10
THE COURIER.
CLUBS.
(Continued from Page 5.)
session a short musical and literary pro
gram was rendered, following which a
social hour was enjoyed. The large at
tendance in spite of unpleasant weather
was very gratifying.
The regular meeting of the Lincoln
Woman's club will be held in Walsh
hall next Monday at 3 o'clock. Follow
ing the business meeting and parlia
mentary drill, an address will be given
by Mrs. Van Vechten, the national
treasurer. Appropriate music also will
be furnished.
The Rubaiyat of Mirza Mem'n.
Sincerity is the measure of greatness
and inheres only in large natures. To
get away from their own individuality,
to view life impartially, is a faculty pos
sessed by few. The truly great musi
cian blots out his own personality and
becomes simply an interpreter of the
great masters. In the presence of a
great painting one ie conscious of neither
art nor artist, but sees only the subject
itself, surrounded by its own peculiar
atmosphere.
Most of all in the translator is perfect
sincerity indispensable. For the mo
ment he must be one with the author,
living that author's life, thinking his
thoughts, and moved by the same emo
tions. In the Fitzgerald translation of the
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the spirit
of the original Rubaiyat has been pre
served. Whimsically and persistently
Fitzgerald carries his fantastic theory
through a hundred and one verses, re
minding one in his April changes from
seriousness to humor, of an impetuous
child. Everywhere there is rich, orient
al coloring, with here and there glints
of barbaric splendor.
"The Rubaiyat of Mirza Mem'n" haB
recently been Issued from the press of
Henry Olendorf Shepard. With numer
ohb illustrations, shut between covers
of artistic coloring, the fact still remains
that thiB is a translation of tintB, faded
and pale when compared with the tropi
cal richness of the earlier translation.
There is an impression of pure mental
ity, of a spirit free from earth-chains
and endowed with supernatural vigor, in
the work of Fitzgerald; while in the
new translation the spirit straggles with
fleshly limitations, and lacks the buoy
ancy and elasticity which recall Shelley.
The verses creep where they should fly.
Cold, colorless statements and heavy
metaphors take the place of the intense,
living figures flung out by Fitzgerald.
Few are unfamiliar with this verse of
Fitzgerald's:
. AB??Kof Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread-and Thou
Kflrt m eMmMv St. (. V17M J
nv stnmner n fc VV:TJ
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow! "
translation the parallel
In the latter
verse is this:
With Omar's Poem, Oriental Pearl
of mine,
The Palm slow dripping for us
fragrant wine,
The 'nectared mangusteen'
hung at our lips,
And thy low singing: ah,
'twould be divine."
Again Fitzgerald cries, impulsively:
"Ah, my Beloved, fill the cup that clears
To day of past Regrets and future Fears:
To morrow I Why, To morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n
thousand Years.
- For some we loved, the loveliest
and the best
That from his vintage rolling
Time hath west.
Have drunk their Cup a Round
or two before,
And one by one crept silently to rest"
The corresponding verses in the new
version are:
- Bring quickly here a flask
of ancient wine,
That we may drink our fill of juice benign,
Ere after folk shall make from this cold day
Tear bottles for the weepings of the vine.
Come, pledge me, Love ; and let
the draught be deen.
The Night for Music and the Day for Sleep.
To morrow? Nay that ' leads
to dusty death.'
Then laugh tonight, tomorrow
we must weep."
With a sudden touch of serioueneBS
Fitzgerald declares:
"The Revelations of Devout and Learn'd
'Who rose before us, and as Prophets bura'd,
Are all but Stories, which,
awoke from Sleep,
They told their comrades, and
to Sleep rcturn'd."
To express the same idea the new
translator writee:
" The grave philosophers, who seek to teach,
And wild enthusiasts, who
fain would preach
Of God's mysterious purpose, know it all.
Did not to Heaven the Tower
of Babel reach?"
In a defiant, yet proud admission of
his slavery to wine and with princely ex
travagance of expression, Fitzgerald
says:
"Ah, with the Grape my fading
Life provide,
And wash the Body whence
the Life has died.
And lay me, shrouded in the living Leaf,
By some not unfrequented Garden side! "
A decided contrast is the leaden indif
ference of the later version:
"I can not live without the ruby wine,
Vitality itself comes from the Vine ;
Without its tonic I could never bear
My heavy load on earth, nor
aid with thine."
A Daughter's Reading.
To the mothers who are anxious that
their girls should read wisely rather
than widely, there is a valuable article
in the November number of The Deline
ator describing "The Book Life of a
Girl." It Bhows how, with a little as
sistance, her book reading can be so
manipulated that she will be broadened
out by her reading without the necessity
of later being obliged to unlearn or for
get pernicious books that may only be
pernicious by having been read in ad
vance of the time when she could com
prehend their deeper and fuller meaning.
THEATRICAL).
THE OLIVER.
"Lovers' Lane," Clyde Fitch'a now
widely celebrated pastoral play, will be
seen at the Oliver Theatre on Thursday,
October 31st. The excellent cast and
the great scenic beauty are up to the
highest standard established by that
enterprising manager, Mr. William A.
Brady, who ie believed to possess in
thi piece a property quite as valuable
aa "Way Down East," which has made
everal fortunes within the past three
years, and is still as vital as ever.
These subtle, rustic dramas, full of
heart interest and humor, have a strong,
er virility than the more ephemeral
problem playB ahd the frivolous come
dies of fashionable society.
Prices 25, 50 and 75 cents and $1.00.
Seats on sale Tuesday.
The forty merry girl choristers of
"The Burgomaster" company, is a really
remarkable aggregation, in-a&-much as
but nineteen of them solely depend
upon the stage for a livelihood. Some
have private incomes and merely sing
and dance for the excitement of stage
life. They have been educated or
trained for various other professions
and stations in life. They are artists,
teachers of elocution, singing and danc
ing, newspaper reporters, designers of
ladies' bats. Eleven are models and
make considerable money posing for
artists and designers of advertising la
bels. This worries stage manager
ErnBt Salvator, as he is never actually
positive of their appearance in the thea
tre until he personally sees them. Last
Saturday eleven bewitching fascinators
did not show up until two minutes be
fore the time scheduled for the rise of
the curtain. When reprimanded and
asked for an excuse, one of them an
nounced that tbey were delayed because
they had been posing for a "beer label."
"The Burgomaster'' comes to the
Oliver Theatre Saturday, November
2nd. Prices 25, 50 and 75 cents, acd
81. 00 and 81.50. Seats on sale Thurs
day morning.
Jerome Sykes will head the big Klaw
& Erianger Opera Company when it
comes to the Oliver Theatre, Monday,
November 4th, in DeKoven and Smith's
"Foxy Quiller."
Tho principal singers in the Klaw fc
Erianger Opera Company, include Mies
Grace Cameron, Miss Eleanor Kent,
Miss Almira Forrest, Miss Lillian Se
ville, Misa Marian Bent, Miss Marie
Christie, Mr. Julius Steger, Mr. Adolph
Zink, the lilliputian comedian, Mr.
Harry Macdonougb, Mr. Louis Cassa-
vant and others. There is also a spec
ial orchestra under Sig. A. DeXovellis"
Although the Klaw & Erlaer Opera
Company is the largest musical organi
zation in America, there will ba no ad
vance in prices above the regular scale
in vogue for attractions or the first
class. "Foxy Quiller" is the distinct
operatic success on this eide of the At
lantic. It should also be mentioned
that its stage settings are of an unusual
order of magnificence.
Prices 25 cents to 81.50. Seats on
sale Friday at 9 sharp.
When a man dies nowadays the first
thing they ask is: "Was he insured,
and for how much?" The papers also
generally wind up the obituary with the
amount of insurance. Soon obituarj
notices will read something like this:
"Peter Jones died and left a wife anL
two children. Lobs fully covered bjr
insurance." Or if the deceased h nor
insured, it will read about as follows:
"John Smith is dead. He leaves a wife.
Total lose; no insurance." Ex.
It is only the first page in the book of
love that enthrals. Town Topics.
OLIVERTHEATRE fc zdmSSb? t. crawM
L-ik T 1j1 X lli-i V 1 IVU corner P ana 13th Sts. PliuneXH
Thursday, October 31.
William A. Brady presents the new Clyde Fitch Play, with
a cast of 30 and a complete scenic production,
ViOMV iME
Exactly as played for 5 months in New York, 3 months
in Chicago.
Win. A. Brady has found another gold mine like " 'Way
Down East" in Clyde Fitch's dainty play, "Lovers' Lane."
New York World.
Prices 25c to $1.00. Seats on sale Tuesday.
OJV NIGHT OilVrY.
Saturday, November 2.
The Latest Musical Farcial Operetta,
An Original Musical Comedy in a Prologue and two acts.
Book and Lyric by Frank Pixley, music by Gustav Luders.
Prices 25c, 50c, 75c, $1.00 and $1.50. Seats on sale Thurs
day morning. . ,
Monday, November 4.
Most Important Operatic Event of the Season.
KLAW & ERLANGER OPERA CO.
Presenr.inor
jEieoAa:B SYKES,
In Smith & DeKoven's New Opera,
FOXY QUILLER,
TTT
With an inCOmiin.r.lh1p rnif rf arflclc inrltiriini
Eleanor Kent. Julius Steer. Grace Cameron. Adolph Zink, Almira Forree Harry
Kt ?; u m.8 C8L8Tanillian Seville, Arthur T. Earnest. Alice 1 -risou.
n"111?;"""1 Christie, Marion Bent, Albert S. Sykes, Job. Froh. r
Havens, O. J. aicCormick. EJward RvnrAif. nH Mh
Klaw & Erianger Orchestra, Sig, A. DeNovellis, M "to1
UireCtOr. America S larorPRf nnprafir Oro-ntiirririni
Prices 25c, 50o, 75c, $1 .00 and $1 .50. Seats ou sale F day.
F7- ..rWl