en
back and twisted neck. What does it all mean? the reader may ask. That
"the wages of sin is death" seems to be the moral contained in this
poem, if indeed any moral is intended at all. Be that as it may,
'Albertus' is a literary gem in its way; a work in which the poet has
given free scope to his brilliant imagination, and showered by the
handful the gems and jewels in his literary casket. Gautier may be
said to have possessed the poetry of Death--some would say its
horrors. This sentiment of horror at the repulsive manner of man's
total destruction finds most vivid expression in 'The Comedy of
Death,' a fantastic poem divided into two parts, 'Death in Life' and
'Life in Death.' The dialogue between the bride and the earth-worm is
of a flesh-creeping nature.

It is however as the poet of 'Emaux et Camees' (Enamels and Cameos)
that Theophile Gautier will be chiefly remembered. Every poem but one
in this collection is written in short octosyllabic verse, and every
one is what the title implies,--a precious stone, a chiseled gem.
Gautier's wonderful and admirable talent for grouping together certain
words that produce on one's eye and mind the effect of a beautiful
picture, his intense love of art, of the outline, the plastic, appear
throughout this work. You realize on reading 'Emaux et Camees,' more
perhaps than in any other work by this writer, that the poet is fully
conscious of his powers and knows just how to use them. Any poem may
be selected at random, and will be found a work of art.

The same qualities that distinguish Gautier as a poet are to be found
in his novels, narratives of travels, criticisms,--in short, in
everything he wrote; intense love for the beautiful,--physically
beautiful,--wonderful talent for describing it. Of his novels,
properly speaking, there are four that stand out prominently, each
very different in its subject,--a proof of Gautier's great
versatility,--all perfect in their execution. The first is
'Mademoiselle de Maupin'; it is an immoral book, but it is a beautiful
book, not only because written with a rare elegance of style, but also
because it makes you love beauty. Briefly, 'Mademoiselle de Maupin'
may be called a paean to beauty, sung by its high priest Theophile
Gautier.

The other remarkable novels by this writer are 'Le Capitaine Fracasse'
(Captain Smash-All), 'Le Roman de la Momie' (The Romance of the
Mummy), and 'Spirite.' 'Captain Fracasse,' although not published
unti