THE CRIMSON BOOKSHELF

Memorial volumes are usually disappointing; this is the exception. Here is a selection of prose and poetry of interest, and, in the case of the verse, of charm. Rarely do we find a young man whose technique was so finished, whose lyrical expression was so singularly free from the trite and the trivial. The consistency of the verse speaks of care in composition, but seldom are the marks of the task visible. The prose, including "Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and English Humanism" (the Potter Prize essay for 1928), and a number of stories, is adequate; the verses, however, make the volume what it is.

Its range is wide; Arthurian legend, Horatian odes, sonnets in accepted tradition, lyrics in free form make up the bulk of it. Robert Hillyer in a foreword speaks of the author's "delicacy of feeling and multiplicity of interests," and of a "technique which was already a performance." "The Dunes" shows his skilful handling of a difficult metre, the translations show that he could catch with accuracy the spirit of the original. One of the translations of Horace, that of the Second Epode, was awarded the Sargent Prize in 1925.

William Dana Orcutt has given the book an attractive format; printing and binding of distinctive quality make it an enduring memorial to its author, whose talent is thus recorded in lasting form.