at
they represent a slight spirit of condescension, entirely absent from
the work of Padraic Colum, for instance, but they approach far more
closely to the heart of the Irish fishermen and farmers than the work of
any other English type of mind; and although Miss Barlow is best known
today by her poetry, I have always felt that she conveyed more poetry
into "Irish Idylls" than into any other of her books. The volume is a
necessary and permanent edition to any small collection of modern Irish
literature.

DAY AND NIGHT STORIES by _Algernon Blackwood_ (E. P. Dutton & Co.). In
these fifteen short stories Mr. Blackwood has adequately maintained the
quality of his best previous animistic work. To those who found a new
imaginative world in "The Centaur" and "Pan's Garden," the old familiar
magic still has power in many of these stories,--almost completely in
"The Touch of Pan" and "Initiation." Hardly inferior to these stories
for their passionate reality are "The Other Wing," "The Occupant of the
Room," "The Tryst," and "H. S. H." There is no story in this volume
which would not have made the reputation of a new writer, and I can
hardly find a better introduction than "Day and Night Stories" to the
beauty of Mr. Blackwood's imaginative life. He serves the same altar of
beauty in our day that John Keats served a century ago, and I cannot but
believe that his magic will gain greater poignancy as generations pass.

THE DERELICT by _Phyllis Bottome_ (The Century Co.). This collection of
Miss Bottome's short stories, many of which have previously appeared in
the Century Magazine during the past two years, gives a more complete
revelation of her talent than either of her novels. I suspect that the
short story is her true literary medium, and certainly there are at
least six of these eight short stories which I should be compelled to
list with three stars in my annual Roll of Honor. In subject and mood
they range from tragedy to social comedy. Elsewhere in this volume I
have discussed "'Ironstone,'" which seems to me the best of these
stories. A subtle irony pervades them, but it is so definitely concealed
that its insistence is never evident.

OLD CHRISTMAS, AND OTHER KENTUCKY TALES IN VERSE by _William Aspenwall
Bradley_ (The Houghton-Mifflin Co.). In this series of vignettes in
verse Mr. Bradley has presented the Kentucky mountaineer as
imaginatively as Robert Frost has presented the farmer-folk of New
Hampshire in "North of