Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips)
History
Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922
Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips)
Essays; Literature -- History and criticism; Periodicals
=The Scot= for May marks the advent of this highly entertaining and well
conducted magazine to the United, and extends the northern frontier of
amateur journalism to Bonnie Dundee, in Auld Scotland, the Land of
Mountain and Flood. "Hidden Beauty", a poem in blank verse by R. M.
Ingersley, opens the issue with a combination of lofty conceptions,
vivid imagery, and regular structure. "England's Glory", by Clyde Dane,
is a stirring tale of that fearless and self-sacrificing honour which
has given to the Anglo-Saxon the supremacy of the world. It would be in
bad taste to cavil at slight technical imperfections or instances of
triteness when considering so earnest and glowing a delineation of the
British character; the noblest human type ever moulded by the Creator.
"Oh Rose, Red Rose!" is a tuneful little lyric by Winifred V. Jordan,
whose work is never too brief to be pleasing, or too long to be
absorbing. "Clemency versus Frightfulness", by William T. Harrington, is
a thoughtful and lucid exposition of the British governmental ideal of
lenient justice; an ideal whose practical success has vividly
demonstrated its thorough soundness. "At Last", by Muriel Wilson, is a
blank verse poem of much merit. "Do You Remember?", by the late Lieut.
Roy Arthur Thackara, R. N., is a delicate sketch possessing the
additional interest of coming from the pen of one who has now given his
life for King and Country; the author having gone down with H. M. S.
=India=. "A Battle with the Sea", a sketch by Midshipman Ernest L.
McKeag, exhibits descriptive power of no common order, yet might well
have a less abrupt conclusion. "To Some One", by Margaret Trafford, is a
poem in dactylic measure, dedicated to the women of Britain. The
sentiment is noble, and the encomium well bestowed, though the metre
could be improved in polish. "Gum", by Henry J. Winterbone, is a
delightfully humorous sketch. It is evident that those who depreciate
British humour must have taken pains to avoid its perusal, since it has
a quietly pungent quality seldom found save among Anglo-Saxons.
Personally, we believe that the summit of clumsy pseudo-jocoseness is
attained by the average "comic" supplement of the Hearst Sunday papers.
These, and not the British press, present the pathetic spectacle of
utter inanity and repulsive grotesqueness without the faintest redeeming
touch of genuine comedy, legitimate satire, or refined humour. "Life's
Voyage", by Matthew Hilson, is a poem of great attractiveness, though of
scarcely impeccable construction. Concerning the expression "tempests
wild do roar", we must reiterate the advice of Mr. Pope, who condemned
the expletive "do", "doth", or "did" as a "feeble aid". Such usage has,
in fact, been in bad taste ever since the reign of Queen Anne; Dryden
being the last bard in whom we need not censure the practice. Mr.
McColl's editorials are brief but informing. He may well be
congratulated on his work as a publisher, and he certainly deserves as
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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