7–18138.
7–18138.
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7–18138.
“The title poem of the volume, a brief Morality play, called ‘The fool of the world,’ employs a style which admirably suits the theme, infusing into the simple colloquy between Man and Death all the dread, the fear, the mystery of mortality as they pervade ‘Everyman’ and other of the old Morality plays. Following this ... Mr. Symons has a group of ‘Meditations,’ poised and passionless as a Buddhistic reverie, fatalistic, ‘sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.’... Contrary to the mood of his prose, the prevailing note of Mr. Symons’ poetry is negative and over his pages futility, and ever futility, is written.”—N. Y. Times.
“[‘The fool of the world’] shows, for all its slenderness, strong dramatic power. It asks a question; it leads you on, as you fancy, ever nearer to the answer, working up your eagerness in every line; and suddenly at the close, in the very last word, it flashes upon you the piteous truth.”
“Although Mr. Symons has not mastered poetic forms, his poetry is full of sensitive beauty.”
“There are exquisite things in this volume, lyrical and meditational, and there is a graver burden, as of satiety, than we have been wontto find in the work of the poet.” Wm. M. Payne.
“It is decidedly good compared with anything but the best.”
“He has an admirable poetic scholarship and an equally admirable intellectual integrity; his cup may be small, but he drinks from his cup. Yet Mr. Symons’s pride in his intellectual integrity is sometimes his undoing. His uneasy hatred of the commonplace and his constant endeavor to give it as wide a berth as possible involve such an expenditure of energy that in the long run he falls a prey to the very thing he would escape.”
“His style, which in prose has so much distinction, in poetry lacks the barb of personality, the differentiating touch. His phrasing is restrained, delicate, often beautiful, but of magic, of color, of divinely unpremeditated art he is not the master.” Jessie B. Rittenhouse.
“An idea lies at the bottom of each of these finely chased cups offered by the poet. Poison, too, is not absent, the venom of love and life and death.” James Huneker.
“He has developed a theory of poetry and the arts; he has found a locality other than London; he has even touched Keltic dreams in Cornwall; in the lyric rather than in the drama lies the value of his new, as his older, tone.”
Symons, Arthur.Introduction to the study of Browning.*$1.50. Dutton.
7–18128.
7–18128.
7–18128.
7–18128.
A reissue, revised and enlarged. “Mr. Symons discusses Browning’s ‘general characteristics’ and those of each of his poems. In the appendix will be found a bibliography of the poet and a reprint of discarded prefaces to the first issues of some of his works. There is also an index to poems referred to in the text. Like other books of this type, there are innumerable quotations from the writings of the poet. In addition to all these, the footnotes are full and clear.” (N. Y. Times.)
“In this second edition ... Mr. Symons has been able to add materially to the interest of the book through the publication of comments upon it by three no less authoritative critics than Walter Pater, George Meredith, to whom the book is dedicated, and Robert Browning himself.” A. G.
“Notwithstanding the appearance of numerous studies of Browning, his introduction remains the best commentary upon that poet’s works.” James Huneker.
Symons, Arthur.Spiritual adventures.**$2.50. Dutton.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
Reviewed by James Huneker.
Symons, Arthur.Studies in seven arts. *$2.50. Dutton.
7–6390.
7–6390.
7–6390.
7–6390.
Containing the following studies: Rodin, The painting of the nineteenth century, Gustave Moreau, Watts, Whistler, Cathedrals, The decay of craftsmanship in England, Beethoven, The ideas of Richard Wagner, The problem of Richard Strauss, Eleanor Dusé, A new art of the stage, A symbolistic farce [Ubo roi, by A. Jarry], Pantomime and the poetic drama, The world as ballet.
“In his last book Mr. Symons has adventured in search of new sensations and new moods into unfamiliar fields of art, where he has occasionally lost confidence in himself and followed the advice of every person of authority he chanced to encounter. When he confides in his own faculty of insight he is still an admirable interpreter of the eternal miracles of beauty: when he mistrusts his own powers he becomes merely a conscientious student of the opinions of other men. Criticism distilled from criticism is wanting in life and personality: it is a branch of the dead sciences.”
“It is agreeable to read this cunning prose, but we must not be forbidden to challenge some of its pontificial assumptions. The charm, however, of these essays lies not in their critical or technical exactitude, but in their incomparably delicate impressionism.”
“In at least five cases out of the seven (the exceptions being the articles on architecture and handicraft, the first of which is merely descriptive and the second merely a pointed and forcible repetition of standing truths) he has something good, often something profound to say, not merely on points of detail, but on what he conceives to be the principles of the art in question. And after reading his charming, illuminating, often exquisitely written book, we reach instinctively for an antidote—‘The Republic,’ or ‘What is art?’”
“Seven essays ... belong to the best of our time. They are indeed discriminating.”
“Mr. Symons preserves order throughout his book and reproduces for the reader much of his own original aesthetic enjoyment.” Percy Vincent Donovan.
“He has personality, charm, erudition.” James Huneker.
“Each paper is distinguished by a general excellence in the selection of material and by an extreme finish in the manner of its exposition.”
“Here is subjective impressionism in the finest flower. As a matter of record few Frenchmen, even, can excel Mr. Symons in subtlety or penetration. A poet first and last, his attitude is always imperiously personal.” Christian Brinton.
“Why, then, when we think thus highly of the book, have we spent nearly our whole space in criticising rather than in praising it? On his own terms he comes to us, and on his own terms right glad are we to welcome him. But, to quote the old saying, though Plato is dear to us, Truth is dearer. This too daintily allusive, too artificially picturesque, too laboriously, extravagantly illustrative method of art criticism ... is dangerous: in the hands of the commoner critic it becomes absurd.”
Symons, Arthur.William Blake.*$3. Dutton.
7–37535.
7–37535.
7–37535.
7–37535.
“An enthusiastic interpretation and impassioned defense of the poet and painter whose art still puzzles and fascinates.... Mr. Symons begins by narrating every fact of importance in Blake’s life and achievements, giving his own interpretation of Blake’s intentions. Then comes a verbatim reprint of all available documents, containing every personal account of Blake printed during his life, to which are added references to him in the diary and letters of Crabb Robinson.”—Outlook.
“It will be seen that any new book on Blake must justify its appearance by extraordinary merit, and it cannot be said that Mr. Symons’s work quite stands the test.”
“Mr. Symons has written a book of unusual interest. Absorbed and in accord with his subject,he employs a style elevated and somewhat mystical at times, yet well sustained and peculiarly fitted for the narrative.”
“We did not expect from him the divine energy and insight of Mr. Swinburne; but we did expect scholarship, research, grace and order, and we have them here in a book which we cannot do without.”
Synge, M. B.Short history of social life in England. **$1.50. Barnes.
7–11534.
7–11534.
7–11534.
7–11534.
“A decidedly entertaining account of the growth of social institutions and modern customs in England. The absurdities of bygone fashion, the changes made by scientific inventions, domestic conveniences and inconveniences, old-time gambling, the abolition of dueling, the improvement of table manners, and a hundred other little land-marks of advancing civilization are discussed in an unconventional, amusing way.”—Outlook.
“He has thrown together a mass of details, apparently without being able to determine which facts were worth being told, which were not, nor yet which were actually facts and which were only supposed to be such. He seems to have no well-ordered plan for presenting his material. Finally, he devotes too much space to political history, though he gives notice in his introduction that he will avoid doing so.” Ralph C. H. Catterall.
“The author treats the entire subject as one of development, advance, and betterment, and does it very successfully. The work is evidently based on wide reading and research.”
“Mr. Synge’s book is exceptionally helpful in giving an idea of the occupations, the pleasures, the manners and customs of the English people of all ranks from the days of the early Britons to the present.”
“He tells his story well. It is not a work of original research. The records are all easily accessible. It is not the first work of its kind. But it is one of the most readable books of the year thus far.”
“A series of shifting society pictures not without significance and with a strong interest to all who like to delve into the quaint, queer, and curious.”
“This book is pleasant to read, full of sprightly humour, and as far as we have been able to test it, historically accurate.”
Syrett, Netta.Day’s journey. †$1.25. McClurg.
6–33579.
6–33579.
6–33579.
6–33579.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“The story is brilliantly told, and is a study of ‘temperaments,’ artistic and otherwise, of an unusually readable sort.”
Szold, Henrietta, ed. American Jewish year book 5668, September 9, 1907, to September 25, 1908. $3. Jewish pub.
Two directories are included in this year book: The directory of Jewish national organizations, and The directory of Jewish local organizations.