Book Reviews 



263 



"YosEMiTE : The attractive manner in which Mr. Sterling's Ode is pre- 

 An Ode"* sented will at once commend it to all lovers of Yosemite. 



On the cover is an excellent reproduction of a painting by 

 H, J. Breuer in which the artist has shown a welcome restraint, both in 

 color and in drawing. Within are five well-chosen illustrations from 

 photographs by W. E. Dassonville, each with a delightful note of its 

 own. The first brings out the sweep of the great precipices and the vast 

 depth of the valley ; in the second the graceful beauty of Yosemite Falls 

 is enhanced by the exquisite texture of meadow, river, tree, and cliff that 

 surrounds it ; next comes a view of Bridal Veil Falls, its pendent shaft 

 of whiteness balanced by the dark column of a pine; the fourth illustra- 

 tion is a twilight study in strong lights and shadows, with a foreground 

 of unusual beauty ; and, lastly, the splendor and magnificence of Yosem- 

 ite scenery is illustrated in a superb view of Half Dome at sunrise. 



The poem, composed in a lofty and dignified style, is a tribute to the 

 spirit of Beauty as exemplified in the various aspects of the incomparable 

 valley. Many of the descriptive passages cannot fail to delight the "in- 

 ward eye" of all who read, as when we are invited to 



"Ascend at dawn to that uplifted place 

 Whence the doomed torrent, from its eyrie leaping, 

 Takes virgin vesture and immortal grace. 



Beauty surpassing all ! 

 Splendor of whiteness, foam of pearls that crash 

 To rainbow-mist on barriers immense ! 

 Iris and veils of amethyst that lash 

 The eternal granite in magnificence ! 

 Can eyes behold you save with rapture wet, 

 Or turn them from your glory and forget ?" 



It is not easy to rhapsodize on the grander aspects of natural scenery, 

 and especially in Yosemite one is bound to feel the inadequacy of any- 

 thing that poets may say. Acknowledging this at the very outset, the 

 poet would nevertheless offer his tribute, humbly praying that through 

 it there may be revealed to him 



"Some aspect of thine inner loveliness 

 Or instant blaze 

 Of sunlight on the marbles of thy truth." F. P. F. 



"On Alpine George D. Abraham, in his On Alpine Heights and 



Heights and British Crags, makes us acquainted with a series of 

 British Crags"! climbing incidents in both Switzerland and Britain. 



For those in love with horripilant narrative no better 



book could be found. The author with his companions seems to ob- 



* Yosemite: an Ode. By George Sterling. With a cover in color after the 

 painting by H. J. Breuer and illustrations after photographs by W. E. Dassonville. 

 A. M. Robertson, San Francisco, 191 6. Price, 75 cents. 



t On Alpine Heights and British Crags. By George D. Abraham, author of the 

 Complete Mountaineer (see Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. VII, No. Houghton 

 Mifflin Company, Boston and New York. Price, $2.50 net. With 24 illustrations 

 from photographs. 



