Some Opinions of the Press
Some Opinions of the Press
on
“The Saviour Of The World”
Vol. I. The Holy Infancy
This is a very pleasant volume. The authoress has been entirely successful in her aim. Her verse is simple and devoid of sought adornment, and the familiar story wrought into it is revealed in something of its original sweetness.—Glasgow Herald.
This book is a rendering, chiefly in blank verse, of our Lord’s life as recorded in the Gospels. Its value, apart from the deep reverence and devoutness which characterise the book on every page, is that poetry catches the attention and intensifies the interest, which sometimes flags in reading the text … new presentation of familiar truths, expanded and developed, gives a fresh delight, awakens new convictions, and is a further stay to faith.—School Guardian.
The talented and devoted Anglican author of this work looks forward to the time when some poetic genius will arise and give to the world the greatest epic of all ages, the august story of the Messiah … The medium of verse is specially dignified, being easily impersonal, condensed, reticent, and reverent. We congratulate Miss Mason on the considerable measure of success attending this first volume of the work to which she has put her hand … Various other passages it would be pleasing to quote, did space permit, and especially those concerning the weariness, disappointment, and isolation in the wilderness, and again Nicodemus and the soul’s new birth—passages in which high doctrine, faithfully understood, is expressed in worthy and musical language.—Tablet.
The author of this little book has tried to supply a real want by giving us a poetical version of the Gospel History. She has many of the qualities that fit her for the task—a deep reverence for her subject, and also a true poetic feeling.—Commonwealth.
The poetry is entirely that of the narrative itself in its unapproachable grandeur and simplicity. No attempt is made to add to it.—Western Mail.
The first volume of what promises to be a remarkable work. This first of the eight projected volumes bears the sub-title “The Holy Infancy,” and opens with a paraphrase, in dignified blank verse, of the prologue of St. John’s Gospel … The poet-paraphrasist has performed her self-appointed task admirably, with reverence and discretion … The interview with Nicodemus might well have been written by Browning himself.—Lady.
This is a singularly handsome volume, with beautiful illustrations… To the author the composition of these poems, illustrative of the words and acts of Our Lord, must have been a labour of Love… Everywhere her language breathes a spirit of deep devotion to the Saviour of mankind. The book is beautifully printed and illustrated.—Catholic Times.
A distinctly noteworthy contribution to contemporary devotional prosody… We wish her well upon her toilsome but enviable journey.—Liverpool Courier.
“The Saviour of the World” has one special merit: it helps one to realise what the Incarnation means practically—that the first Advent of God the Son was a real identification of Himself with our mortal nature, not in appearance only.—Guardian.
Some Opinions of the Press
on
“The Saviour Of The World”
Vol. II. His Dominion
Miss Charlotte Mason has now given us the second instalment of her elaborate work in verse on “The Saviour of the World.” … Miss Mason renders into graceful and original verse part of the story of Christ as found in the Gospels. She seeks to cover each incident in His career, and each notable saying to which He gave utterance, in a single poem, the series to form a complete story. Her obvious sincerity and the high aim which is everywhere apparent make her pleasing verses singularly attractive. She is reverent throughout and always dignified. The volume is illustrated with a number of apposite pictures.—Dundee Advertiser.
The volume is in every way a worthy successor of the first. Miss Mason has much of the subtle skill of Browning, and her effusions breathe everywhere a spirit of deep devotion to “The Saviour of Mankind.”—Catholic Times.
Miss Mason’s gracefully versified tractate in Christian theology—for that is what the poem is—should be read without weariness by the devout… On its literary side the book will readily evoke the admiration and sympathy of readers who like to have familiar lessons of Christianity refreshed by good workmanship in metrical art.—Scotsman.
The first volume met with a very cordial reception, and now the talented authoress gives her second volume to the world… The authoress employs the choicest language, and shows great skill in versification. The whole work, in fact, aims at giving the whole of the Gospel story in verse—not a small task, by any means, but one for which Miss Mason seems to be specially endowed.—Western Mail.
Miss Mason here continues what she modestly describes as a “paraphrase in verse” of the Gospel story. As the writer aptly remarks, such a theme as this, in its sacred utterances and dramatic situations, finds a better medium of presentation in poetry than in prose. The first stage or act of the inspired narrative, “The Holy Infancy,” being completed, Miss Mason passes on to the Ministry of Our Lord at its commencement and first teaching (Sermon on the Mount and earlier parables), and first miracles… The sequence of the work is marked no less by the skill of the author than by the reverent spirit in which it is composed. Echoes of George Herbert and of Isaac Williams are to be caught here and there in the various pieces, as, e.g., where paraphrasing a passage in the Sermon on the Mount, Miss Mason writes:—
“Nay, keep thy soul a garden of the Lord,
Where I may walk at eve,
Nor e’er perceive
The heavy odour of an unchaste thought.”
It would be difficult to express better the “atmosphere” of the new Paradise “regained” by Christ in place of that which was lost.—Bookseller.
The same careful, reverent handling of holy things characterises this new volume, which, like the former, is a paraphrase, in blank verse chiefly, of the Gospel narrative.—Guardian.
The handsomely presented volume is enriched with eight reproductions of old masters, and deserves to meet with wide popularity.—Yorkshire Observer.
The present volume, the second of the series, bears the subtitle “His Dominion,” and shows us Christ as “Lord of all.” It is a difficult theme to handle effectively, and Miss Mason must be congratulated on her treatment of it. Her work—mostly in blank verse, but here and there in rhymed stanzas—never gives one the feeling that the incident she has chosen for her subject is belittled, her poems being simple and reverent throughout, and frequently marked by the possession of considerable beauty.—Birmingham Post.