

LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1884. (POETKY.) 



441 



Delta " is worthy of the first place as a well- 

 written account of a tragic and sensational 

 chapter in Arctic adventure. The adventures 

 of De Long and his comrades were hardly less 

 remarkable than those of the more recent 

 Greely episode. Frederick A. Ober was the 

 author of a graphic description of " Travels in 

 Mexico and Life among the Mexicans." A 

 somewhat lengthened visit in the land of the 

 Aztecs and unusually keen powers of observa- 



lineations in Kerry-Nicholls's " King Country " 

 and Green's " High Alps." Island-life in the 

 Pacific was represented in Turner's " Samoa," 

 and Johnstone's " Camping among Cannibals." 

 To the multifarious record of African travel 

 were added H. H. Johnston's " The River Con- 

 go," a region now assuming an international 

 importance ; Little's " South Africa " ; " The 

 Transvaal," by E. V. C. ; and Dr. Williams's 

 " The Soudan." Other books worthy of men- 



tion joined to furnish the material of what is tion were Amicis's " Holland and its People," 

 not only an attractive but what appears to be Barneby's " Life and Labor in the Far Waof " 

 a trustworthy book. George W. Cable, in his 

 " Creoles of Louisiana," if this work can prop- 

 erly be called a book of travel, gives a careful 

 picture of the French and Spanish residents of 

 New Orleans, and the region of which it is the 

 immediate center, as also an interesting sketch 

 of colonial history. Mrs. Bianciarde is respon- 



and Augustus C. Hare's studies of" Venice and 

 Florence." 



Poetry. There is not very much to be said 

 of the American production in this department 

 of literary effort. In quantity the results have 

 been great, in quality for the most part medi- 

 ocre. The death of Longfellow, the diplomatic 



sible for a collection of racy papers under the duties of James Russell Lowell, now for the 



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name of "At Home in Italy,'" and Mrs. Julia 

 Dorr writes pleasantly of Bermuda. Nourse's 

 " American Explorations in Arctic Regions " is 

 a compilation of the most interesting exploits 

 of our countrymen in the Frozen Zone. An- 

 other rehearsal of the Arctic story was by Mc- 

 Cormick, with a readable addition in the way 

 of description of early feats of circumnavi- 

 gation. W. D. Howells, in " Three Villages," 

 gave a pleasant description of some New Eng- 

 land townships, and illustrates anew the fact 

 that the interest of things depends rather on 

 what lies behind than in front of the eyes. 

 Henry James gave similar studies of Old- 

 World life, marked by much finish of style, in 

 the books " Portraits of Places " and " Little 

 Tour in France." John Burroughs, in " Fresh 

 Fields and Pastures New," dealt in a bright 

 and pleasant way with English life, and W. 

 Falkner contributed a not very entertaining 

 volume to the ever-swelling literature of the 

 tourist in "Rapid Ramblings" over Europe. 

 Dr. Henry M. Field was the author of an in- 

 teresting record of travel in Syria and Pales- 

 tine, under the name of " Among the Holy 

 Hills." 



The books reissued here from English and 

 foreign sources offer a more attractive exhibit 

 than those written by Americans. "John Bull 

 and his Island," a vivacious and witty study of 

 English life and people, by Max O'Rell, was 

 one of the sensations of the year. Lady Bras- 

 sey added to the literature of yachting ad- 

 venture in a delightful volume, profusely illus- 

 trated, called "The Trades, the Tropics, and 

 the Roaring Forties." The author is a born 

 traveler, and has a knack of graphic and un- 

 affected description which saves her readers 

 from a single weary moment. Two other well- 

 known Englishwomen also published books of 

 travel. Miss Iza Duffus-Hardy related her im- 

 pressions of North America in "Between Two 

 Oceans"; Miss Gordon-Gumming, an indefati- 

 gable wanderer in strange places, wrote " In the 

 Himalayas and on the Indian Plains." Mount- 

 ain adventure in New Zealand had two de- 



good of literature happily released from official 

 toil, and the silence of Mr. Whittier, have left 

 the field to the younger poets. A fresh collec- 

 tion of Bayard Taylor's poems, under the name 

 of "Melodies of Verse" (with no new addi- 

 tion, however), and an illustrated selection 

 from the more popular poems of Dr. Oliver 

 Wendell Holmes, attested the favor in which 

 these poets are held. An interesting collection 

 was given to the public of the " Poems of Sid- 

 ney Lanier," many of which fffe exquisitely 

 musical, edited with a memoir of the author, 

 who was in many ways a singularly gifted 

 man. H. J. Bunner's "Airs from Arcady" 

 was the work of a graceful and dexterous 

 hand, and Edgar Fawcett produced a new 

 volume of verse under the title of "Later 

 Poems." Miss Lucy Larcom's poems were is- k 

 sued in a new and complete edition, and Miss 

 Phelps was represented in a thin volume, col- 

 lected from her magazine and newspaper con- 

 tributions. George Lunt's " Poems " was a col- 

 lection of verse full of a quaint flavor, and Macy's 

 "Legends and Lyrics" contained not a little 

 good work. Of the large mass of amateur po- 

 etry issued, Clinton Scollard's "Pictures in 

 Song " is alone worthy of note. 



English poetry of note reissued here presents 

 to us first of all Tennyson's powerful historical 

 play of " Becket," which is distinguished by its 

 strong dramatic characterization, though not 

 fitted for the stage. "The Falcon and the 

 Cup," by the same author, was also given to 

 the world in book form. Robert Browning's 

 poetic activity found outlet in "Ferishtah's 

 Fancies," full of Oriental color and subtile 

 thought. Mr. Swinburne's new volume was 

 " A Midsummer Holiday," and the book showed 

 no falling off in the author's peculiar gifts of 

 technical execution. It may be added that Mr. 

 Richard Henry Stoddard edited a volume of " Se- 

 lections from Swinburne" with excellent litera- 

 ry taste. Among the minor English poets were 

 "Songs Unsung," by Lewis Morris; "Wind 

 Voices," by Philip Bourke Marston ; and "Bal- 

 lades and Verses Vain," a charming collection 



