What is poetry? We do not attempt to say. Fundamentally we agree with the donor of the Brookes More prize, who stipulated that the prize should not be awarded for free verse. Sometimes we fall into the drift of the times, and publish contributions by the modernists. That is our journalistic sense-we reflect the days doings. Last month one of our most valued contributors, now serenely contemplating the future, sent us "one more bit of verse." With it was a note. "I'm afraid I am too antiquated for the new order of things," she wrote, "but I am looking to it with much interest." Free verse is an experiment. Youth likes to experiment, and the youngsters are trying the new form. They cannot be denied their fling, but will they succeed in making poetry? Like our old friend, we are interested to see. Meanwhile, with Mr. More, we confess to liking the old form better-even though we be deemed fogies. There is a beauty in form; there is a beauty in thought. a beauty in thought. To both beauties claim can be made by much of the "old" poetry-but not all of it. While some of the "new" poetry has beauty of form and some has beauty of thought, only a little escapes a strain of ugliness in both. Our layman's advice to the experimenters is, not to give over the experiment, but not to continue it unless they sweat, as the old school sweated, to make their verse yield beauty of both form and thought. One or two modernists have so far measureably done it, but the school as a whole has not yet succeeded. The modernist challenges the reader, but the reader is not yet won. Mr. William Stanley Braitwaite this year names in his list of magazine verse "The Poet," by John Rollin Stuart, published by us in the April, 1922, number. BOOKS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INTEREST NEW HAMPSHIRE IN HISTORY, by In this little volume of a few over one hundred pages, Mr. Metcalf seeks primarily to suggest what the Granite State has contributed to the development of the nation. While the aim is not to give the history of the state, the first quarter of the book is devoted to an outline of the principal events of our first century and a half. Then follows in brief compass, for the book is an evening's lecture somewhat amplified, a resume by states and professions of the activities of New Hampshire natives who have migrated to other states and there left an impress. Inevitably the work is hardly more than a catalogue of the names of such sons and daughters of New Hampshire, with brief allusions to their principal claims to distinction. But it is a rather amazing catalogue which everybody interested in the state should read and keep for reference. New Hampshire's contribution has been larger and worthier than most of us imagine. One cannot but admire the curiosity and industry which, in a long life of service to the state, Mr. Metcalf has exercised to catch and preserve this remarkable collection of names and facts. He has once more made us his debtor. Probably he alone had the equipment of knowledge and patience to do a work of THE THOUGHTS OF YOUTH, by SamThe Macmillan uel S. Drury. Company, New York. $1.25 A title which might better define the book would be "Thoughtful Advice for Youth"; but this advice is given kindly, always with due regard for the opinions of the reader; and while not entirely free from preaching, it is preaching by one who understands the viewpoint of youth and is strongly The volume sympathetic with it. could be used to advantage as a text book by parents, teachers and big brothers and sisters, and will surely be welcomed by this class. One can readily understand, too, how such a book might be immensely popular Dr. wherever itself with youth Drury's own strong personality is reThe chapter on cognized and felt. "My Manners" might well be published in pamphlet form and thus made available for larger distribution to the youth of this generation. ERNEST P. CONLON LEGENDS AND DEEDS OF YESTERDAY, nearly all are of especial for any New Hamp A. E. INDIAN STORY HOUR, Rilma Marion Browne. Standard Manchester, Book Company. $1. First published two years ago, this book is now being given a new and somewhat enlarged edition with over twenty illustrations. Intended primarily for supplementary reading by children of the third to fifth grades, it includes some over twentyfive fables based upon Indian ideas. "How the Rabbit Lost His Tail" and and other stories in which animals talk and act like human beings will interest and amuse the children. Special prices are offered to schools. Those who lived here bravely bore All their laughter and their joys, Tenderly they cared For those who felt misfortune's shocks Till an aroma sweet and fine, Like that of precious golden wine Stored for years in ancient crocks, Love the garden! Love the peonies and phlox, Love the pinks and hollyhocks, Bleeding-heart, youth-and-old-age, Lilacs, larkspur, mint and sage— Wormwood, bittersweet and rue, But heartsease, balsams grew here, too, So love the garden. Love the fields! Sloping and broad With damp brown earth. And sharp green grass, Oh, love them well until you know Where even weeds and wild fruits grow. They will yield More than grass and fruit and grain; A deeper wisdom you will gain Of frost and hail, vapours and snow, So love the fields and love them well. ANODYNE By Francis Wayne MacVeagh Over the curve of the world Day's galleon sails away. The sunset's banners are furled, Walks in the blossoming orchards That crown the cliffs of the bay. Gulls in the upper air Gleam and wheel as the stars; HENRY COLE QUINBY Henry Cole Quinby, son of Henry B. Quinby, former governor of New Hampshire, died on October 23, at his home in New York City, where he was one of the best known of the younger members of the bar. He was born at Lakeport on July 9. 1872, prepared for college at Chauncey Hall School, Boston, was graduated from Harvard in 1894 and then took the course at the Harvard Law School. He was given the master's degree by Bowdoin College in 1916. Soon after the completion of his law course, he entered upon practice in New York, and was for a number of years associated with the late Joseph H. Choate. During the war he was an active member of the American Defense Society. For six years he was secretary of the Union League Club, and was one of its vicepresidents when he died. Mr. Quinby was of literary tastes, a collector of rare books and manuscripts, and the compiler of his family genealogy. He was governor of the Society of Mayflower Descendants of New York State; president of the New Hampshire Society, secretary of the Grant Monument Association, and a member of the Harvard and Amateur Comedy Clubs and of the city and state bar associations. The funeral services were held at St. Bartholomew's Protestant Episcopal Church and were in charge of the rector, the Reverend Leighton Parks. Large delegations attended from all of the organizations with which Mr. Quinby was associated, and they included many of the most prominent men in public and professional life. Mr. Quinby leaves a wife, who, before her marriage, was Miss Florence Cole. WALTER IRVING BLANCHARD Dr. Walter Irving Blanchard, widely known physician, died at his Farmington home on October 31, his sixtieth birthday. He was the son of Amos and Frances Adelaide (Morse) Blanchard and was born in Concord, where he was educated in the public schools and prepared for college. After graduation from Dartmouth in 1884, he studied at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Following his medical training, Dr. Blanchard was for six years an interne at Bellevue Hospital in New York. He practised for twenty-one years in Boston, but had been back in his native state for some time. He was a member of the Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachu setts Medical Societies and of the American Medical Association. As a physician and citizen he was much loved. Any notice of Dr. Blanchard would be incomplete without reference to his patriotic record during the World War. He early volunteered for the Red Cross medical service, in which he held a responsible position at Newport News. During the last of the "war drives" he performed excellent service as a speaker, in New Hampshire, where the fervor of his utterance commanded a warm response from his audiences. Dr. Blanchard is survived by a widow, by one son, Agnew Blanchard of Washington, District of Columbia, and a brother, Mark Blanchard of Holbrook, Massachusetts. DR. EDWIN G. ANNABLE The death occurred on Nov. 11, 1922, at his home in Concord of Dr. Edwin Guilford Annable, for twenty-eight years in medical practice in the Capital City and the oldest of Concord's active practitioners. He continued his work in his profession up to the day before he was seized by the illness that ended his life after a duration of a week. Edwin G. Annable was born on a farm in Newport, Province of Quebec, Dec. 2, 1840, but his father, Jacob Merrill Annable, and his mother, Eunice (Dean) Annable, were both New Englanders by birth who had moved into Canada to take up agricultural work. At the age of twenty, Edwin Annable returned to the country of his ancestors and established himself in Concord, where he was employed for some years by the old Prescott Organ Company and attained great skill as a cabinet worker. In 1877, he began to read medicine in the Concord office of the late Dr. George Cook, pursuing his studies at Dartmouth Medical College and the University of Vermont. He received his degree from the latter institution in June, 1880, and began the practice of medicine at Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, as a partner of Dr. Silas Cummings. This partnership continued three years until the death of Doctor Cummings and the practice was maintained by Dr. Annable two years longer, when he removed to Norwich, Vermont. Here, he ministered to the population of a wide territory in Vermont and New Hampshire, but in 1894 he came back to Concord, where he maintained his medical practice to the last, serving patients not only in the city but in all the nearby towns and some who came to him from places forty and fifty miles away. On June 9, 1863, he married Louisa Maria Farwell, daughter of Hon. William Farwell, long crown land agent at Robinson, P. Q. Had he lived until next June, their sixtieth wedding anniversary would have been observed. Besides his wife, Dr. Annable's survivors are his son, Rev. Edwin W. Annable of Worthington, Minneseta. three daughters, Mrs. Henry E. Roberts of Winchester, Massachusetts, Mrs. Curtis A. Chamberlin of East Concord, Mrs. Edward J. Parshley of Concord, two sisters, who live in California, twelve grandchildren and five great grandchildren. He was a member of the South Congregational Church and Rumford Lodge of Odd Fellows of Concord, besides city and state medical societies. E. J. P. CHARES UPHAM BELL Charles Upham Bell died suddenly at his home in Andover, Massachusetts, on November 11. Judge Bell was born in Exeter February 24, 1843, the son of James and Judith A. (Upham) Bell. His ancestry, both paternal and maternal, was of great distinction. A note on the Bell family will be found in the October number of this magazine. After studying at Kimball Union and Phillips Exeter Academies, Judge Bell attended Bowdoin College, whence he was graduated in 1863 and from which he was in later years the recipient of the honorary master's and doctor's degrees. His legal studies were pursued in the office of his cousin, the Honorable Charles H. Bell, at Exeter and at the Harvard Law School. Admitted to the bar in 1866, he practised in Exeter until 1871, when he removed to Lawrence, where he was a member successively of the firms of White and Bell, Bell and Sherman and Bell and Eaton. He was elevated to the Massachusetts Superior Court by Governor Wolcott in 1898 and remained on the bench until his resignation in 1917. Since then he has from time to time presided over sessions in Essex County and was expecting to do so again during the week following his death. Judge Bell, while in Lawrence, served as a member of the Common Council, and was City Solicitor from 1892 to 1898. In 1888, he was a presidential elector. For many years he was actively associated with the business of the Exeter Machine Works. Judge Bell served in the Forty-second Massachusetts Volunteers near the close of the Civil War. He was a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, of the Sons of the American Revolution, of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati and of the Grand Army of the Republic. He had been an overseer of Bowdoin College. Judge Bell was twice married first in 1872 to Helen M. Pitman of Laconia, who died in 1888 leaving four children, second to Elizabeth W. Pitman of Laconia who died six years ago. He is survived by one son, Joseph P. Bell, a lawyer of Boston, and by three daughters, Mrs. George H. Driver of Lansford, Pennsylvania, and the Misses Alice L. and Mary W. Bell of Andover. WILLIAM A. WHITNEY There died at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, on Nevember 13, William A. Whitney. Although born in Boston fiftynine years ago, the son of Justin and Jane (Taylor) Whitney, Mr. Whitney was essentially a New Hampshire man. After his education in the Boston public schools and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1887) and one year spent in water works construction in Maine, Mr. Whitney joined his uncle, John T. Emerson of Claremont, in the formation of the Emerson Paper Company. After supervising the construction of the company's mills at Sunapee, he was connected with their management until the sale of the plant a few years ago. son In 1891, he married Miss Shirley L. Robertson, daughter of John E. Robertof Concord. Until his removal to Sunapee seven years ago, Mr. Whitney resided in Claremont, where he was for many yars vestryman and warden of Trinity Church. At Sunapee he was active in the work of St. James's Church in the summer and of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the winter. He was president of the Sunapee Board of Trade, secretary and treasurer of the Lake Sunapee Yacht Club, trustee of the Sunapee Library and a member of the building committee for the new library. He was one of the most interested and active members of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. Mr. Whitney is survived by his widow and by one son, John Robertson Whitney of Boston. |