figure than Ira A. Cole of Bazine, Kansas. Previously well known as a
prose writer and publisher, he made his debut as a metrist just a year
ago, through a very beautiful piece in the heroic couplet entitled "A
Dream of the Golden Age". Mr. Cole is one of the few survivors of the
genuine classic school, and constitutes a legitimate successor to the
late Georgian poets. His development has been of extraordinary rapidity,
and he will shortly surprise the amateur public both by a poetic drama
called "The Pauper and the Prince", and by a long mythological poem not
unlike Moore's "Lalla Rookh". The natural and pantheistic character of
Mr. Cole's philosophy adapts him with phenomenal grace to his position
as a mirror of classical antiquity. Another developing poet is Mr. Roy
Wesley Nixon of Florida. "Grandma", his latest published composition, is
a sonnet of real merit. Adam Dickson, a Scotsman by birth, but now a
resident of Los Angeles, writes tunefully and pleasantly. His pieces are
not yet of perfect polish, but each exhibits improvement over the
preceding. He tends to favor the anapaest and the iambic tetrameter.
Mrs. Ida Cochran Haughton of Columbus is scarcely a novice, but her
latest pieces are undeniably showing a great increase of technical
grace. Chester Pierce Munroe of North Carolina is a delicate amatory
lyrist of the Kleiner type. He has the quaint and attractive Georgian
touch, particularly evident in "To Flavia" and "To Chloris". Miss M.
Estella Shufelt is absolutely new to the kingdom of poesy, yet has
already produced work of phenomenal sweetness and piety. Mrs. E. L.
Whitehead, though formerly confined wholly to prose, has entered the
poetical field with intelligent and discriminating care. Her words are
thoughtfully weighed and selected, whilst her technique has rapidly
assumed a scholarly exactitude. Two new poets whose work requires much
technical improvement are Mrs. Agnes R. Arnold and Mr. George M.
Whiteside. Mr. Whiteside has indications of qualities not far remote
from genius, and would be well repaid by a rigorous course of study.
Messrs. John Hartman Oswald and James Laurence Crowley are both gifted
with a fluency and self-sufficiency which might prove valuable assets in
a study of poesy. W. F. Booker of North Carolina possesses phenomenal
grace, which greater technical care would develop into unusual power.
Rev. Robert L. Selle, D. D., of Little Rock, Arkansas, is inspired by
sincerest religious fervor, and has produced a voluminous quantity of
verse whose orthodoxy is above dispute. Mrs. Maude K. Barton writes
frequently and well, though her technical polish has not yet attained
its maximum. John Osman Baldwin of Ohio is a natural poet of spontaneous
grace, though requiring cultivation in correct style.
From the foregoing estimate it may easily be gathered that imperfect
technique is the cardinal sin of the average amateur poet. We have among
us scores of writers blest with beautiful thoughts and attractive
fluency, yet the number of precise versifiers may be counted on one's
fingers. Our association needs increased requirements in classic
scholarship and literary exactitude. At present, it is impossible for an
impartial critic to give unstinted approval to the technique of any well
known United poet save Rheinhart Kleiner.
Turning to the consideration of our prose writers, the undersigned finds
it difficult to render a true judgment, owing to the adverse conditions
mentioned earlier in this report. Many fluent pens are doubtless cramped
into feebleness through want of space.
Fiction is among us the least developed of all the branches of
literature. Really good stories are rare phenomena, whilst even
mediocrity is none too common. The best short stories of the year are
probably those by M. Almedia Bretholl and Eleanor Barnhart; the others
are mainly juvenile work. Roy W. Nixon and Miss Coralie Austin represent
the extremes of excitement and tameness, with "A Bottle of Carbolic
Acid" on the one hand, and with "Jane" and "'Twixt the Red and the
White" on the other. Both of these authors possess substantial ability.
David H. Whittier is developing along classic lines, and will be a
prominent figure in the next generation of amateur journalists. Mr.
Moe's pupils are all good story-tellers, the work of Miss Gladys L. Bagg
standing forth quite prominently this year. Florence Brugger's "Tale of
the Sea" is a graphic narrative from a youthful pen, as is William
Dowdell's "Behind the Canvas Wall", in a somewhat different way.
Henriette and Florenz Ziegfeld have each contributed excellent work, nor
must Mary M. Sisson's "Tempora Mutantur" be forgotten.
The rather loosely defined domain of the "sketch" has thriven this year,
since it elicits fluent expression from those less prolific in other
branches of literature. Mr. Melvin Ryder has entertained us with an
entire magazine of this sort of material, whilst Mrs. Ida C. Haughton,
Irene Metzger, Benjamin Repp, Mary Faye Durr, Ethel Halsey, Clara Inglis
Stalker, Freda de Larot, Helene E. Hoffman Cole, Helen M. Woodruff, Ira
A. Cole, and Eloise N. Griffith prove no less entertaining with shorter
sketches.
Criticism is well represented by Leo Fritter, Edna M. Haughton, Mrs.
J. W. Renshaw, and Rheinhart Kleiner. The latter is no less gifted a
critic than a poet, and gives out very acute judgments in his journal,
=The Piper=.
In viewing the formal essays of the year, one is impressed with the
profusion of mere schoolboy compositions. Masters of the Addisonian art
are few but those few almost atone for the general lack of polish. Henry
Clapham McGavack leads the list with a clarity of style and keenness of
reasoning unsurpassed in the association. His "Dr. Burgess,
Propagandist" is an amateur classic. Edgar Ralph Cheyney is an extreme
radical, but is none the less a masterful essayist. His articles take a
very high rank both for thoughtfulness and for diction. A third writer
of unusual power and analytical depth is Arthur W. Ashby, whose essays
on the varied aspects of Nature command our serious attention. The two
Schillings, George and Samuel, deserve more than a passing mention,
whilst Pres. Fritter's Laureateship well attests his merit. Rev. E. P.
Parham has produced work of attractive quality. Joseph W. Renshaw's
essays and editorials command notice whenever beheld; whilst Ira A.
Cole, ever versatile, will shortly display his epistolary skill in the
now unpublished series of "Churchill-Tutcombie Letters". William T.
Harrington has progressed by leaps and bounds to a prominent place
amongst our essay-writers, his able encomiums of Old England being a
delightful feature of the year. It would be gratifying to speak of
Maurice W. Moe's splendid style and terse English at this point, for he
is one of our very foremost essayists; but his enforced inactivity in
amateur journalism this year has deprived us of any current specimens
save the brief editorial in the February =Pippin=.
The general quality of our prose is by no means satisfactory. Too many
of our authors are contaminated with modern theories which cause them to
abandon grace, dignity, and precision, and to cultivate the lowest forms
of slang.
Papers and magazines have been neither ample nor numerous this year; in
fact, the tendency of the times appears to be a centralization of effort
in THE UNITED AMATEUR; something which is for many reasons to be
applauded, and for a few reasons to be deplored. Those members who feel
capable of issuing individual papers should be encouraged to do so;
whilst those who are ordinarily silent, should be encouraged to join the
contributing staff of THE UNITED AMATEUR as provided by the Campbell
amendment.
The best individual journal of the year is =Ole Miss'=. For frequency
and regularity, =The Scot=, =The Woodbee=, =The Dixie Booster=, and =The
Coyote= are to be commended. THE UNITED AMATEUR has prospered as a
monthly despite adverse conditions. The elaborate September, October and
February numbers put us in deep debt to Mr. Edward F. Daas, while
subsequent examples of good editorship must be accredited to Mr. George
Schilling. It is gratifying to note the increasing literary character of
the Official Organ; purely official numbers are invariably tedious, many
of the long, detailed reports being quite superfluous. It is a strong
and sincere hope of the undersigned, that Mr. Daas may rejoin us at and
after the present convention. The resumption of =The Lake Breeze= would
supply a pressing need. Mr. Moitoret's =Cleveland Sun=, which promises
to be a frequently issued paper, made its first appearance lately, and
will, after much of its "loudness" has been removed, be of substantial
benefit to new members. The "sporting" features should be eliminated at
once, as not only being in bad taste, but exerting a noxious influence
over the literary development of the younger members.
While upon the subject of papers, the undersigned would like to enter a
renewed protest against the persistent use of certain distorted forms of
spelling commonly called "simplified". These wretched innovations,
popular amongst the less educated element during the past decade, are
now becoming offensively prominent in certain periodicals of supposedly
better grade, and require concerted opposition on the part of all
friends of our language. The advantages claimed for the changes are
almost wholly unsubstantial, whilst the inevitable disadvantages are
immense. Let us see fewer "thrus" and "thoros" in the amateur press!
What the association needs above all things is a return to earlier forms
in prose and verse alike; to poetry that does not pain the ear, and
paragraphs that do not affront the aesthetic sense of the reader. If our
writers would pay more attention to the tasteful Georgian models, they
would produce work of infinitely less cacophonous quality. Almost every
one of our authors who is familiar with the literature of the past, is
distinguished by exceptional grace and fluency of composition.
As this report draws toward its conclusion, a few minor aims of the
Department of Public Criticism are to be noted. It is now the desire of
the undersigned to aid authors in rectifying the injustices to which
they are subjected by the wretched typography of most amateur journals.
Writers are hereby encouraged to transmit to this Department corrected
copies of all misprinted work, the corrections to be made public in THE
UNITED AMATEUR. By this method it is hoped that no amateur journalist
will again be forced to suffer for faults not his own, as so many have
suffered in the past. Of course, the critical reports themselves are
frequently misprinted, but the vast majority of mistakes may with care
be eliminated.
Concerning the name of this association, which a number wish changed in
a manner that will eliminate the word "amateur", the undersigned feels
that the sentiment of the veteran element is too strongly against such a
move to warrant its immediate adoption. The primary object is the
training of young writers before they have attained the professional
grade, wherefore the present title is by no means such a misnomer as
might be inferred from the talents of the more cultivated members.
However, the proposed alteration is certainly justified in many ways,
hence the idea should be deferred rather than abandoned altogether.
The wane of interest in amateur political affairs is to be commended as
a recognition of the superior importance of literary matters. Amateur
journalism is rapidly progressing nearer and nearer its ideal: a device
for the instruction of the young and crude, and an aid for the obscure
author of any sort, rather than a playground for the aimless and the
frivolous.
Last of all, the undersigned wishes to thank the membership for its kind
reception of the Department's reports. It is ever the Chairman's design
to render impartial judgment, and if harshness or captiousness may at
any time have been noticed in the reports, it has in each case been
unintentional. An ideal of sound conservatism has been followed, but in
no instance has the critic sought to enforce upon others that peculiarly
archaic style of which he is personally fond, and which he is accustomed
to employ in his own compositions. The Department of Public Criticism
aspires to be of substantial assistance to the members of the United,
and hopes next year to co-operate with Mr. Lockhart in presenting
reviews of truly constructive quality.
Solicitous for the approval, and confident of the indulgence of the
association, the Department herewith has the honor to conclude its first
annual report; in the hope that such a summary of events and estimate of
conditions may be of use to the incoming administration.
H. P. LOVECRAFT,
Chairman.
THE UNITED AMATEUR SEPTEMBER 1916
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC CRITICISM
=The Amateur Special= for July is a voluminous magazine of credentials
and other work of new members, edited by Mrs. E. L. Whitehead, retiring
Eastern Manuscript Manager, with the assistance of the Recruiting
Committee. Of all papers lately issued in the United, this is without
doubt among the most valuable and most significant; since it is the
pioneer of the new regime, whereby the talent of all our membership is
to be brought out by better publishing facilities. Mrs. Whitehead, with
notable generosity, has reserved for herself but one page, on which we
find a clever and correct bit of verse, and a number of graceful
acknowledgments and useful suggestions. The contents in general are well
calculated to display the thorough literary excellence and supremacy of
the United in its present condition; for in this collection of stories,
poems, and articles, taken practically at random from the manuscript
bureaus, there is scarce a line unworthy of commendation.
"Tatting", by Julian J. Crump, is a fluent and graceful colloquial
sketch. "Mother and Child", by J. E. Hoag, is a sombre and thoughtful
poem having a certain atmosphere of mysticism. The metre, which is well
handled, consists of regular iambic pentameter quatrains with a couplet
at the conclusion. An annoying misprint mars the first stanza, where
"=sigh=" is erroneously rendered as "=sight=". "Homesick for the
Spring", a poem by Bessie Estelle Harvey, displays real merit in thought
and construction alike. "Mother Earth", by Rev. E. P. Parham, is a well
adorned little essay in justification of the traditional saying that
"the earth is mother of us all". George M. Whiteside, a new member of
the United, makes his first appearance before us as a poet in "The
Little Freckled Face Kid". Mr. Whiteside's general style is not unlike
that of the late James Whitcomb Riley, and its prevailing air of homely
yet pleasing simplicity is well maintained. "To Chloris", by Chester
Pierce Munroe, is a smooth and melodious amatory poem of the Kleiner
school. The imagery is refined, and the polish of the whole amply
justifies the inevitable triteness of the theme. The word "=adorns=", in
next the last line, should read "=adorn=". "A Dream", by Helen Harriet
Salls, is a hauntingly mystical succession of poetic images cast in
appropriate metre. The natural phenomena of the morning are vividly
depicted in a fashion possible only to the true poet. The printer has
done injustice to this exquisite phantasy in three places. In the first
stanza "=wonderous=" should read "=wondrous=", while in the seventh
stanza "=arient=" should be "=orient=". "=Thou'st=", in the eleventh
stanza, should be "=Thou'rt=". "Prayers", a religious poem by Rev.
Robert L. Selle, D. D., displays the classic touch of the eighteenth
century in its regular octosyllabic couplets, having some resemblance to
the work of the celebrated Dr. Watts. "Snow of the Northland", by M.
Estella Shufelt, is a religious poem of different sort, whose tuneful
dactylic quatrains contain much noble and appropriate metaphor. In the
final line the word "=re-cleaned=" should read "=re-cleansed=". "In
Passing By", by Sophie Lea Fox, is a meritorious poem of the thoughtful,
introspective type, which has been previously honoured with professional
publication. "A Time to Sing", by M. B. Andrews, introduces to the
United another genuine poet of worth. The lines are happy in inspiration
and finished in form, having only one possible defect, the use of
"=heralding=" as a dissyllable. "The Stately Mountains", by Rev. Eugene
B. Kuntz, D. D., is a notable contribution to amateur poetic literature.
Dr. Kuntz chooses as his favourite metre the stately Alexandrine; and
using it in a far more flexible and ingenious manner than that of
Drayton, he manages to achieve a dignified and exalted atmosphere
virtually impossible in any other measure. The even caesural break so
common to Alexandrines, and so often urged by critics as an objection
against them, is here avoided with great ingenuity and good taste. Dr.
Kuntz's sentiments and phrases are as swelling and sublime as one might
expect from his metre. His conception of Nature is a broad and noble
one, and his appreciation of her beauties is that of the innate poet.
"An April Memory" acquaints us with W. Frank Booker, a gifted lyrist
whose lines possess all the warmth, witchery and grace of his native
Southland. James J. Hennessey, in his essay on "The Army in Times of
Peace", exhibits very forcibly the various indispensable services so
quietly and efficiently performed by the United States Army in every-day
life. Mr. Hennessey makes plain the great value of having among us a
body of keen, versatile, and well-trained men ready for duty of any
sort, and ever alert for their country's welfare in peace or in war. The
American Soldier well deserves Mr. Hennessey's tribute, and the present
essay adds one more to the already incontrovertible array of arguments
in favour of an adequate military system. As printed, the article is
marred by a superfluous letter "=s=" on the very last word, which should
read "=citizen=". "Sowing the Good", a brief bit of moralizing by Horace
Fowler Goodwin, contains a serious misprint, for the final word of line
1, stanza 2, should be "=say=". "Bobby's Literary Lesson", by Gladys L.
Bagg, is a delightful specimen of domestic satire in prose. The handling
of the conversation exhibits Miss Bagg as a writer of considerable skill
and promise. "The Leaf", a clever poem of Nature by Emily Barksdale,
contains some gruesome atrocities by the printer. In the second stanza
"=it's=" should be "=it=", and "=wonderous=" should be "=wondrous=". In
the third stanza the typographical artist has killed a pretty woodland
"=copse=" with the letter "=r=", so that it reads "=corpse="! In the
fourth stanza "=head=" should read "=heard=". Perhaps the "=r=" which
murdered the "=copse=" escaped from this sadly mutilated word! In stanza
five, "=Chaots=" should be "=chants=". But why continue the painful
chronicle? Mr. Kleiner said just what we would like to say about
misprints over a year ago, when he wrote "The Rhyme of the Hapless
Poet"! "Submission", by Eugene B. Kuntz, is a delightful bit of light
prose, forming the autobiography of a much-rejected manuscript. This
piece well exhibits Dr. Kuntz's remarkable versatility. The humour is
keen, and nowhere overstrained. "Number 1287", a short story by Gracia
Isola Yarbrough, exhibits many of the flaws of immature work, yet
contains graphic touches that promise well for the author. The lack of
unity in plot and development detracts somewhat from the general effect,
while the unusual lapses of time and artificial working up of the later
situations are also antagonistic to technical polish. Triteness is
present, but that is to be expected in all amateur fiction. "A Drama of
Business", by Edgar Ralph Cheyney, is a terse bit of prose which might
well serve as an editorial in a liberal literary magazine. "The Schools
of Yesterday and Today", a sketch by Selma Guilford, presents in
pleasing fashion an interesting and optimistic contrast. In "Mother",
George M. Whiteside treats a noble theme in rather skilful fashion,
though the rhyming of "=breezes=" and "=trees is=" can hardly be deemed
suitable in a serious poem. "When the Sea Calls", a poem by Winifred
Virginia Jordan, is possibly the most striking feature of the magazine.
Mrs. Jordan's style in dealing with the wilder aspects of Nature has a
grim potency all its own, and we can endorse without qualification the
judgment of Mr. Moe when he calls this poem "positively magnificent in
dynamic effect". To Mrs. Jordan is granted a natural poetic genius which
few other amateurs can hope to parallel. Not many of our literary
artists can so aptly fit words to weird or unusual passages, or so
happily command all the advantages of alliteration and onomatopoeia. We
believe that Mrs. Jordan's amateur eminence will eventually ripen into
professional recognition. "Preachers in Politics", by Rev. James Thomas
Self, is a long, thoughtful, and extremely well phrased essay against
the descent of the ministry to the uncertain affairs of practical
legislation. Dr. Self has a just idea of the dignity of the cloth; an
idea which some clergymen of less conservative habits would do well to
acquire. Very painful is the sight of the slang-mouthing "evangelist"
who deserts his pulpit for the stump or the circus-tent. "Peace,
Germany!", a poem by Maude Kingsbury Barton, constitutes an appeal to
the present outlaw among nations. We feel, however, that it is only from
London that Germany will eventually be convinced of the futility of her
pseudo-Napoleonic enterprise. And when peace does come to Germany, it
will be British-made peace! The structure of Mrs. Barton's poem is
regular, and many of the images are very well selected. The worst
misprints are those in the sixth stanza, where "=in=" is omitted before
the word "=pomp=", and in the seventh stanza where "=come=" is printed
as "=came=". In the biographical sketch entitled "Two Lives", Helen
Hamilton draws a powerful moral from the contrasting but contemporaneous
careers of Florence Nightingale and the ex-Empress Eugenie. "Class-Room
Spirits I Have Known", an essay by Bessie Estelle Harvey, displays a
sound comprehension of pedagogical principles. Two more poems by Mrs.
Jordan conclude the issue. "The Time of Peach Tree Bloom" is the fourth
of the "Songs from Walpi", three of which appeared in THE UNITED
AMATEUR. "In a Garden" is a gem of delightful delicacy and ethereal
elegance. It is indeed not without just cause that the author has, from
the very first, held the distinction of being the most frequent poetical
contributor in all amateur journalism.
* * * * *
=The Cleveland Sun= for June is the first number of an amateur newspaper
edited by Anthony F. Moitoret, Edwin D. Harkins, and William J. Dowdell;
and remarkable for an excellent heading, drawn by a staff artist of the
=Cleveland Leader=. The present issue is printed in close imitation of
the modern professional daily, and displays some interesting examples of
"newspaper English". Mr. Moitoret is an old-time United man, now
reentering the sphere of activity, and he is to be commended warmly both
for his generous attitude toward the new members, and for his really
magnanimous offer of aid to those desirous of issuing individual papers.
His editorial hostility toward the Campbell amendment is, we believe,
mistaken; yet is none the less founded on a praiseworthy desire to serve
what he deems the best interests of the Association. Were Mr. Moitoret
more in touch with the rising ideals of the newer United, he would
realize the essential childishness of our "official business" as
contrasted with the substantial solidity of our developing literature.
Possibly the plan of Mr. Campbell, as experimentally tried during the
present year, will alter Mr. Moitoret's present opinion. Taken
altogether, we are not sure whether the =Sun= will prove beneficial or
harmful to the United. We most assuredly need some sort of stimulus to
activity, yet the comparatively crude atmosphere of newspaperdom is
anything but inspiring in a literary society. We cannot descend from the
ideals of Homer to those of Hearst without a distinct loss of quality,
for which no possible gain in mere enthusiasm can compensate. Headlines
such as "Columbus Bunch Boosting Paul" or "Hep Still Shows Pep", are
positive affronts to the dignity of amateur journalism. There is room
for an alert and informing news sheet in the United, yet we feel certain
that the =Sun= must become a far more sedate and scholarly publication
before it can adequately supply the need. At present, its garish rays
dazzle and blind more than they illuminate; in a perusal of its pages we
experience more of =sunstroke= than of =sunshine=. Of "The Best Sport
Page In Amateurdom" we find it difficult to speak or write. Not since
perusing the delectable lines of "Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress", by
jovial old "Anacreon Moore", have we beheld such an invasion of
prize-fight philosophy and race-track rhetoric. We learn with interest
that a former United member named "Handsome Harry" has now graduated
from literature to =left field=, and has, through sheer genius, risen
from the lowly level of the ambitious author, to the exalted eminence of
the =classy slugger=. Too proud to =push the pen=, he now =swats the
pill=. Of such doth the dizzy quality of sempiternal Fame consist!
Speaking without levity, we cannot but censure Mr. Dowdell's
introduction of the ringside or ball-field spirit into an Association
purporting to promote culture and lettered skill. Our members can
scarcely be expected to place the Stygian-hued John Arthur Johnson,
Esq., on a pedestal beside his well-known namesake Samuel; or calmly to
compare the stinging wit of a Sidney Smith with the stinging fist-cuffs
of a "Gunboat" Smith. In a word, what is suited to the street-corner is
not always suited to the library, and the taste of the United is as yet
but imperfectly attuned to the lyrical liltings of the pool-room Muse.
It is both hard and unwise to take the "Best Sport Page" seriously. As a
copy of "yellow" models it is a work of artistic verisimilitude; indeed,
were Mr. Dowdell a somewhat older man, we might justly suspect a
satirical intention on his part.