MR. STEPHEN PHILLIPS AS A WRITER OF 

 TRAGEDY^ 



By Fred B. R. Hellems 

 I 



The concord with which Mr. Stephen Philhps was acclaimed a 

 true singer on the publication of his Poems was only less striking than 

 the later clashing of polemics over his merits as a writer of tragedy, 

 and even the most hopeful searcher after convincing literary verdicts 

 would rise from the several score reviews on my table with a despair- 

 ing impression of the futility of criticism. Accordingly, in a rather 

 pessimistic frame of mind, one blustering afternoon in late September, 

 I sat down to read once more Paolo and Francesca with Romeo and 

 Juliet. Doubtless this comparison has been instituted, more or less 

 carefully, by every lover of poetry; for the features of resemblance 

 are so numerous and striking that they must challenge the attention 

 of even the casual reader. 



Both plays belong to the earlier activity of their respective authors; 

 in both the story is frankly drawn from the open treasury of older 

 literature; in the former as in the latter the scene is "the eternal 

 Italy of passion, the time is the deathless spring of young desire"; 

 in either tragedy two youthful beings, who forget the world and all 

 beside, pay the penalty, or win the guerdon, of a lover's death, and 

 the play ends "with a long, deep sigh like the last breeze of an Italian 

 evening"; in short, there is almost as close a parallel as one could 

 hope to find. In following the parallel one must not forget that Mr. 

 Phillips expressly deprecates comparison with the Elizabethans, who 

 sought for multiphcity of effect, whereas he aims at unity; but 

 even over his protest some relative estimate will be made by every 

 devotee of the drama, and, in the right spirit, it is essentially worth 

 making. 



■ Reprinted from the Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 102, No. 6, pp. 8og-2i, by kind permission of the publisher. 



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