That in Cale Young Rice a new American poet of great power and originality has arisen cannot be denied. He has somehow discovered the secret of the mystery, wonder and spirituality of human existence, which has been all but lost in our commercial civilization. May he succeed in awakening our people from sordid dreams of gain. _Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express._
No writer in England or America holds himself to higher ideals (than Mr.
Rice) and everything he does bears the imprint of exquisite taste and the finest poetic instinct. _The Portland Oregonian._
In simplicity of art form and sheer mystery of romanticism these poetic dramas embody the new century artistry that is remaking current imaginative literature. _The Philadelphia North American._
Cale Young Rice is justly regarded as the leading master of the difficult form of poetic drama. _Portland (Me.) Press._
Mr. Rice has outlived the prophesy that he would one day rival Stephen Phillips in the poetic drama. As dexterous in the mechanism of his art, the young American is the Englishman"s superior in that unforced quality which bespeaks true inspiration, and in a wider variety of manner and theme. _San Francisco Chronicle._
Mr. Rice"s work has often been compared to Stephen Phillips"s and there is great resemblance in their expression of high vision. Mr. Rice"s technique is sure ... his knowledge of his settings impeccable, and one feels sincerely the pa.s.sion, power and sensuous beauty of the whole.
"Arduin" (one of the plays) is perfect tragedy; as rounded as a sphere, as terrible as death. _Review of Reviews._
The Immortal Lure is a very beautiful work. _The Springfield (Ma.s.s.) Republican._
The action in Mr. Rice"s dramas is invariably compact and powerful, his writing remarkably forcible and clear, with a rare grasp of form. The plays are brief and cla.s.sic. _Baltimore News._
These four dramas, each a separate unit perfect in itself and differing widely in treatment, are yet vitally related by reason of the one central theme, wrought out with rich imagery and with compelling dramatic power. _The Louisville Times (U. S.)_
The literary and poetical merit of these dramas is undeniable, and they are charged with the emotional life and human interest that should, but do not, always go along with those other high gifts. _The (London) Bookman._
Mr. Rice never [like Stephen Phillips] mistakes strenuous phrase for strong thought. He makes his blank verse his servant, and it has the stage merit of possessing the freedom of prose while retaining the impa.s.sioned movement of poetry. _The Glasgow (Scotland) Herald._
These firm and vivid pieces of work are truly welcome as examples of poetic force that succeeds without the help of poetic license. _The Literary World (London.)_
We do not possess a living American poet whose utterance is so clear, so felicitous, so free from the inane and meretricious folly of sugared lines.... No one has a better understanding of the development of dramatic action than Mr. Rice. _The Book News Monthly (Albert S.
Henry.)_
COUNTRY LIFE IN AMERICA
THE WORLD"S WORK
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO., GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
MANY G.o.dS
By
CALE YOUNG RICE
"These poems are flashingly, glowingly full of the East.... What I am sure of in Mr. Rice is that here we have an American poet whom we may claim as ours." _The North American Review (William Dean Howells)._
"Mr. Rice has the gift of leadership ... and he is a force with whom we must reckon." _The Boston Transcript._
... "We find here a poet who strives to reach the goal which marks the best that can be done in poetry." _The Book News Monthly (A. S.
Henry)._
"When you hear the pessimists bewailing the good old time when real poets were abroad in the land ... do not fail to quote them almost anything by Cale Young Rice, a real poet writing to-day.... He has done so much splendid work one can scarcely praise him too highly." _The San Francisco Call._
"In "Many G.o.ds" the scenes are those of the East, and while it is not the East of Loti, Arnold or Hearn, it is still a place of brooding, majesty, mystery and subtle fascination. There is a temptation to quote such verses for their melody, dignity of form, beauty of imagery and height of inspiration." _The Chicago Journal._
""Love"s Cynic" (a long poem in the volume) might be by Browning at his best." _Pittsburg Gazette-Times._
"This is a serious, and from any standpoint, a successful piece of work ... in it are poems that will become cla.s.sic." _Pa.s.saic (New Jersey) News._
"Mr. Rice must be hailed as one among living masters of his art, one to whom we may look for yet greater things." _Presbyterian Advance._
"This book is in many respects a remarkable work. The poems are indeed poems." _The Nashville Banner._
"Mr. Rice"s poetical plays reach a high level of achievement.... But these poems show a higher vision and surer mastery of expression than ever before." _The London Bookman._
_Net, $1.25_ (_postage 12c._)
NIRVANA DAYS
Poems by
CALE YOUNG RICE
"Mr. Rice has the technical cunning that makes up almost the entire equipment of many poets nowadays, but human nature is more to him always ... and he has the feeling and imaginative sympathy without which all poetry is but an empty and vain thing." _The London Bookman._
"Mr. Rice"s note is a clarion call, and of his two poems, "The Strong Man to His Sires" and "The Young to the Old," the former will send a thrill to the heart of every man who has the instinct of race in his blood, while the latter should be printed above the desk of every minor poet and pessimist.... The sonnets of the sequence, "Quest and Requital," have the elements of great poetry in them." _The Glasgow (Scotland) Herald._
"Mr. Rice"s poems are singularly free from affectation, and he seems to have written because of the sincere need of expressing something that had to take art form." _The Sun (New York)._
"The ability to write verse that scans is quite common.... But the inspired thought behind the lines is a different thing; and it is this thought untrammeled--the clear vision searching into the deeps of human emotion--which gives the verse of Mr. Rice weight and potency.... In the range of his metrical skill he easily stands with the best of living craftsmen ... and we have in him ... a poet whose dramas and lyrics will endure." _The Book News Monthly (A. S. Henry)._
"These poems are marked by a breadth of outlook, individuality and beauty of thought. The author reveals deep, sincere feeling on topics which do not readily lend themselves to artistic expression and which he makes eminently worth while." _The Buffalo (N. Y.) Courier._
"We get throughout the idea of a vast universe and of the soul merging itself in the infinite.... The great poem of the volume, however, is "The Strong Man to His Sires."" _The Louisville Post (Margaret S.
Anderson)._
"The poems possess much music ... and even in the height of intensified feeling the clearness of Mr. Rice"s ideas is not dimmed by the obscure haze that too often goes with the divine fire." _The Boston Globe._
_Paper boards. Net, $1.25_ (_postage 12c._)