Because of the high
standard
he set him-
self, the total extent of his work is not large.
self, the total extent of his work is not large.
Ovid - 1934 - Metamorphoses in European Culture - v2
-- The Knickerbocker.
Mr. Brewer has supplied material of much historical and critical
interest. The volume begins by telling the story of Ovid's life. It relates
his work to that of his Greek and Roman predecessors, then recounts the
influence of Ovid on writers who followed. Complete data is given for
each book and each story in the book: the origin of the tale, Ovid's treat-
ment of it, subsequnt use of the tale by classic, medieval, and modern
poets and prose writers of Europe. This comprehensive survey, which
has its own clarity of style and contains much new material, is a fine
piece of scholarly work in itself, as well as a fit commentary on Brookes
More's excellent translation. -- The Louisville Courier-Journal.
The adventures of the gods and men who people the Metamorphoses
of Ovid have interested readers for centuries. It is interesting to note the
varied reactions of succeeding ages to these tales of strange predicaments
and amazing mutations. -- The Dallas Times Herald.
Wilmon Brewer traces for us the influence of the Metamorphoses
on the major poets, including Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, and Goethe.
Certainly his treatise is of sound scholarship and deep interest. -- William
Zehv in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
381
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? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
The lover of literature and art who is not familiar with Ovid is in-
adequately equipped to understand such writers as Petrarch, Marlowe,
Corneille, or Pope and such artists as Tintoretto or Botticelli or Titian or
Rubens. -- The Providence Sunday Journal.
The biography of the Roman poet and a study of the great influence
of Ovid's masterpiece on literature and art, which accompanies the trans-
lation, is by Wilmon Brewer, who in a very scholarly and thought-pro-
voking style has succeeded eminently in renewing modern interest in this
most picturesque poet of Rome's great Augustan era.
You cannot have escaped contacts with this gentle Roman and his
mythological tales in your literary and artistic wanderings. From the
literary dawns of Dante, Boccaccio, and Chaucer, down to the great poets
of the Georgian and Victorian periods, the influence of Ovid has left
illuminated trails. In painting and sculpture the gods and goddesses and
the episodes of love human and divine of Ovid's Metamorphoses have
been perpetuated in classic masterpieces.
Pew of the great poets have escaped his touch. Spenser in his Faerie
Queene borrowed liberally from Ovid's pages, Shakespeare took from him
his Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and his Merchant of Venice
sparkles with Ovidian allusions. Ben Jonson translated the book in part,
and it was a favorite -- and a storehouse of mythical legend -- for Milton.
The winged foosteps of Ovid are clearly traceable throughout Paradise
Lost. And these are only a few of the many references to the enduring
influence of this familiar epic that Wilmon Brewer has traced in his intro-
ductory survey. -- The Kansas City Times.
The book should be read with pleasure not only by the scholarly few
but by a large company of those who care for beautiful things presented
faultlessly. It is most informing and has opened up many matters of
great interest. It will put classical scholars much in debt, especially be-
cause of the care taken to show Ovid's influence through the centuries
and in all countries. The work is very carefully written, with good
organization and with ease and clarity of style. The format, too, is pleas-
ing to a degree, and the typography leaves nothing to be desired. --
William L. Richardson: Author of Literature of the World; Editor of
World Writers.
The volume of illustrative comment is very interesting. It is packed
with information, scientifically arranged and presented in a pleasing
style -- S. G. Owen: Leading English authority on Ovid; Editor of
Ovid's Tristia; Author of Ovid and Romance.
382
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? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
What you are doing for Ovid and the Metamorphoses is a work that
I have long wanted to see done in just the complete way in which you are
doing it. All students of Ovid will be glad. -- Frank Justus Miller:
Editor of Ovid's Metamorphoses for the Loeb Classical Library.
It brings the reader the fruit of much erudition, yet saves him effort
by the clear, pleasing way of presenting the facts. -- Winslow Loveland:
Professor of English, Boston University.
Admirable research into Ovid's influence through the course of
European literature and art. -- Smile Ripert: French Poet and Scholar;
Author of Ovide Poete de VAmour, des Dieux, et de I'Exile.
With full information and sure command of material, it pursues the
study of Ovid's effect among many attentive readers and many nations
and in the divers arts of literature, sculpture, and painting. -- Luigi
Castiglioni: President of the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, Uni-
versity of Milan, Milan, Italy; Author of Studii intorno alle Fonti delle
Metamorfosi.
Much material presented clearly in simple, readable form. Instruc-
tive and enjoyable. -- Harold Files: Professor of English, McGill Uni-
versity, Montreal, Canada.
Traces clearly and in detail the background and the subsequent for-
tunes of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Practically a History of Classical Myth-
ology, a mine of information on one absorbingly interesting aspect of the
past, both in the ancient and the modern languages. -- Walter Llewel-
lyn Bullock: Chairman of the Department of Italian Studies, Univer-
sity of Manchester, Manchester, England.
The two volumes of the Metamorphoses have opened to me an entirety
new appreciation of Ovid's literary significance. These are books that
I love to read and read again, and they will always occupy a place of
regard in my classical library. When my children come to read Ovid, I
hope by means of these books to give them an earlier and fuller apprecia-
tion of his beauties than I obtained at school. -- Robert Green: Former
President of the Boston Classical Club.
383
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? Sonnets and Sestinas
By Wilmon Brewer
A fresh and interesting volume both of original creation and of
scholarship. Splendid histories of the sonnet and the sestina. -- State
Journal, Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. Brewer is an accomplished sonneteer in the tradition of the
Elizabethan age. His work includes both original poems and transla-
tions . . . Detailed and thorough histories of the sonnet and the sestina re-
spectively. They possess what is important for history, authoritativeness.
The book is well indexed. An excellent format, with a frontispiece of the
author. -- Sigmund Fogler, Poetry Editor, in The Brooklyn Teacher.
The author has presented a number of original sonnets and sestinas
worthy of high rank. . . . His translations into English from other
tongues preserve both the structure and the finely chiseled thought of
the original. . . . In a history of the sonnet and a history of the sestina,
he opens wide the doors to understanding and appreciation. A book out
of the ordinary and deserving attention. -- W. D. Manning in The Demo-
crat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York.
The sonnets, as the author says in his preface, "illustrate almost
every important form, the three called Algernon's Philosophy, The Lily,
and The Mystery of Life representing varieties never before used in
English. The sestinas represent every important form, the two called
At Ghizeh and Shellfiire being the only English examples of their kind. ''
Histories are given both of the sonnet and of the sestina. The book will
be treasured by those into whose possession it comes. -- Belfast News-
Letter, Belfast, Ireland.
Two difficult forms of poetry are discussed with skill, information,
and understanding in this very interesting volume. The author's verse
has merit of its own and value as an illustration of the many types of the
sonnet and sestina. Both forms are a challenge to the ingenuity of poets.
The sestina is the more interesting because the greater difficulty of its
form has preserved it from so much mishandling. The distinguishing
trait is that its key words are repeated in stanza after stanza, although
with a different order. Two stanzas from the author's ingenious Medita-
tion by Moonlight will make this plain.
384
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? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
When the full moon turns night to softer day,
With ebon shadows under grove and tree,
I seek white lawns to watch the clear beams play
On silvered branch and tree-top. Memory
Joints in the present wonder of my way,
Reviving moonlit scenes by land and sea.
Dry, sparkling drifts are billowing like a sea,
As the cold moon succeeds the winter day.
They change and hide from sight and memory
All track of man and beast, for chill winds play,
Sweeping from snowy hill and laden tree
White, dazzling clouds to whirl them on their way.
C. B. F. in The Cincinnati Times Star.
A scholarly and fascinating history of the origin, growth, and muta-
tion of two forms, one of which is employed by practically every poet and
the other shunned by all except a few. -- The American Mercury.
Many examples of the sonnet and the sestina. A book that should
restore luster to some of these forgotten forms. -- Hildegarde Fillmore
in The Survey Graphic.
Delightful reading. A distinct addition to American poetry and
criticism. Among the sonnets I should think it invidious to select any
one. Among the sestinas I should mention At Ghizeh, not necessarily as
being superior to the others, but as one that did appeal to me with special
force. The historical essays have compressed into wonderfully small com-
pass the knowledge gained by profound research into European litera-
ture. I can appreciate them from my own adventures in the realm of his-
torical research. -- H. Addington Bruce: Fellow of the American Acad-
emy of Arts and Sciences, Former Editor of The New York Tribune Re-
view, President of the Boston Browning Society, Former President of
the Boston Author's Club, Author of The Riddle of Personality, Self
Development, and Your Growing Child.
The Christmas poems are in a class by themselves. Wilmon Brewer
is among the very few persons who seem unimpeded by the sonnet form,
and the atmosphere of Great Hill must be peculiarly favorable to poetry.
-- LeBaron Russell Brigqs.
A fine and rare combination of excellence in critical interpretation
and of deft and happy original achievement in the difficult but lovely
verse with which it deals. The work gives me great pleasure -- especially
some of that in lighter vein: Algernon, The Bee, and The Recipe. But
385
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? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
the whole of it, in this rough world, is refreshing to the spirit. -- Alwin
Thaler : Professor of English, University of Tennessee; Author of Shaks-
pere's Silences.
The poetical part of the book shows great versatility and charming
style. The dignity is admirable but not to the exclusion of humor, as in
Algernon's socks! I was surprised at all the variations of the sonnet. I
particularly enjoyed Meditation by Moonlight, Bluebirds, and the striking
At Ghizeh. An excellent study of the sonnet and the sestina, lucidly
written and amazingly comprehensive. -- J. Milton French: Chairman
of the Department of English, Rutgers University.
What delighted me was the workmanship of the poetry. Everything
is done with exquisite care and reverence for poetic form and for words.
There is not a careless or jarring line in the whole book. I was particu-
larly glad to have the history of the sonnet. I had not in my hands any
clear, satisfactory account such as this. -- Stephen Hayes Bush: Chair-
man of the Department of Romance Languages, Iowa University.
The sonnets made pleasant reading -- smooth, accomplished, and
various as they are. Some of them offered plenty of surprises. For ex-
ample, it was curious to observe in The Witch Hazel how little one cared
about the absence of rhyme. From Algernon to The Mystery spans an
immense range. -- Harold Files: Professor of English, McGill Uni-
versity, Montreal, Canada.
The history of the sonnet is going to be useful and that of the sestina
invaluable to me, but my greatest pleasure came from the translations,
especially those of the short Chinese poems. -- Merritt Y. Hughes:
Chairman of the Department of English, University of Wisconsin;
Author of Virgil and Spenser.
I have read it with the greatest interest and enjoyment. Few in-
deed are able to discuss a complicated literary subject with such clarity
and grace and at the same time to present in illustration such genuinely
creative work of their own. The poems, both original and translated,
are delightful in their imagery, their feeling, and their style, as well as
in the remarkable technique. -- William Hall Clawson: Associate Pro-
fessor of English, University College, Toronto, Canada.
Something never attempted before. A charming and scholarly book.
The format is in Brookes More's best style, and one cannot say more.
-- Henry Harmon Chamberlin: Former President of The American
Poetry Association, Former President of The Omar Khayyam Society
of America; Author of The Master Knot, Sir Aldengar, and Horace Talks.
386
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? Life and Poems of Brookes More
By Wilmon Brewer
'' His ideal was to write little and polish it with care,'' says Wilmon
Brewer in introducing Brookes More. He composed for more than forty
years before publishing a book.
Because of the high standard he set him-
self, the total extent of his work is not large.
High craftsmanship is found in Mr. More's lyrical forms. He ex-
perimented successfully with the triolet, villanelle, rondeau, rondel, pan-
toum, sestina and the simpler kinds of verse. His sonnet sequence called
The Lover's Rosary and his narrative poems, such as A Convent Legend
and the powerful Orpheus and Eurydice, are distinguished and impor-
tant. Much of his best work has gone into translation. As far back as
1890, he began his version of Ovid's Metamorphoses. He destroyed and
rewrote the first thousand lines. These are carefully wrought poems by
a man who lived with them a long time. -- The Oakland Tribune.
Prominent for many years in the literary as well as the business
world, Brookes More has passed his eightieth milestone. His formative
years were spent in St. Louis. During this period one of his major lit-
erary works was begun -- his translation in blank verse of Ovid's Meta-
morphoses. His biographer includes a short life of the poet, the best of
his lyrics and narrative poems, and a critical commentary. -- Salt Lake
Tribune.
The book is well planned and executed. It gives a biographical
account of Mr. More, a critical appraisal of his work, and a representa-
tive selection of his poems. -- The Bulletin, Boston Authors' Club.
A handsome book, with excellent photographic illustrations. I had
no idea what an interesting and significant life Mr. More has lived, until
I read the excellent biography. The poems are of unexpected depth and
artistry, and read after an acquaintance with Brookes More's life, take
on new meaning. -- James R. Foster: Associate Professor of English,
Long Island University.
I think the biography is excellent -- interesting throughout and done
in the best possible taste. The selections from Mr. More's poetry give a
good idea of the scope and variety of his work. I thoroughly enjoyed
reading the book. -- Arthur Stanwood Pier: Author, Teacher of Eng-
lish, Former Editor of The Harvard Graduates Magazine.
387
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? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
A beautiful volume of splendid poems. An admirable account of a
life, by an able and discriminating biographer. In every regard a fine
achievement. -- Nixon Waterman: Poet, Lecturer, and Journalist; For-
mer President of the Boston Authors' Club, Author of A Rose to the
Living.
Will find many interested readers. -- Olga Erbe: Librarian, Adelphi
College, Garden City, New York.
Most interesting biography and delightful poems. One of those
books I like to keep handy and dip into from time to time. -- Winthrop
Packard: Author and Editor, for many years Secretary of the Massa-
chusetts Audubon Society.
The book comes to add beauty and inspiration to my library, where
several young ministers of my church are continually reading in search
of goodness and truth. -- Gregorio Aglipay: Supreme Bishop of the
Philippine Independent Church.
The mysticism and beauty of the poems is strongly appealing. The
linking of rhymes in Pearls recalls a similar device in a poem of almost
the same title, The Pearl, by the unknown poet of the fourteenth century.
The lines of the ninth sonnet of Pearls are particularly lovely. -- Mabel
Maxson: Librarian, Milton College, Wisconsin.
The narrative and comment gave me a clearer idea of the obstacles
in business that Mr. More had to meet and of the controversies in litera-
ture. I was interested especially in the account of his reading and his
methods of composition. I congratulate Mr. More on being the worthy
subject of so good a book. -- Winslow Loveland: Professor of English,
Boston University.
The interesting volume will find a permanent and useful place on our
shelves. -- Herbert M. Sewell, The Library, Oberlin College.
What a labor of love and appreciation -- under such an attractive
format! One sees again what one has always known of him, that he ac-
cepted none but the best. -- Alice Brown: Author of Fiction, Drama,
and Biography.
388
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? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DATE DUE
SEP 2 6 1982
DZCO?
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 9015 00527 6665
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? Barcode
Inside
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust.
Mr. Brewer has supplied material of much historical and critical
interest. The volume begins by telling the story of Ovid's life. It relates
his work to that of his Greek and Roman predecessors, then recounts the
influence of Ovid on writers who followed. Complete data is given for
each book and each story in the book: the origin of the tale, Ovid's treat-
ment of it, subsequnt use of the tale by classic, medieval, and modern
poets and prose writers of Europe. This comprehensive survey, which
has its own clarity of style and contains much new material, is a fine
piece of scholarly work in itself, as well as a fit commentary on Brookes
More's excellent translation. -- The Louisville Courier-Journal.
The adventures of the gods and men who people the Metamorphoses
of Ovid have interested readers for centuries. It is interesting to note the
varied reactions of succeeding ages to these tales of strange predicaments
and amazing mutations. -- The Dallas Times Herald.
Wilmon Brewer traces for us the influence of the Metamorphoses
on the major poets, including Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, and Goethe.
Certainly his treatise is of sound scholarship and deep interest. -- William
Zehv in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
381
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
The lover of literature and art who is not familiar with Ovid is in-
adequately equipped to understand such writers as Petrarch, Marlowe,
Corneille, or Pope and such artists as Tintoretto or Botticelli or Titian or
Rubens. -- The Providence Sunday Journal.
The biography of the Roman poet and a study of the great influence
of Ovid's masterpiece on literature and art, which accompanies the trans-
lation, is by Wilmon Brewer, who in a very scholarly and thought-pro-
voking style has succeeded eminently in renewing modern interest in this
most picturesque poet of Rome's great Augustan era.
You cannot have escaped contacts with this gentle Roman and his
mythological tales in your literary and artistic wanderings. From the
literary dawns of Dante, Boccaccio, and Chaucer, down to the great poets
of the Georgian and Victorian periods, the influence of Ovid has left
illuminated trails. In painting and sculpture the gods and goddesses and
the episodes of love human and divine of Ovid's Metamorphoses have
been perpetuated in classic masterpieces.
Pew of the great poets have escaped his touch. Spenser in his Faerie
Queene borrowed liberally from Ovid's pages, Shakespeare took from him
his Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and his Merchant of Venice
sparkles with Ovidian allusions. Ben Jonson translated the book in part,
and it was a favorite -- and a storehouse of mythical legend -- for Milton.
The winged foosteps of Ovid are clearly traceable throughout Paradise
Lost. And these are only a few of the many references to the enduring
influence of this familiar epic that Wilmon Brewer has traced in his intro-
ductory survey. -- The Kansas City Times.
The book should be read with pleasure not only by the scholarly few
but by a large company of those who care for beautiful things presented
faultlessly. It is most informing and has opened up many matters of
great interest. It will put classical scholars much in debt, especially be-
cause of the care taken to show Ovid's influence through the centuries
and in all countries. The work is very carefully written, with good
organization and with ease and clarity of style. The format, too, is pleas-
ing to a degree, and the typography leaves nothing to be desired. --
William L. Richardson: Author of Literature of the World; Editor of
World Writers.
The volume of illustrative comment is very interesting. It is packed
with information, scientifically arranged and presented in a pleasing
style -- S. G. Owen: Leading English authority on Ovid; Editor of
Ovid's Tristia; Author of Ovid and Romance.
382
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
What you are doing for Ovid and the Metamorphoses is a work that
I have long wanted to see done in just the complete way in which you are
doing it. All students of Ovid will be glad. -- Frank Justus Miller:
Editor of Ovid's Metamorphoses for the Loeb Classical Library.
It brings the reader the fruit of much erudition, yet saves him effort
by the clear, pleasing way of presenting the facts. -- Winslow Loveland:
Professor of English, Boston University.
Admirable research into Ovid's influence through the course of
European literature and art. -- Smile Ripert: French Poet and Scholar;
Author of Ovide Poete de VAmour, des Dieux, et de I'Exile.
With full information and sure command of material, it pursues the
study of Ovid's effect among many attentive readers and many nations
and in the divers arts of literature, sculpture, and painting. -- Luigi
Castiglioni: President of the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, Uni-
versity of Milan, Milan, Italy; Author of Studii intorno alle Fonti delle
Metamorfosi.
Much material presented clearly in simple, readable form. Instruc-
tive and enjoyable. -- Harold Files: Professor of English, McGill Uni-
versity, Montreal, Canada.
Traces clearly and in detail the background and the subsequent for-
tunes of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Practically a History of Classical Myth-
ology, a mine of information on one absorbingly interesting aspect of the
past, both in the ancient and the modern languages. -- Walter Llewel-
lyn Bullock: Chairman of the Department of Italian Studies, Univer-
sity of Manchester, Manchester, England.
The two volumes of the Metamorphoses have opened to me an entirety
new appreciation of Ovid's literary significance. These are books that
I love to read and read again, and they will always occupy a place of
regard in my classical library. When my children come to read Ovid, I
hope by means of these books to give them an earlier and fuller apprecia-
tion of his beauties than I obtained at school. -- Robert Green: Former
President of the Boston Classical Club.
383
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:22 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015005276665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? Sonnets and Sestinas
By Wilmon Brewer
A fresh and interesting volume both of original creation and of
scholarship. Splendid histories of the sonnet and the sestina. -- State
Journal, Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. Brewer is an accomplished sonneteer in the tradition of the
Elizabethan age. His work includes both original poems and transla-
tions . . . Detailed and thorough histories of the sonnet and the sestina re-
spectively. They possess what is important for history, authoritativeness.
The book is well indexed. An excellent format, with a frontispiece of the
author. -- Sigmund Fogler, Poetry Editor, in The Brooklyn Teacher.
The author has presented a number of original sonnets and sestinas
worthy of high rank. . . . His translations into English from other
tongues preserve both the structure and the finely chiseled thought of
the original. . . . In a history of the sonnet and a history of the sestina,
he opens wide the doors to understanding and appreciation. A book out
of the ordinary and deserving attention. -- W. D. Manning in The Demo-
crat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York.
The sonnets, as the author says in his preface, "illustrate almost
every important form, the three called Algernon's Philosophy, The Lily,
and The Mystery of Life representing varieties never before used in
English. The sestinas represent every important form, the two called
At Ghizeh and Shellfiire being the only English examples of their kind. ''
Histories are given both of the sonnet and of the sestina. The book will
be treasured by those into whose possession it comes. -- Belfast News-
Letter, Belfast, Ireland.
Two difficult forms of poetry are discussed with skill, information,
and understanding in this very interesting volume. The author's verse
has merit of its own and value as an illustration of the many types of the
sonnet and sestina. Both forms are a challenge to the ingenuity of poets.
The sestina is the more interesting because the greater difficulty of its
form has preserved it from so much mishandling. The distinguishing
trait is that its key words are repeated in stanza after stanza, although
with a different order. Two stanzas from the author's ingenious Medita-
tion by Moonlight will make this plain.
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? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
When the full moon turns night to softer day,
With ebon shadows under grove and tree,
I seek white lawns to watch the clear beams play
On silvered branch and tree-top. Memory
Joints in the present wonder of my way,
Reviving moonlit scenes by land and sea.
Dry, sparkling drifts are billowing like a sea,
As the cold moon succeeds the winter day.
They change and hide from sight and memory
All track of man and beast, for chill winds play,
Sweeping from snowy hill and laden tree
White, dazzling clouds to whirl them on their way.
C. B. F. in The Cincinnati Times Star.
A scholarly and fascinating history of the origin, growth, and muta-
tion of two forms, one of which is employed by practically every poet and
the other shunned by all except a few. -- The American Mercury.
Many examples of the sonnet and the sestina. A book that should
restore luster to some of these forgotten forms. -- Hildegarde Fillmore
in The Survey Graphic.
Delightful reading. A distinct addition to American poetry and
criticism. Among the sonnets I should think it invidious to select any
one. Among the sestinas I should mention At Ghizeh, not necessarily as
being superior to the others, but as one that did appeal to me with special
force. The historical essays have compressed into wonderfully small com-
pass the knowledge gained by profound research into European litera-
ture. I can appreciate them from my own adventures in the realm of his-
torical research. -- H. Addington Bruce: Fellow of the American Acad-
emy of Arts and Sciences, Former Editor of The New York Tribune Re-
view, President of the Boston Browning Society, Former President of
the Boston Author's Club, Author of The Riddle of Personality, Self
Development, and Your Growing Child.
The Christmas poems are in a class by themselves. Wilmon Brewer
is among the very few persons who seem unimpeded by the sonnet form,
and the atmosphere of Great Hill must be peculiarly favorable to poetry.
-- LeBaron Russell Brigqs.
A fine and rare combination of excellence in critical interpretation
and of deft and happy original achievement in the difficult but lovely
verse with which it deals. The work gives me great pleasure -- especially
some of that in lighter vein: Algernon, The Bee, and The Recipe. But
385
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? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
the whole of it, in this rough world, is refreshing to the spirit. -- Alwin
Thaler : Professor of English, University of Tennessee; Author of Shaks-
pere's Silences.
The poetical part of the book shows great versatility and charming
style. The dignity is admirable but not to the exclusion of humor, as in
Algernon's socks! I was surprised at all the variations of the sonnet. I
particularly enjoyed Meditation by Moonlight, Bluebirds, and the striking
At Ghizeh. An excellent study of the sonnet and the sestina, lucidly
written and amazingly comprehensive. -- J. Milton French: Chairman
of the Department of English, Rutgers University.
What delighted me was the workmanship of the poetry. Everything
is done with exquisite care and reverence for poetic form and for words.
There is not a careless or jarring line in the whole book. I was particu-
larly glad to have the history of the sonnet. I had not in my hands any
clear, satisfactory account such as this. -- Stephen Hayes Bush: Chair-
man of the Department of Romance Languages, Iowa University.
The sonnets made pleasant reading -- smooth, accomplished, and
various as they are. Some of them offered plenty of surprises. For ex-
ample, it was curious to observe in The Witch Hazel how little one cared
about the absence of rhyme. From Algernon to The Mystery spans an
immense range. -- Harold Files: Professor of English, McGill Uni-
versity, Montreal, Canada.
The history of the sonnet is going to be useful and that of the sestina
invaluable to me, but my greatest pleasure came from the translations,
especially those of the short Chinese poems. -- Merritt Y. Hughes:
Chairman of the Department of English, University of Wisconsin;
Author of Virgil and Spenser.
I have read it with the greatest interest and enjoyment. Few in-
deed are able to discuss a complicated literary subject with such clarity
and grace and at the same time to present in illustration such genuinely
creative work of their own. The poems, both original and translated,
are delightful in their imagery, their feeling, and their style, as well as
in the remarkable technique. -- William Hall Clawson: Associate Pro-
fessor of English, University College, Toronto, Canada.
Something never attempted before. A charming and scholarly book.
The format is in Brookes More's best style, and one cannot say more.
-- Henry Harmon Chamberlin: Former President of The American
Poetry Association, Former President of The Omar Khayyam Society
of America; Author of The Master Knot, Sir Aldengar, and Horace Talks.
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? Life and Poems of Brookes More
By Wilmon Brewer
'' His ideal was to write little and polish it with care,'' says Wilmon
Brewer in introducing Brookes More. He composed for more than forty
years before publishing a book.
Because of the high standard he set him-
self, the total extent of his work is not large.
High craftsmanship is found in Mr. More's lyrical forms. He ex-
perimented successfully with the triolet, villanelle, rondeau, rondel, pan-
toum, sestina and the simpler kinds of verse. His sonnet sequence called
The Lover's Rosary and his narrative poems, such as A Convent Legend
and the powerful Orpheus and Eurydice, are distinguished and impor-
tant. Much of his best work has gone into translation. As far back as
1890, he began his version of Ovid's Metamorphoses. He destroyed and
rewrote the first thousand lines. These are carefully wrought poems by
a man who lived with them a long time. -- The Oakland Tribune.
Prominent for many years in the literary as well as the business
world, Brookes More has passed his eightieth milestone. His formative
years were spent in St. Louis. During this period one of his major lit-
erary works was begun -- his translation in blank verse of Ovid's Meta-
morphoses. His biographer includes a short life of the poet, the best of
his lyrics and narrative poems, and a critical commentary. -- Salt Lake
Tribune.
The book is well planned and executed. It gives a biographical
account of Mr. More, a critical appraisal of his work, and a representa-
tive selection of his poems. -- The Bulletin, Boston Authors' Club.
A handsome book, with excellent photographic illustrations. I had
no idea what an interesting and significant life Mr. More has lived, until
I read the excellent biography. The poems are of unexpected depth and
artistry, and read after an acquaintance with Brookes More's life, take
on new meaning. -- James R. Foster: Associate Professor of English,
Long Island University.
I think the biography is excellent -- interesting throughout and done
in the best possible taste. The selections from Mr. More's poetry give a
good idea of the scope and variety of his work. I thoroughly enjoyed
reading the book. -- Arthur Stanwood Pier: Author, Teacher of Eng-
lish, Former Editor of The Harvard Graduates Magazine.
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? REVIEWS AND OPINIONS
A beautiful volume of splendid poems. An admirable account of a
life, by an able and discriminating biographer. In every regard a fine
achievement. -- Nixon Waterman: Poet, Lecturer, and Journalist; For-
mer President of the Boston Authors' Club, Author of A Rose to the
Living.
Will find many interested readers. -- Olga Erbe: Librarian, Adelphi
College, Garden City, New York.
Most interesting biography and delightful poems. One of those
books I like to keep handy and dip into from time to time. -- Winthrop
Packard: Author and Editor, for many years Secretary of the Massa-
chusetts Audubon Society.
The book comes to add beauty and inspiration to my library, where
several young ministers of my church are continually reading in search
of goodness and truth. -- Gregorio Aglipay: Supreme Bishop of the
Philippine Independent Church.
The mysticism and beauty of the poems is strongly appealing. The
linking of rhymes in Pearls recalls a similar device in a poem of almost
the same title, The Pearl, by the unknown poet of the fourteenth century.
The lines of the ninth sonnet of Pearls are particularly lovely. -- Mabel
Maxson: Librarian, Milton College, Wisconsin.
The narrative and comment gave me a clearer idea of the obstacles
in business that Mr. More had to meet and of the controversies in litera-
ture. I was interested especially in the account of his reading and his
methods of composition. I congratulate Mr. More on being the worthy
subject of so good a book. -- Winslow Loveland: Professor of English,
Boston University.
The interesting volume will find a permanent and useful place on our
shelves. -- Herbert M. Sewell, The Library, Oberlin College.
What a labor of love and appreciation -- under such an attractive
format! One sees again what one has always known of him, that he ac-
cepted none but the best. -- Alice Brown: Author of Fiction, Drama,
and Biography.
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? THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DATE DUE
SEP 2 6 1982
DZCO?
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? 9015 00527 6665
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? Barcode
Inside
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