Schilling's unusual editorial talent, and makes manifest the bright
future of the official organ for the balance of the present
administrative year. The chief literary contribution is "Hail, Autumn!",
one of Mr. Arthur Ashby's brilliant and scholarly essays on Nature. The
quality of Mr. Ashby's work deserves particular attention for its
reflective depth of thought, and glowing profusion of imagery. His style
is remarkably mature, and escapes completely that subtle suggestion of
the schoolboy's composition which seems inseparable from the average
amateur's attempts at natural description and philosophizing. Mr.
Schilling's editorials are forcible and straightforward, vibrant with
enthusiasm for the welfare of the association. "A Representative
Official Organ", by Paul J. Campbell, serves to explain the author's
highly desirable constitutional amendment proposed for consideration at
the coming election, which will open the columns of THE UNITED AMATEUR
to the general membership at a very reasonable expense. The News Notes
in the present issue are sprightly and interesting.
* * * * *
THE UNITED AMATEUR for April is made brilliant by the presence of Henry
Clapham McGavack's terse and lucid exposure of hyphenated hypocrisy,
entitled "Dr. Burgess, Propagandist". Mr. McGavack's phenomenally virile
and convincing style is supported by a remarkable fund of historical and
diplomatic knowledge, and the feeble fallacies of the pro-German embargo
advocates collapse in speedy fashion before the polished but vigorous
onslaughts of his animated pen. Another essay inspired by no superficial
thinking is Edgar Ralph Cheyney's "Nietzschean Philosophy", wherein some
of the basic precepts of the celebrated iconoclast are set forth in
comprehensive array. "The Master Voice of Ages Calls for Peace", a poem
by Mrs. Frona Scott, has fairly regular metre, though its sentiment is
one of conventional and purely emotional pacifism. "A Gentle Satire on
Friendship", by Freda de Larot, is a very clever piece of light prose;
which could, however, be improved by the deletion of much slang, and the
rectification of many loose constructions. "A Wonderful Play" is Mrs.
Eloise R. Griffith's well worded review of Jerome K. Jerome's "The
Passing of the Third Floor Back", as enacted by Forbes-Robertson. Mrs.
Griffith has here, as in all her essays, achieved a quietly pleasing
effect, and pointed a just moral. "Fire Dreams" is a graphic and
commendably regular poem by Mrs. Renshaw. "The Beach", a poem by O. M.
Blood, requires grammatical emendation. "How better could the hours been
spent" and "When life and love true pleasure brings" cannot be excused
even by the exigencies of rhyme and metre. After the second stanza, the
couplet form shifts in an unwarranted manner to the quatrain
arrangement. The phraseology of the entire piece displays poetical
tendencies yet reveals a need for their assiduous cultivation through
reading and further practice. "My Shrine", by James Laurence Crowley,
exhibits real merit both in wording and metre, yet has a rather weak
third stanza. The lines:
"One day I crossed the desert sands;
One day I ride my train;"
are obviously anticlimactic. To say that the subject is trite would be a
little unjust to Mr. Crowley's Muse, for all amatory themes, having been
worked over since the very dawn of poesy, are necessarily barren of
possibilities save to the extremely skilled metrist. Contemporary
love-lyrics can scarcely hope to shine except through brilliant and
unexpected turns of wit, or extraordinarily tuneful numbers. The
following lines by Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle, who died in 1673,
well express the situation despite their crudeness:
"O Love, how thou art tired out with rhyme!
Thou art a tree whereon all poets climb;
And from thy branches every one takes some
Of the sweet fruit, which Fancy feeds upon.
But now thy tree is left so bare and poor,
That they can hardly gather one plum more!"
"Indicatory", a brilliant short sketch by Ethel Halsey, well illustrates
the vanity of the fair, and completes in pleasing fashion a very
creditable number of our official magazine.
* * * * *
THE UNITED AMATEUR for May forms still another monument to the taste and
energy of our official editor, Mr. Schilling. Biography is the keynote
of the current issue, Mrs. Renshaw, Mr. J. E. Hoag, and Mr. Henry
Cleveland Wood each receiving mention. Miss Emilie C. Holladay displays
a pleasing prose style in her account of our Second Vice-President, and
arouses interest with double force through the introduction of juvenile
incidents.
"Happiness Defined" is a delightful little sketch by Ida C. Haughton,
whose philosophy will awake an universal response from the breasts of
the majority. "The Wind Fairies", by Jean F. Barnum, is a poem in prose
which contains more of the genuine poetic essence than does the average
contemporary versified effort. The grace and grandeur of the clouds and
the atmosphere have in all ages been admired, and it is but natural that
they figure to a great extent in the beautiful legends of primitive
mythology. "The Ship that Sails Away", by J. E. Hoag, is a delicate and
attractive poem whose images and phraseology are equally meritorious.
Mr. Hoag's poetical attainments are such that we await with eagerness
the appearance of the pieces predicted in his biography. "To Flavia", by
Chester Pierce Munroe, is a sweet lyric addressed to a young child and
pervaded throughout with a quaintly whimsical, almost Georgian,
semblance of stately gallantry. The first word of the seventeenth line
should read "=small=" instead of "=swell=". As misprinted, this line
conveys a rather incongruous impression. "Mountains in Purple Robes of
Mist", a vivid and powerful poem of Nature by Rev. Eugene B. Kuntz, is
cast in Alexandrine quatrains, a rather uncommon measure. The only
possible defect is in line thirteen, where the accent of the word
"sublime" seems to impede the flow of the metre. Line nineteen
apparently lacks two syllables, but the deficiency is probably
secretarial or typographical rather than literary. "Man as Cook", also
by Dr. Kuntz, is a clever bit of humorous verse in octosyllabic
couplets. "Consolation" well exhibits Andrew Francis Lockhart's
remarkable progress as a poet. His verse is increasing every day in
polish, and is fast becoming one of the most pleasing and eagerly
awaited features of amateur letters. "At the End of the Road", by Mary
Faye Durr, is a graphic and touching description of a deserted
schoolhouse. The atmosphere of pensive reminiscence is well sustained by
the judiciously selected variety of images and allusions. "There's None
Like Mine at Home", by James Laurence Crowley, is a characteristic bit
of Crowleian sentimentality which requires revision and condensation.
There is not enough thought to last out three stanzas of eight lines
each. Technically we must needs shudder at the apparent incurable use of
"m-n" assonance. "Own" and "known" are brazenly and repeatedly flaunted
with "roam" and "home" in attempted rhyme. But the crowning splendour of
impossible assonance is attained in the "Worlds-girls" atrocity. Mr.
Crowley needs a long session with the late Mr. Walker's well-known
Rhyming Dictionary! Metrically, Mr. Crowley is showing a decided
improvement of late. The only censurable points in the measure of this
piece are the redundant syllables in lines 1 and 3, which might in each
case be obviated by the substitution of "=I've=" for "=I have=", and the
change of form in the first half of the concluding stanza. Of the
general phraseology and imagery we may only remark that Mr. Crowley has
much to forget, as well as to learn, before he can compete with Mr.
Kleiner or other high-grade amatory poets in the United. Such
expressions as "my guiding star", "my own dear darling Kate", or "she's
the sweetest girl that e'er on earth did roam", tell the whole sad story
to the critical eye and ear. If Mr. Crowley would religiously eschew the
popular songs and magazine "poetry" of the day, and give over all his
time to a perusal of the recognized classics of English verse, the
result would immediately be reflected in his own compositions. As yet,
he claims to be independent of scholarly tradition, but we must remind
him of the Latin epigram of Mr. Owen, which Mr. Cowper thus translated
under the title of "Retaliation":
"The works of ancient bards divine,
Aulus, thou scorn'st to read;
And should posterity read thine,
It would be strange indeed!"
So energetic and prolific a writer as Mr. Crowley owes it alike to
himself and to his readers to develop as best he can the talent which
rests latent within him.
* * * * *
=The Woodbee= for April opens with a melodious poem by Adam Dickson,
entitled "Love". While the metre might well be changed in the interests
of uniformity, the general effect is not at all harsh, and the author is
entitled to no small credit for his production. The only other poem in
the magazine is "Alone With Him", by Mrs. Ida C. Haughton. This piece is
remarkable for its rhyming arrangement, each rhyme being carried through
four lines instead of the usual couplet. The sentiments are just, the
images well drawn, and the technique correct; the whole forming a highly
commendable addition to amateur literature. "The Melody and Colour of
'The Lady of Shalott'", by Mary Faye Durr, is a striking Tennysonian
critique, whose psychological features, involving a comparison of
chromatic and poetic elements, are ingenious and unusual. Miss Durr is
obviously no careless student of poesy, for the minute analyses of
various passages give evidence of thorough assimilation and intelligent
comprehension. "On Being Good", by Newton A. Thatcher, contains sound
sense and real humour, whilst its pleasingly familiar style augurs well
for Mr. Thatcher's progress in this species of composition. "War
Reflections", by Herbert Albing, is an apt and thoughtful epitome of the
compensating benefits given to mankind by the present belligerent
condition of the world. The cogent and comprehensive series of reviews
by Miss Edna M. Haughton, and the crisp and pertinent paragraphs by
Editor Fritter, combine with the rest of =The Woodbee's= contents to
produce an issue uniformly meritorious.
H. P. LOVECRAFT,
Chairman.
THE POETRY OF THE MONTH
CONTENT.
An Epistle to RHEINHART KLEINER, Esq., Poet-Laureate, and Author of
"Another Endless Day".
_Beatus ille qui procul negotiis,
Ut prisca gens mortalium,
Paterna rura bobus exercet suis._
--HORACE.
KLEINER! in whose quick pulses wildly beat
The youth's ambition, and the lyrist's heat,
Whose questing spirit scorns our lowly flights,
And dares the heavens for sublimer heights:
If passion's force will grant an hour's relief,
Attend a calmer song, nor nurse thy grief.
What is true bliss? Must mortals ever yearn
For stars beyond their reach, and vainly burn;
Must suff'ring man, impatient, seek to scale
Forbidden steeps, where sharper pangs prevail?
Alas for him who chafes at soothing ease,
And cries for fever'd joys and pains to please:
They please a moment, but the pleasure flies,
And the rack'd soul, a prey to passion, dies.
Away, false lures! and let my spirit roam
O'er sweet Arcadia, and the rural home;
Let my sad heart with no new sorrow bleed,
But rest content in Morven's mossy mead.
Wild thoughts and vain ambitions circle near,
Whilst I, at peace, the abbey chimings hear.
Loud shakes the surge of Life's unquiet sea,
Yet smooth the stream that laves the rustic lea.
Let others feel the world's destroying thrill,
As 'midst the kine I haunt the verdant hill.
Rise, radiant sun! to light the grassy glades,
Whose charms I view from grateful beechen shades;
O'er spire and peak diffuse th' expanding gleam
That gilds the grove, and sparkles on the stream.
Awake! ye sylphs of Flora's gorgeous train,
To scent the fields, and deck the rising main.
Soar, feathered flock, and carol o'er the scene,
To cheer the lonely watcher on the green.
Sweet is the song the morning meadow bears,
And with the darkness fade ambitious cares:
Above the abbey tow'r the rays ascend,
As light and peace in matchless beauty blend.
Why should I sigh for realms of toil and stress,
When now I bask in Nature's loveliness;
What thoughts so great, that they must needs expand
Beyond the hills that bound this fragrant land?
These friendly hills my infant vision knew,
And in the shelt'ring vale from birth I grew.
Yon distant spires Ambition's limit show,
For who, here born, could farther wish to go?
When sky-blest evening soothes the world and me,
Are moon and stars more distant from my lea?
No urban glare my sight of heav'n obscures,
And orbs undimm'd rise o'er the neighb'ring moors.
What priceless boon may spreading Fame impart,
When village dignity hath cheer'd the heart?
The little group that hug the tavern fire
To air their wisdom, and salute their squire,
Far kinder are, than all the courtly throng
That flatter Kings, and shield their faults in song!
And in the end; what if no man adore
My senseless ashes 'neath Westminster's floor?
May not my weary frame, at Life's dim night,
Sleep where my childhood first enjoy'd the light?
Rest were the sweeter in the sacred shade
Of that dear fane where all my fathers pray'd;
Ancestral spirits bless the air around,
And hallow'd mem'ries fill the gentle ground.
So stay, belov'd Content! nor let my soul
In fretful passion seek a farther goal.
Apollo, chasing Daphne, gain'd his prize,
But lo! she turn'd to wood before his eyes!
Our earthly prizes, though as holy sought,
Prove just as fleeting, and decay to naught.
Enduring bliss a man may only find
In virtuous living, and contented mind.
H. P. LOVECRAFT.
THE UNITED AMATEUR AUGUST 1916
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC CRITICISM
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT 1915-1916.
Following a novel idea originated by the present Columbus
administration, the Department of Public Criticism will herewith submit
for the first time in its history an annual report, or summary of the
preceding year's literary events within the United Amateur Press
Association.
The programme of improvement informally decided upon in the official
year of 1913-1914 received its definite ratification at the Rocky Mount
Convention, when the assembled representatives of the United pledged
"Individual collective support" to Mr. Fritter, the new President, in
his endeavors to raise the literary standard of our society, and when an
absolutely unanimous vote invested Mrs. J. W. Renshaw, the leading
spirit of progress, with the important office of Second Vice-President.
Pres. Fritter has since discharged his obligations and sustained his
responsibilities in a thoroughly satisfactory manner despite many trying
difficulties, whilst Mrs. Renshaw, as a recruiter, has succeeded in
laying the foundations of a completely broadened, elevated, and
rejuvenated association. Yet all that has been accomplished is merely
the prologue of that greater period of change which must bring about the
final assimilation of Mrs. Renshaw's phenomenally gifted recruits, and
the materialization of the still nebulous plans evolved during the past
twelvemonth.
The undersigned has on several occasions advocated the formation of a
regular "Department of Instruction" in the United, to be conducted by
professional teachers and college instructors for the purpose of guiding
the more or less inexperienced members. He has communicated his idea to
several high-school preceptors of great ability, and has learned that
under present conditions such a department is not perfectly feasible. It
has been suggested that if each experienced and educated amateur would
assume a personal and sympathetic advisory position toward some one of
the younger or cruder members, much actual good might result. As our
list now stands, the crude and the cultured are perhaps evenly balanced,
yet instant success even in this modified course can scarcely be
expected. At least another year seems to be required, in which the
various members may gain a closer knowledge of each other through the
wider diffusion of their printed efforts. However, the need for a more
uniformly educated membership is pressing, and the undersigned will
welcome aid or advice of any kind from those willing to assist him in
establishing some sort of scholastic Department.
Another idea which has received undeserved neglect and discouraging
opposition is the Authors' Placing Bureau or "United Literary Service",
as outlined by the Second Vice-President. The normal goal of the amateur
writer is the outside world of letters, and the United should certainly
be able to provide improved facilities for the progress of its members
into the professional field. The objections offered to this plan are
apparently less vital than those affecting the Department of
Instruction, and it is to be hoped that the mistaken zeal of our
non-professional sticklers may not serve to prevent a step so sorely
needed.
Passing on to the details of Departmental work, the undersigned is
pleased to report a remarkable increase in the literary value of the
compositions brought forth in the United this year; an increase which
may be fairly declared to constitute a true elevation of our
intellectual standard, and which undoubtedly compensates for the present
regrettable paucity of amateur publishing media. In verse, particularly,
is the advance notable. Some of our poets are securing recognition in
the outside world of letters, whilst many lesser bards show a steady
upward trend in their amateur efforts. Prose continues to suffer because
of the seemingly unavoidable brevity of the average amateur journal. It
is impossible to crowd any really well developed piece of prose within
the limits generally assigned, hence our best authors seem almost to be
driven into verse as a medium of expression. Financial prosperity of
sufficient extent to ensure the publication of larger papers is
obviously the only remedy for this deplorable condition.
Of our poets, the Laureate Rheinhart Kleiner (also Laureate of the
National for 1916-1917) continues as the foremost technician and
harmonist. His accurate and tasteful lines satisfy the ear and the
understanding with equal completeness, and he shows no sign of yielding
to the corrupting influences of decadent modern standards. In his own
journal, =The Piper=, he reveals a versatile and phenomenally well
stocked mind. The September number, containing imitations of the work of
other amateur poets, will long be remembered. Mrs. Renshaw maintains her
high place as a philosophical and expressionistic bard, though hampered
by unusual theories of spontaneous versification. A greater deference to
the human ear and metrical sense would render her already lofty poetry
as attractive as it is exalted. Miss Olive G. Owen, former Laureate, has
lately returned to activity, and may well be expected to duplicate her
former successes in the domain of the Muses. The poetical progress of
Andrew Francis Lockhart is a notable feature of amateur letters this
year. Mr. Lockhart has always possessed the true genius of the bard,
writing ably and voluminously; but his recent technical care is bringing
out hitherto undiscovered beauties in his verse, and placing him in the
very front rank of United poets. "Benediction" and "Consolation" are
vastly above the average.
Of the new poets of prime magnitude who have risen above our horizon
during the past year, Mrs. Winifred Virginia Jordan of Newton Centre,
Mass., deserves especial mention both for high quality and great volume
of work. Mrs. Jordan's poetry is of a tunefully delicate and highly
individualistic sort which has placed it in great demand amongst amateur
editors, and it is not unlikely that the author may be rewarded with a
Laureateship at no distant date. The work is invariably of spontaneously
graceful rhythm and universally pleasing in sentiment, having frequently
an elusive suggestion of the unreal. A few of Mrs. Jordan's poems are of
the grimly weird and powerful variety. "The Song of the North Wind" is a
remarkable contribution to amateur letters, and has won the enthusiastic
admiration of the United's poetical element. Professional success has
recently crowned the efforts of Mrs. Jordan. =Weekly Unity= for June 17
contains her lines on "The Singing Heart", whilst several other poems
from her pen have been accepted by =The National Magazine=. Rev. James
Tobey Pyke is another poet of the first order whose writings have lately
enriched the literature of the United. His style is correct, and his
thought deep and philosophical. "The Meadow Cricket" is a poem which
deserved more than a superficial perusal. John Russell, formerly of
Scotland but now of Florida, is a satirist and dialect writer of
enviable talent. His favorite measure is the octosyllabic couplet, and
in his skilled hands this simple metre assumes a new and sparkling
lustre. Rev. Frederick Chenault is a prolific lyrical poet whose
sentiments are of uniform loftiness. The substitution of exact rhyme for
assonance in his lines would double the already immense merit of his
work. Other new bards of established ability are W. S. Harrison,
Kathleen Baldwin, Eugene B. Kuntz, Mary Evelyn Brown, Henry Cleveland
Wood, John W. Frazier, William Hume, Ella Colby Eckert, J. E. Hoag,
Edgar Ralph Cheyney, Margaret A. Richard, William de Ryee, Helen H.
Salls, and Jeanette Aylworth.