OTHER Porray.—Fir-Flower Tablets. By Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell. (Constable.
14s. net.)—In making these translations of Chinese poems Mrs. Ayscough and Miss Lowell went to great pains to obtain the essence of the verse rather than the trappings. Mrs. Ayscough supplied a translitera- tion of the Chinese text, the various dictionary meanings of the words, a paraphrase of the poem, and notes on all allusions. This material Miss Lowell moulded into a poetical form, which then received Mrs. Ayscough's comments and corrections. Some of the poems were remoulded more than once before they reached their present form, and this perhaps accounts for the laboured character of a large part of the book. However, there are not a few pages in which the quiet beauty of the original flowers again in a foreign tongue, and these at least show the advantage of a partnership between a Chinese scholar and a working poet.—Out of the Forest and Other Verses.
• See Affect in the Dream, Oct., net., a pamphlet by the Late Dr. W. H. B. 'Livers, published by the Cambridge University Press.
By J. H. Corby. (Blackwell. 2s. 6d. net.):--Mr. Corby com- bines sincerity with artificial*. He has made effective translations of two epigrams of Plato.—The Tower Unbuilded. By Benvenuta Solomon. (Blackwell. 2a. 6d. net.)—Contains some interesting lyrics, attractive largely because of their buoyant rhythm. A short sonnet sequence gives the book its name.
Previous page
