POETS AND POETRY.
SOME RECENT VERSE.*
THERE is not very much to be gained by reprinting from periodicals verses which will in all probability be published in volume form not very long afterwards.' In the event of a poem escaping republication for a long time (as was the case with " La Belle Dame sans Merci ") Mr. Moult would be rendering real service by giving it a wider circulation ; but though he has netted the Press of this country and of the United States the resulting catch is often small fry. Exception must be made in the case of Mr. Hardy and Mr. de la Mare (and what net could miss such whales ?). For the rest, the poetry columns of this paper seem to have provided the most generous contributions.
Public School Verse' is now in its third year, and compares well with the senior anthology mentioned above. What it lacks in sophistication it gains in sincerity. The most notable contributor, Mr. Quennel, is already almost a veteran, and his supremacy is not directly challenged. There are, however, other voices which may develop richer tones ; but it is dangerous to extol genius too early. If it is there (and we would not commit ourselves either way) it will appear unmistakably in due course. At present we have certain verses, well written for the most part and sufficiently interesting.
The title of Mr. Untermeyer's volume' is characteristic of his sense of style. It is at once banal and precious, exerting so much pressure on the obvious that a sensation of originality is sometimes produced. The most imaginative poems are those on Hebrew themes like the " Daughters of Jephtha," in the conclusion of which music and imagery blend in one mystic and prophetic utterance. In America Mr. Untermeyer is justly renowned for his parodies, of which he here includes five excellent examples.
Mr. Childe is one of the few survivors of the Pre-Raphaelite, mediaevalist tradition, and the sixteen poems in this little hooka testify to his command of his craft. Such a poem as " The Minster " shows what may still be achieved by a simple devotion to the beauty of the past. In these poems Mr. Childe has to a great extent freed himself from the mannerisms which were sometimes too apparent in his previous work.
The taste for dialect is an acquired one, and as a legitimate medium it is defended by Mr. Lascelles Abercrombie in a foreword to Mr. Smith's handful of verses' in broad " Yorkshire." Practice justifies precept in this instance, for common sentiments regain their vitality in this rude but lively speech.
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