over to their work. "Did You Ever Go A-Fishin'?," by
Olive G. Owen, is a vivid poetical portrayal of that peculiar attraction
which the angler's art exerts on its devotees. While the whole is of
high and pleasing quality, exception must be taken to the rhyming of
"low" with itself at the very beginning of the poem. It may be that the
second "low" is a misprint for "slow", yet even in that case, the rhyme
is scarcely allowable, since the dominant rhyming sound would still be
"low". Miss Edna von der Heide, in "The Christmas of Delsato's Maria",
tells how an Italian thief utilized his questionable art to replace a
loss in his family. "To General Villa" is a peculiar piece of verse
written last summer for the purpose of defying those who had charged its
author with pedantry and pomposity. It has suffered somewhat at the
hands of the printer; "Intrepido" being spelled "Intrepedo", and the
word "own" being dropped from the clause "your own name can't write" in
the third line of the second stanza. Also, the first of the Spanish
double exclamation marks around the oath "Santa Maria" is right side up
instead of inverted according to Castilian custom. Having been hastily
written, the piece is wholly without merit. "Senor", in the second line
of the third stanza is placed so that the accent must fall erroneously
on the first syllable. The changes of time and revolutions have rendered
the last stanza sadly out of date.
The issue is concluded with a beautiful editorial on "The Service With
Love", wherein is described the ideal spirit of brotherhood which should
pervade amateur journalism. We regret the two blank pages at the back of
the magazine, and wish that some talented Blarney had seen fit to adorn
them with his work.
THE BROOKLYNITE for January is of unusual merit, fairly teeming with
features of a well-written and substantial character.
The short story by Mrs. Carson is developed with admirable simplicity
and ease; the plot not too strained, and the moral not too pragmatically
forced upon the reader. The conversation, always a difficult point with
amateur authors, is surprisingly natural.
Mrs. Adams' essay on ghosts displays considerable literary knowledge,
though the anecdote at the end is rather ancient for use today. We last
heard it about ten years ago, with a Scotchman instead of a negro
preacher as the narrator, and with the word "miracle" instead of
"phenomena" as the subject.
Mr. Goodwin's "Cinigrams" are d
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