REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS 271 



the work if one could know how much was translation, how much 

 paraphrase, and how much the creation of the writer. 



Except for occasional jarring lines the versification is good and 

 is usually well suited in rhythm and metre to the subject. 



All lovers of the poetic in life will rejoice in the possession of 

 this book and all true lovers of China and her children will welcome 

 the additional light that it throws upon a great people. 



G. C. S. 



" O Mei " Moon and Other Poems By Alan W. Simms Lee. Published 



by Erskine Macdonald Ltd. London. 

 There is daily evidence that the Far Far West is becoming more and 

 more interested in the Far Far East, and that this interest demands 

 accurate and truthful information regarding an alien civilization. 



This is one of the reasons, but not the only one, for welcoming 

 the book of poems by Mr. Sims Lee. In spite of the sinister illustra- 

 tion on the title page, reminiscent of all the theatrical and artificial 

 representation of China to which we are all too accustomed, the 

 compilation shows keen insight, close observation, deep understanding 

 and quick sympathy with Chinese life. 



That this insight concerns largely the life of the "stupid people" 

 is inevitable. "Men From Without the State" are seldom privileged 

 to know intimately the retired life of educated Chinese. Mr. Simms 

 Lee concerns himself with every day village happenings and describes 

 them with keen poignancy. "Recalling the Soul" p. 28; "In Time of 

 Plague" p. 43; "Kwei" p. 44; "The Amulet" p. 66; "Slave 

 Girl" p. 59; and many other poems are records of life — purely Chinese. 

 "T'oh Wang and the Doctor" p. 63 is a quaintly humourous tale, 

 and "Evening" p. 23, a picture full of colour. Colour appeals 

 immensly to Mr. Simms Lee and he has a wonderful sense of its- 

 variation. It is a pity that he uses inversion as often as he does, 

 one may say that it is his besetting sin, and in "Autumn Afternoon" 

 p. 30 it is especially annoying. Simply direct sentences are infinitely 

 more convincing than those in which one must search for the subject 

 and predicate. It is impossible to feel that the exigencies of rhythm 

 call for the misplacing of words. There are a few paraphrases of 

 Chinese poetry in the volume, but for the most part the poems are 

 original and are strikingly vivid pictures of Chinese life in the 

 Yangtze Valley. Although he occasionally uses rhyme and meter 

 Mr. Simms Lee is more apt to employ vers libre. The book is full 

 of lovely pictures, one of the most exquisite being the little poem 



