Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



573 



widespread influence. His lyrics, in strange con- 

 trast, belong to a dainty world of fancy, and 

 deal with gay ladies and gallant knights in place 

 of flattering courtiers and mercenary priests. 

 Kaisers and Popes. 



THE AUTHOR OF THE STABAT MATER. 



A very different type of minstrel was Jacopone 

 of Todi, about whom Mr. James Foster writes in 

 the Holborn Review for October. Converted to 

 the faith of St. Francis, Jacopone (1230-1306) 

 became a wanderer among the mountains, sing- 

 ing hymns and songs, for some ten years. Then 

 we hear of him entering a monastery, and later 

 he was involved in a strife with Pope Boni- 

 face VIII., the Pope who was the ultimate cause 

 of Dante's banishment. As a writer of Latin 

 hymns he is best known as the author of " Stabat 

 Mater Dolorosa," familiar in the translation 

 beginning " At the cross, her station keeping." 

 His Italian poetry was written in the dialect of 

 the people. It consists of satires, penitential 

 hymns, etc Mr. John Addington Symonds 

 attempted some English renderings, but ac- 

 knowledged that translation was almost im- 

 possible. 



WHISTLER LITERATURE. 



The autumn (October) issue of the Bookman 

 is a double number containing two special 

 articles on Whistler — one by Mr. Joseph Pen- 

 nell, joint author with Mrs. Pennell of the 

 " Authorised Life of Whistler," and the other 

 by Mr. G. S. Layard. 



Never were the words " He being dead yet 

 speaketh " bet.er exemplified than in the case of 

 Whistler, writes Mr. Pennell. " The idle 

 apprentice " happily lived long enough to know 

 that his place was among the great. Almost all 

 his important canvases have been secured by the 

 most important galleries, and his few great 

 pictures still in private collections will be 

 acquired by other galleries as soon as opportu- 

 nities offer. In portraiture, in his nocturnes 

 and marines, he is the modern master ; in etch- 

 ing he is the supreme artist of all time, and his 

 pastels, water-colours, and lithographs are 

 among the triumphs of the art of our day, 

 asserts Mr. Pennell. Moreover, Whistler's 

 theories are accepted by those who never knew 

 he propounded them as well as by those who 

 knew he was right when he uttered them. It is 

 only nine years since he died, and in that short 

 time over sixteen books about him have been 

 published. Mr. Pennell in his article has some- 

 thing to say of a number of these. Mr. Layard's 

 article is based on the " Memories of Whistler " 

 by Mr. T. R. Way. 



IN LADY STREET. 



Mr. John Drinkwater is a poet with a sense 

 of colour, and his contribution to the Fortnightly 

 will be appreciated by all who seek to discover 

 romance and sentiment, even in mean streets. 

 The poem is entitled " In Lady Street " : — 



All day long the traffic goes 



In Lady Street by dingy rows 



Of sloven houses, tattered shops — 



Fried fish, old clothes and fortune-tellers — 



Tall trams on silver-shining rails, 



With grinding wheels and swaying tops, 



And lorries with their corded bales, 



And screeching cars. " Buy, buy ! " the sellers 



Of rags and bones and sickening meat 



Cry all day long in Lady Street. 



Yet one grey man in Lady Street 



Looks for the sun 



all day long 



A time is singing in his head 



Of youth in Gloucester lanes. He hears 



The wind among the barley-blades, 



The tapping of the woodpeckers 



On the smooth beeches, thistle-spades 



Slicing the sinewy roots; he sees 



The hooded filberts in the copse 



Beyond the loaded orchard trees, 



The netted avenues of hops ; 



He smells the honeysuckle thrown 



Along the hedge. He lives alone, 



Alone — yet not alone, for sweet 



Are Gloucester lanes in Lady Street. 



THE PEOPLE'S THEATRE. 



The Royal Victoria Hall has again started its 

 wonderful musical education of the masses. On 

 October 3rd the grand costume recital of 

 " Lohengrin " was given to a crowded audience. 

 Surely whenever the attempt to have a national 

 subsidised opera house in London is made, the 

 promoters should consult Miss Lilian Baylis, the 

 repository of all the secrets of the late Miss 

 Cons, who, in spite of the supposed indifference 

 of the working classes to good music, has been 

 able to show practically that this indifference is 

 all rubbish, and that, presented to them in their 

 own home, as it were (for the Royal Victoria 

 Hall is a true palace of the people), they appre- 

 ciate it as fully as the most aristocratic audience 

 could do. 



The programme for the season will include 

 " Faust," " Tannhauser," " Rigoletto," " Fr.7 

 Diavolo," and "The Daughter of the Regi- 

 ment," etc., and the presentation of these special 

 operas, so modestly described as costume 

 recitals, takes place on Thursday nights. The 

 prices range from 2d. to 2s. 



It can easily be understood that help is needed 

 to suplement these low prices, and those who 

 wish to encourage so great a work should write 

 to Miss Baylis, at the Royal Victoria Hall, 

 Waterloo Road. 



