Prof. Neilson Reviews Advocate

The main feature of the new number of the Advocate is a substantial abstract from the lecture delivered here last month by Mr. Perey MacKaye '97, on "The Drama of Democracy." The lecture itself, as all who heard it will agree, was a brilliant performance, an interesting and inspiring thesis maintained with vigor and enthusiasm, in a spirit of fine idealism. The impression of a highly imaginative style rising at times almost to splendor, which Mr. MacKaye's delivery conveyed, is now deepened when one has the chance to read these paragraphs with care. The excerpts deserve the attention not only of all who are interested in the future of the American drama, but also of those of the Advocate's readers who study the art of writing. Another article by an alumnus, "Shall the Forward Pass be Abolished?" affords a sufficiently pointed contrast both in theme and manner. In it Mr. Reid succeeds in presenting a cogent plea for the continuance of this play, and in making his argument intelligible to the least informed in the technique of football.

Mr. Ford's "Oxford: an Opinion" is so modest in its claims to authority that it almost forestalls criticism. Yet the author shows that during the single term her spent in the English university, he kept his eyes open and his mind at work. A longer experience and deeper meditation might have led him to change his mind on some things, as, for example, that it is not difficult to get the English point of view, or that "refinement, because it is the most difficult part of education to attain, should therefore come last." Some things, on the other hand, are neatly put, such as this: "Some one who is very English is apt to be a South African: Canadians are far more independent, and Americans too much so."

"The Blind," by Lee Simonson, a piece of symbolistic satire in dialogue, hardly hits its mark. A review of Mr. Hermann Hagedorn's "Silver Blade" is highly laudatory but not very discerning. The play seems to have been not well understood by the critic. A former editorial, pointing out the advantages of the Degree with Distinction in History and Literature, is reprinted with good reason.

Of the poetry, E. E. Hunt's translation and P. A. Hutchison's "Quatrain" are well-phrased, and the "Song" by W. G. Tinckom-Fernandez has a pleasing melody. But most notable is J. H. Wheelock's "Dawn in the City," which, in spite of serious defects, is well worth reading. Its merit lies in the vividness of its pictures, and the success the writer achieves in conveying the feeling inspired by a prospect of city streets in the gray light of morning. In this it recalls some of Mr. Henley's London poems. But its effectiveness is weakened by a curious uncertainty in the handling of the verse. The metre is prevailingly iambic, but the license of substitution of trochaic and other measures is indulged in so freely that it is sometimes hard to catch the rhythm. At times, too, the rime has overmastered the thought, as in the sixth stanza, where "the first chill of night" certainly rimes with bright, but is a poor phrase for the cool of the morning