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 Phoenician= for Spring is the first number of an enthusiastically
conducted semi-professional venture of juvenile nature, whose connexion
with the United hinges on the associate editorship of our clever
recruit, Mr. James Mather Mosely. Like =Merry Minutes=, this publication
is of the popular rather than conservative sort; being obviously
designed primarily to please, secondarily to instruct. We deplore the
use of commonplace and sensational topics, colloquial expressions, and
malformed spelling; but make due concessions to the youth of the
editorial staff and the nascent state of the periodical. So promising
are the young publishers that time cannot fail to refine and mature
their efforts. "An Hour with a Lunatic," by Harry B. Sadik, is a very
short and very thrilling tale of the "dime novel" variety. Mr. Sadik has
a commendable sense of the dramatic, which would serve him well should
he choose a less sensational field of endeavour. "Our Soldiers," a
Canadian mother's war song by Mrs. Minnie E. Taylor, exhibits merit,
though having many signs of imperfect technic. In line 2 of the first
stanza =bid= should be replaced by =bade=. The final rhyme of the poem,
that of =gain= and =name=, is false and inadmissible. Metrically there
is much roughness, which careful study and diligent reading of good
verse can in time correct. "Candy and Health," and "If You Were Down and
Out," by James Mather Mosely, are two typical newspaper interviews with
representative men. Mr. Mosely shows much aptitude as a reporter, having
an almost professional ease and fluency. This is not literature, but it
is good journalism. "The Dinner Never Paid For," by Viola Jameson, is a
piece of characteristic light fiction; commendably innocuous, and not at
all overburdened with philosophical complexity. "The Secret of Success,"
by Edith L. Clark, is a promising bit of didactic prose. "The End of the
Road," by Pearl K. Merritt, is a brief essay of substantial worth. "The
Toll of the Sea," a poem by Harold Gordon Hawkins, shows considerable
merit despite irregularities. "Memories," by Arthur Goodenough, well
sustains the high poetical reputation of its author, though it is
cruelly marred by the illogical and censurable "simplified" spelling
which the young editors see fit to employ. One line affords a silent but
striking instance of the utter senselessness and confusion of the new
orthographical fad. This line reads:
"Of human =thot= might well be =wrought=."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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