The Little Book of Modern Verse Part 37

Sweeney, Mildred McNeal. [1871-?] (2)

Teasdale, Sara (Mrs. Ernst B. Filsinger). [1884-1933] (3) Born in St. Louis, Missouri, August 10, 1884. Educated at private schools.

She is the author of "Sonnets to Duse", 1907; "Helen of Troy, and Other Poems", 1911; "Rivers to the Sea", 1915; "Love Songs", 1917.

Editor of "The Answering Voice: A Hundred Love Lyrics by Women", 1917.

Miss Teasdale is a lyric poet of an unusually pure and spontaneous gift.

Thomas, Edith M. [1854-1925] (3) Born at Chatham, Ohio, August 12, 1854. Graduated at the Normal Inst.i.tute of Geneva, Ohio. Since 1888 she has resided in New York and is a member of the editorial staff of "Harper's Magazine".

She is the author of "A New Year's Masque", 1885; "Lyrics and Sonnets", 1887; "The Inverted Torch", 1890; "Fair Shadowland", 1893; "In Suns.h.i.+ne Land", 1895; "A Winter Swallow", 1896; "The Dancers", 1903; "The Guest at the Gate", 1909; "The White Messenger", 1915; and "The Flower from the Ashes", 1915.

Miss Thomas is a poet of rare and subtle quality. Her work is almost wholly subjective, the emotional reaction to her own experience.

She has written many lyrics which are among the choicest possessions of our literature.

Torrence, Ridgely. [1875-1950] (2) Born at Xenia, Ohio, November 27, 1875. Educated at Miami University, Ohio, and at Princeton. Served as a.s.sistant librarian at the Astor and Lenox libraries in New York City from 1897 to 1903. His volumes of poetry and poetic drama are: "The House of a Hundred Lights", 1900; "El Dorado: A Tragedy", 1903; "Abelard and Heloise: A Drama", 1907.

Towne, Charles Hanson. [1877-1949] (2) Born at Louisville, Kentucky, February 2, 1877. Educated at New York City College. Mr. Towne has been an active journalist, having been successively editor of "The Smart Set", "The Delineator", "The Designer", and "McClure's Magazine". Despite his journalistic work he has found time to write several volumes of poetry of which the best known are: "The Quiet Singer, and Other Poems", 1908; "Manhattan", 1909; "Youth, and Other Poems", 1910; "Beyond the Stars, and Other Poems", 1912; and "To-day and To-morrow", 1916.

Untermeyer, Louis. [1885-1977] (2) Born at New York City, October 1, 1885. Educated in the public schools of that city. He has been connected editorially with "The Ma.s.ses" and with "The Seven Arts", and does critical work for the "Chicago Evening Post".

He is the author of "First Love", 1911; "Challenge", 1914; "And Other Poets: A Book of Parodies", 1916; "These Times", 1917; and "The Poems of Heinrich Heine, Selected and Translated", 1917.

Upson, Arthur. [1877-1908] (4) Born at Camden, New York, in 1877. Educated at Camden Academy and the University of Minnesota. He is the author of "Westwind Songs", 1902; "Octaves in an Oxford Garden", 1902; "The City: A Poem Drama", 1905; "The Tides of Spring, and Other Poems", 1907. Mr. Upson died August 14, 1908.

His death was an inestimable loss to American literature, as he was a poet of rare gifts which were maturing with each expression.

Viereck, George Sylvester. [1884-1962] (3) Born in Munich, Germany, December 31, 1884. Came to America at the age of eleven years. Graduated from the College of New York City in 1906. He was for several years upon the staff of "Current Opinion"

and is the editor of "The International" and of "Viereck's American Weekly", formerly "The Fatherland". Mr. Viereck's three volumes of verse are: "Nineveh, and Other Poems", 1907; "The Candle and the Flame", 1911; "Songs of Armageddon", 1916.

Welsh, Robert Gilbert. [?-1924] (1) Dramatic critic of the "Evening Telegram" of New York City.

He has not yet published a collection of poetry, but has appeared in the leading magazines.

Wheeler, Edward J. [1859-1922] (1) Born at Cleveland, Ohio, March 11, 1859. Graduated from Wesleyan University in Ohio in 1879. His university conferred upon him the degree of Litt.D.

in 1905. Mr. Wheeler is one of the leading journalists of America, having been editor of the "Literary Digest" from 1895 to 1905 and of "Current Literature", now "Current Opinion", since that date.

He is also literary editor of Funk and Wagnalls Company, Publishers.

Mr. Wheeler was one of the founders of the Poetry Society of America in 1909 and has been president of the organization since that date.

Wheelock, John Hall. [1886-1978] (2) Born at Far Rockaway, New York, in 1886. He took the degree of A.B.

from Harvard University in 1908, and spent the next two years in Germany, studying during 1909 at Gottingen and during 1910 at the University of Berlin. He is connected with the publis.h.i.+ng house of Charles Scribner's Sons. Mr. Wheelock's volumes of poetry are: "The Human Fantasy", 1911; "The Beloved Adventure", 1912; and "Love and Liberation", 1913.

Wilkinson, Florence (Mrs. Wilfrid Muir Evans). [1878-?] (3) Born at Tarrytown, New York. Miss Wilkinson studied at Chicago University and other American colleges and afterwards at the Sorbonne and the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris.

She is the author of several novels, of which the best known are: "The Lady of the Flag Flowers", "The Strength of the Hills", and "The Silent Door"; and also of one or two volumes of plays; but her most representative work is found in her poetry, of which she has written two volumes: "The Far Country", 1906, and "The Ride Home", 1913.

Woodberry, George Edward. [1855-1930] (3) Born at Beverly, Ma.s.sachusetts, May 12, 1855. Graduated with the degree of A.B. from Harvard University in 1877. The degree of Litt.D.

was conferred on him by Amherst College in 1905, and by Harvard University in 1911, and the degree of LL.D. by Western Reserve University in 1907.

He was Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, 1877-78; also 1880-82, and was Professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University 1891-1904. Professor Woodberry is one of the ablest critics and biographers in American literature as well as one of the finest poets. Among his best-known volumes of criticism are: "Studies in Letters and Life", "The Heart of Man", "Makers of Literature", "The Torch", "The Appreciation of Literature", and "The Inspiration of Poetry". In biography he has done admirable studies of Poe, Hawthorne, Sh.e.l.ley, Swinburne, Emerson, etc.; and in poetry he has published many volumes, of which the most representative are: "The North Sh.o.r.e Watch", 1890; "Wild Eden", 1900; "Poems", 1903; "The Kingdom of All Souls", 1912; "The Flight", 1914; and "Ideal Pa.s.sion", 1917.

---- Rittenhouse, Jessie Belle. [1869-1948]

Jessie Rittenhouse is best known as an editor and for her compilations, but she was also a poet -- though she did not include her own work in her compilations. Her compilations and criticisms include: "The younger American poets", 1904; "The Little Book of Modern Verse", 1913; "The Little Book of American Poets, 1787-1900", 1915; "The Second Book of Modern Verse", 1919; "The Little Book of Modern British Verse: One Hundred Poets since Henley", 1924; "The Third Book of Modern Verse", 1927.

Her own works include: "The Door of Dreams", 1918; "The Lifted Cup", 1921; "The Secret Bird", 1930; "My House of Life; an Autobiography", 1934; and "The Moving Tide; New and Selected Lyrics", 1939.

Her compilations went through numerous printings, and are still a good guide to the poetry of the era.

Notes to the text:

Due to the technical limitations of ASCII, accents were not included in the text. However, a complete list follows of each line where an accent occurred in the original. The "pipe" character ( ) indicates a special character, and a marker for the accent follows, except in cases where two vowels make a combined character, as in C(ae)sar.

Most should be obvious, but "=" represents an accent seldom used, that looks like the bottom half of a circle. The affected lines are:

Tryste No "el. [Louise Imogen Guiney]

His foot was wing ed as the mounting sun.

Bruis ed past healing by some bitter chance, Who leads despis ed men, with just-unshackled feet, Now limb doth mingle with dissolv ed limb The cup of trembling shall be drain ed quite, While all the thousand-fring ed trees "Bless ed! but not as happier children blessed" -- And the far rose of P aestum once did climb.

But most, his music whose belov ed name For sun-filled ones, one bless ed thing unknown.

The curl ed lashes of Semiramis.

And like the peal of an accurs ed bell The chaplain clasped his mail ed knee.

With steadfast lips and veil ed eyne; I hold my peace, my Cle "is, on my heart; Beyond the lure of light Alc aeus' lyre, I saw two wing ed shadows side by side, Around thine earth sun-wing ed winds do blow About their fragile hairs' a "erial gold.

From a barr ed door."

Peopled with fa "ery glimmerings, A fa "ery world of memory, Upon my lowly, thatch ed roof, Laid gently on my seal ed sight, Who combed their long hair at Thermopyl ae's pa.s.s?

That Dvo =rak took whole from the dancers.

C aesar dreamed him a world ruled well; Mad boy, for Glauc "oe.

Wine-sweet are Glauc "oe's kisses, He seems to hearken, Glauc "oe, The wing ed breath of you.

With C aesar's cohorts sang of thee, An unseen, skillful, medi aeval wall.

Aeschylus wanders back.

As in the crevices of C aesar's tomb The mind conceived you, though the quench ed mind Across his stretch ed vision as in dream -- Expunge the horrible C aesars of this slum!"

In frill ed crimson flaunt the hollyhocks, And yet that veil ed face, I know Bless ed the angel, gazing on all good, Yet wondrous faith in G.o.d's dew-drench ed morns -- He missed the medi aeval grace But sore am I with Vaine Trav el!

My heart shall p aean sing, myth or mysticism. His first volume was "Low Tide on Grand Pr /e", Mr. Le Gallienne has made an admirable paraphrase of the "Rub /aiy /at"

of Omar Khayy /am and of a group of odes from the "Divan" of Hafiz.

studied at San Jos /e Normal School and the University of California.

Born at Br "un, Austria, though of American parentage, on April 8, 1879.

to study for the degree Doctorat es Lettres. This was conferred upon him "Les Sentences dans la Po /esie Grecque d'Hom ere a Euripide"

"El Dorado: A Tragedy", 1903; "Ab /elard and H /elo "ise: A Drama", 1907.

studying during 1909 at G "ottingen and during 1910 at the Sorbonne and the Biblioth eque Nationale of Paris.

Three different printings were used for comparison, all three of which were apparently from the same plates. The punctuation in particular was poorly printed, so even with three versions to choose from, in a few cases the punctuation had to be guessed at.

The Acknowledgements section has been mostly omitted.

Otherwise, only two significant changes to the text were made, other than adjusting the punctuation on an occasional t.i.tle so that the t.i.tle in the text matched that in the table of contents, a few other minor errors in punctuation, and the changes noted in the Biographical Notes.

In "Da Leetla Boy" by Thomas Augustine Daly, the second occurrence of the line "Of -- w'at-you-call? . . ." was "Of -- wa't-you-call? . . ." in the original.

After observing the spelling of "w'at" in the other poem by Mr. Daly, this was changed to conform with the 'correct' spelling.

"Sweeney, Mildred McNeal" was originally misspelled "Sweeney, Mildred McNeil"

in the notes.

The note on Jessie B. Rittenhouse is new.