Shakespeare's Words
Words and Poetry. By G. H. W. Rylands. (The Hogarth Press. 10s. 6d.)
Ma. GEORGE RYLANDS has published his Fellowship disser- tation as' a volume of literary criticism. The earlier half of the book is concerned with literature in general, the second half with a detailed study of Shakespeare's style. It has been pointed out that while studies of Shakespeare's life, times, sources, are common, very littlf, has' been written about Shakespeare's literary style, of which we have the amplest evidence. Mr. Lytton Strachey, who contributes a charming introduction, defines exactly the purpose of Mr. Rylands's book :— " A story is told of Degas, who, in the intervals -of painting, amused himself by writing Sonnets, and on one occasion found that his inspiration had run dry. In his distress, he went to his friend Malian:no. ' I cannot understand it,' he said, my poem won't come out, and yet I am full of excellent ideas.' My dear Degas,' was Mallarme'a repl3r, poetry- is written with ideas ; it is written with words.' Mr. George Rylands' book is a commentary on Mallarme's dictum. Was it a platitude ? Was it a paradox ?
Both and neither, perhaps, like most profound observations." -
The book is strewn with ample quotations from some Of the loveliest passages in Shakespeare, and that in itself makes it pleasant to turn its pages. But Mr. Rylands is an accomplished critic, and already_ a considerable Shakespearean scholar. We like especially one feature in his approach to Shakespeare. He admits, and even empha- sizes, the real difficulty of understanding what Shakespeare meant. We are so familiar with the sound of Shakespeare that we seldom pause to try to discover the exact meaning behind the sonorous words : but when we do, we usually fmd that the task is unexpectedly difficult, because the meaning is unexpectedly profound.
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