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Show THE SALT LAKE TRTBUNE, SUNDAY MORNING. ,rr' fx . - r; n$Yv r v yr SEPTEMBER 5, 1920. n ! V- rtv VampetT.by dAnnunzio of AllHer Spiritual Strength, Her Decline Begun, When He Turned Her Devotion Into ; Phrases for a Book, the .Only Rival of Bernhardts Enters Into Her Final Stage of Poverty . $ i itft Zf,':- if V : Il'ich Vi Vii V N v- : ft'? i c - V We ? v Eleonora Duse. Here in This Pose of the Great Tragedienne Can Be Seen in Her Wistful, Brooding Pro file Indeed, in Her Whole Attitude the Profound Emotionalism Which Once Aroused, as It Was by the Poet dAnnunzio, Could Not Be Restrained by Any Effort of Will and Left Her at Last a Spiritual and Financial Bankrupt. Eleonora duses life of tragic love and artistic tri- umph Is entering upon Its saddest chapter. She who has drawn crowded houses of thrilled admirers on two hemispheres Is tow a poverty-stricke- prematurely-broke- n woman broken In body and broken in spirit Through unfortunste Investments and Inevitable war conditions her large fortune has been dissipated. One calamity after another has fallen upon her and now she is reduced to misery. She has been forced to apply for the small pension that Is believed to be due her as the widow of an officer, although long parted from her husband. Saddest of all In Duses own eyes Is the fact that she has been forced to abandon her great dream of recent years the creation of a home for traveling actresses, where they could escape some of the mis- eries and humiliations she experienced in youth, i Italy regards Duse as the greatest actress In the world. France considers her almost the equal of Bernhardt, The rest of the world is perhaps equally divided as to their talents. In her old age Sarah Bernhardt la enjoying a happy and prosperous Ufa. Dusa, who Is much younger, seems to have fallen Into ntter misery after many wonderful triumphs. What la the reason of .the tragic downfall of Eleonora Duse, her successive misfortunes, her broken spirit, her failure to rally In spite of all the opportunities that must still He within her grasp? Many who know and admire her say that the secret of her tragedy lies In her Intimate association with Oabrlele dAnnunzio, the brilliant decadent poet and playwright, who has lately disturbed Europe and defied his native Italy by his occupation of Flume. Thoae who remember well the lives of Dusa and dAnnnntio say that from the time she first became Infatuated with the poet she steadily lost her strength, her vitality and her hope of the future. It was as though a spiritual vampire had stolen away her forces. They say that the poet has had a similar infiuence on the many women with whom he baa been associated on all, perhaps, except the virllj and atatnesque Ida Rubinstein. A good many years ago when dAnnun-slo- , the author of The Triumph of Death, was at the height of hla literary fame, he met Eleonora Dubs, whose graceful but rather melancholy beauty had charmed thousands. She became completely fascinated with the wonderfully talented poet and playwright and utterly devoted to him For her be wrote his most brilliant plays, Including The Dead City" and "The Gloconda, two masterpieces of morbidity and strange tin tha( have never been quailed. D'Annunzio showed a great appreciation of one of Dusea chief beauties her bands. His Gloconda" was dedicated To Eleonora Dusa of the beautiful hands, and in the play the heroine allowed her hands to be crashed Into shapelessness as a suprema sacrifice to her lover. In bar aeries of dAnnunzio playa Dusa her fame, although their moron her bidity mutt have reacted-deepl- y already melancholy temperament. But for a time, undoubtedly, she lived In a kind of exotic Paradise with her gifted poet Than ha callously dealt ber a blow .hat hurt ber inexpressibly. He puhlislfd a new novel called Fuoco (Fire) i: wtlch fee mealed the story of btr early lira as - she bad told it to mm in moments of affectionate confidence. She had been thrown upon ber own resources as a child and had made her living as a strolling actress: During this period she suffered the cruelest hardships and degradations. All the story of these experiences, revealed to dAnnunzio In confidence, ha fmbliehed with the utmost fullness, even to the most Intimate details. To Eleonora Duse, who shrunk from publicity as no actress has ever dons, the shock was terribla. Ber health was shattered and her reason whs endangered for a time. Her spirit never entirely recovered from-thi- s blow, and although she enjoyed many new successes her strength gradually left her. On the other hand, dAnnunilo regarded the parting from Duaa as cilmly as any of the other vtclsettudes of his varied career. Soon afterward ha became devoted to a woman of an entirely different type the vigorous and plcturesie Russian dancer, Ida Rubinstein, who created the roles of the martyr St Sebastian and tbs Pisan-ell- a in his new plays. DAnnunslo, It is said, would have worn out Ida Rubluateln by hla exactions, by tyrannies, his caprices and his vamptrish behavior, but the was too atrong to succumb to hla influence.. She would not permit her will to be absorbed In hla. When his moods became oppressive to her, she dismissed him. They had in fact parted before the outbreak of the war when he returned to fight in Italy, where he was wounded. Then, touched by a heroism which she had perhaps not suspected In the exquisite poet, she hastened td Italy and nursed him. In the meantime Eleonora Duse was approaching the last act of her tragedy. War distress nearly put an end to theatrical enterprises. She was living In her beautiful villa upon a cypresa-woOdehill outside the Nomentmna Gate of Rome. This she Intended to turn Into a hostelry for travelling actresses, one of a chain which she hoped to establish throughout Italy. .Then one misfortune after another fell upon her, until she la now said to he prac- tically a pauper. What is there In the character of the dAnnunzio that causes such disastrous consequence to the mind, fortunes, health and happiness of women who experience hla fascinations? This msgazlne applied for arlentiflo enlightenment concerning dAnnunzios character to the distinguished psychologist and philosopher, Profeasor Charles Gray Shew, who holds the chair of philosophy In New York University. In reply Professor Shaw furnished this Interesting analysis of one who Is perhaps the strangest and most fascinating figure In Europe Once a lover of womanhood, dAnnunzio Is now a lover of land, and it is with a devouring passion that he regards hi new mistress. Once, twice. If the heart records his passions, ha has been In love; at last a supreme passion hat Invaded his weary breast As dAnnunzio loved Eleonora Duse, so he loves Italia Irredenta; andj just as Ida Rubinstein danced with naked feet in hU brain, so pirouettes hla haloved Flume. ' A glance at the strenge-looklnhead of the peet la sufficient for the physiognomist to observe how the artists soul-stuf- f has arranged Itself. Through the visible skull one can see the place of thought and beauty, tor bis brow la a temple of Bui the weakness of th mouth and chin fat. to suggest any mite of that eztrem. caergUm which of late has been the guiding gtLlus of the quondam and lovei Thoae sensuous , d to-da- g -- eyes are adapted to pleasant, entrancing scenes such as the poet beheld in the boudoir of hla haloved, hut there la no place behind those heavy eyelids for the strident, angular spectacles of war. It la true that there la something Satanic in the little heard which adorns the weak chin of th poet, hut in pises of horned tufts of hair on the brow one sees only the placidity of baldness. The I ears have been open to the munmur of urooka and womens voices, to the sighing of winds and note of bel canto, hut they aaem to betray so capacity tor th heraher muslo of shall and machine-gun- . Such might as was meted out to bis hands was meant tor the pen rather than the sword, for piano rather than the aviators automatic. But la spite of the restrictions which nature and hla own life had placed upon him. dAnnuazlo as poet has become the moat potent personality in the world t li'f f ? f - hi Jver'w a- & v ft 1 4 Vi 1 cf 4 t A 1,!"! ' t. U .e, -- ' . O 1 f. , ? S' mf i, u ? t I k.v'T to-da- Whan the psychologically minded consider the recent deeds of the decadent poet the? are forced to th conclusion that ?Jf V no substantial change hae coma about in the heart of the man who hed'usad hla Italy as a place of poetry, as a hank where he ran up the greet debt which expatriated him. From fllghta of fancy In veree he a took to In the end noee-dlve- a thin air. In place of the laurel leaf he donned his Closing hie ear to feminine applause, he opened it again to the claque of artillery. , - Unbalanced In his erotic emotions, he found hie poise et Alpine heights in the elr. 'The rhymes and plots whleb hla talents could control In th Word gave place to the larger story of Italian destiny. In all thla, however, there has been the' of assthetlo personality lather than the redemption of the heart, and ha who was a decadent In the days of Duse is still the decadent when th love of Italy is to b won. The deads which he performs are not those of soldier or statesman; they are the spectacular acts bf a man who plays hit Interesting game Upon a larger field of notion. The extravagances of poetry war but Introductory to this recent extravaganza of patriotism. In the future, perhapa, th excessive phase of patriotism may ha called, not Chauvinistic, but dAnnunclotic. The most obvious factor in the life of thla amiable monster what It known as decadence In art, a tpe of composition for which our own Edgar Allan. Poe was largely responsible, although there la quite a difference from Poe in the Bronx to dAnnnnzio in Flume. D'Annunzio has Gabriele been a double decadent; that la, he has combined the artistic decadence of Baude- dAnnuaiie, Who., laire and his morbidness with the antisocial decadence of Maurice Barret. Here - Vemy. he has retreated to the tangled depth of IrlBieg hla perverted nature; there be has set laflueace himself in opposition to society with Its Upoa laws. D'Annunzios aesthetic delight In the sorrows of the beautiful Eleonora, , ' Weaiea - la So wbosa most private confessions gave him fine stuff for a hook, was but an example Peculiar of th decadent motto, Be beautiful, but be sad. of .Perhaps ft wai the woman-sadnethla Italy which aroused, his love tor th land. To hla Satanlo sweetness toward woman dAnnunzio added the whim of abandoning poetry for th ask of manufacturing tome synthetic perfume of fragrance, tor It la a singular feet among decadent that th tans et small playa an extraordinary part In th mental- Ity and sensuality of th poet. To theae light playa with souls and perfumes ct cunw, by 'Empedocles, added what was probably a sincere rtt lmpr0TmtI1U of dealra tor annihilation, a 'homesickness Anumjo. His end was for the mighty Nothingness epeclal case of d'Annunslo brings t6 coma, so he thought, when, blown to d s queatlon concerning the ten thousand pieces, he was to launch him- - ' up dlffvanc between and the a respective annihilathe Into method of self Infinite, of Cherubim and Seraphim, of the merjta lS20,'lntnitloB! FmIut Sii rla tea. te) firt t)t t.tn Mirhl, 1 tall-epln- gas-mai- a ax-otl- d'An-nunzl- o long-moote- ImmI 1 l Very Interesting Studies by Olaf Gulbranason, in Which Pen the Gifted Cartoonist Has Caught the Exaggerated Emotionalism Which Made Duse hn, Easy Prey for dAn- nunzioa Wiles Threw rs A J(Tt i V. v , . 4: Ida Rubinstein a Profound Contrast to tlie Sorrowful Intro. pective Face of Duae Opposite. Though Treated as Badly by the Poet as the Great Rubinstein, Italian, Had Will Enough to Throw Aside His Influence and to Make Her Own Way. The Present Season in Paris Marks v Triumph. - Her-Greate- Sons of Mary and the Son of Martha, the Men of Word and Men of Deed. Th competition between Intellect end wijl, the true between the sensory and motor portions Sf the brain has been 'made a classic 'by Dos' Quixote and Hamlet, has been elaborated by Goethe and Vol- talre, has been pictured most tragically In tha novella of Flau- bert and Turgenieff. man of culture la unfit tor conquest, tha doer (or hla. part can never be , the thinker; such haa been the psychological indictment Has dAnnunzio brought to a head a question suggested by tha modest activities of intellectuals In tha peat? Haa he made necessary the revision of psychology so that tha future study of the mind shall see in the workings of tha brain the It a- et tlon between function of thinking and willing? 'Has Efficiency In education begun to cloaa the gap which stands betwaea Word and Deed, Thought arid Act? Thai are question Which, only the future can w gnawer. ' v Aa'far aa dAnnunslo is concerned, It must not be forgotten, that hla acta of war have been little more tbaa the deed of tha decadent plus. Hla patriotic speeches have a chance to-- ventilate hi sumptuous atyla in tha 'open. Hla flight over Vienna, where he dropped rhetorical pamphlets In place of bomba,' showed that he had not Indulged In what the Italian Call sacrlflzio dell'lntelleto. Ills deed of baring hit breast before General Pittaluga outside the gates of Flume la a typical act of this literary Pegasus In new harness. In hit brain, Italy la a mood such as a woman might suggest, while Flume la dance which cannot last forever. . ' |