One of the first translators of Maeterlinck into English was Richard Hovey, the brilliant American poet who died in his prime. In two decorative volumes, first issued in Chicago (Stone & Kimball) in 1894-1896, he interpreted, as well as translated, these earlier plays already cited. The Introduction in the first volume is informing for all students of modern drama. Mr. Hovey defined Symbolism, as distinguished from Realism and Expressionism; he joined with the name of Maeterlinck, such other exponents of Symbolism as Mallarmé, Gilbert Parker, and Bliss Carman. Two traits distinguished the Belgian from other symbolists of his day, according to this interpreter--“the peculiarity of his technique, and the limitation of his emotional range.” The use of reiteration is cited as a French characteristic for effective emphasis. “The danger-border between the tragic and the ridiculous” is a menace to Maeterlinck. More true of his earlier than his later plays is another restriction noted by Mr. Hovey: “His master-tone is always terror--terror, too, of one type--that of the churchyard.... He is the poet of the sepulchre, like Poe--as masterly in his own methods as Poe was in his, and destined, perhaps, to exert the same wide influence.”[88] _Premonition_ plays a large part in the plays of Maeterlinck from _The Blind_ and _Home_ to _Joyzelle_. In Paris, under the stimulus of literary associates and the comradeship of Georgette Le Blanc (the actress who became his wife), Maeterlinck wrote three plays that register his dramatic climax--_Joyzelle_, _Monna Vanna_ (1903) and _The Blue Bird_ (1908). Probably, the last symbolic drama was the primal cause of the Nobel award. The idealism, the delicate fancy, the imaginative charm, the fascinating characters in every scene, real or fantastic, and the pervasive message for every age and land, give to this play a perennial appeal. As Maeterlinck affirmed, this play, like others of the type, may lose some of its “mystic transparency” and symbolism on the stage but it has been alluring both as acted play and as a film. Why there should have been “a sequel” to such a perfect, complete play as _The Blue Bird_ is a question that has troubled many a critic. Resentment against _The Betrothal_, the continuance of this fairy-tale play, however, gives way before appreciation of its fine passages and strong message. At the same time, the impression lingers that Tyltyl, like Peter Pan, should “never have grown up.” Alexander Teixeira de Mattos has made a fine translation of _The Betrothal_ and Edith Wynne Mattison was a charming “Fairy Berylune,” when the play was given in New York. Here Maeterlinck ventured almost too near the borderland between fantasy and farce, especially in Act II, where the girls, who would marry Tyltyl, reveal their lower natures.