.

After this article, the perfectly regular stanzas of ”Fellow Craftsman,”

_by the same author_, are refres.h.i.+ng. The typography and form of _The Looking Gla.s.s_ leave something to be desired, but the riches within make ample compensation for outward crudity.

_The New Member_ for May, edited by William Dowdell, contains but one credential, yet doubtless paves the way for a resumption of the enterprise so ably conducted by Miss Hoffman last year. ”Melancholy,” a poem by I. T. Valentine, shows traces of the beginner's crudeness, yet has about it a quality which promises much for the future of the poet.

”Lock-Step Pete,” by Miss von der Heide, is an unusual poem with a thoughtful suggestion embodied in its concluding stanza.