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Show Wallace IrbvtWj CleVer DijconJery J Wallace Irwin has discovered another Omar Khayyam, old Omar's boy, and Mr. Irwin has translated a rubaiyat that is almost as clever as tke old man's, and from the way it is being discussed dis-cussed across the tables, from "Sherry's" to "The Poodle Dog," it is destined to become a part of the up-to-the-limit literature of the day, and posteri- Ity will cry for it. According to the introduction, young Omar was not such a lush as his dad, but a thorough disciple disci-ple of the Tobacchanalian practices of a later day. He is a reformer, as these verses will indicate: 0 foozled Poetasters, fogged with wine Who to your Orgies bid the Muses Nine, Go bid them then, but leave to me the Tenth, Whose name is Nicotine, for she is Mine. What though Gorgona at the Portal knocks, And charms the squamiest Serpent in her Locks? 1 wear Tobacchanalian "Wreaths of Smoke, And there are more Perfectos in theBox. 0. Khayyam, Jr., was not a rake, but the harmless little practice of kissing receives a strenuous indorsement which will be read with approval by all ardent villagers. Mr. Khayyam evidently coquetted a great deal in his time, and it is only due to Mr. Irwin to say that he and Khayyam have a bond of sympathy, for he thoroughly thor-oughly understands the subject. For instance: Dumbly he saw the rosy-tinted Bliss, When Zamperina kissed her' Maiden Kiss, Her Innocence betraying in the Cry, "Oh, how can you respect me after This?" Another Time, all dalliant and slow, To those del Bcious Lips I bended low, And at the Second Kiss she only said, "Do you do This to Every Girl you Know?" Unto that flowery Cup I bent once more; Again she showed no seeming to abhor, But at the Third Kiss all she asked or wist Was, "Is This all you come to See me For?" Doesn't he know the ropes ? Haven't you heard her say those same things? These fancies that begin and end in smoke are mentioned two hundred hun-dred and fifty-eight times, according to the au- thor's compilation, and slip in sweetly between the wreaths of smoke. Some of the choicest worryings made possible by references to the ladies are as follows: Ah, Love, th' Invisible Buskin at the Gate Illumes your Eyes that languored gaze and wait, And in their Incandescence seem to ask The worldold Question: "Is my Hat on Straight?" So unto Venus' Oracle in turn I leaned the Secret of my Love to learn. The Answering Riddle came: "She loves you, yes, In just Proportion to the Sum you Earn." The Fair of Vanity has many a Booth To sell its Spangled Wares of Age and Youth; And there have I beheld the Worldlings buy Their Paris Gowns to clothe the Naked Truth. And true as Star and Star pursue their course Must Rupture crumb to Ashes of Remorse; How many a Marriage License that is writ Has proved a legal Permit to Divorce. Once in a Dream 'twas granted unto me The open Gates of Paradise to see, While Israfel loud chanted from the Void, "This Vision comes of Pie, not Piety." Murkly I muse on that transcendent State Where all my Pasts within tho Future wait, If I for Heavenly Marriages am marked, Oh, what a Turk I'd be beyond the Gate. This trancient son of Omar's had moved to Borneo when a youth, but even there he couldn't get away from gossip, as this will explain: So what of Secrets mouthed beneath the Rose, Rumorous Badinage of These and Those? The Lady Lodger in the Flat upstairs Knows all you do and say she knows she knows. The whole production is full of just such things, with cunning slang scintillating through every line. Gelett Burgess has made some of the pages pleasant with that good pen of his, and Elder & Shepard of San Francisco have been most artistic in putting it in shape. The description of the death of the poet alone is worth the price of admission. |