VIEWS AND REVIEWS
(THIS department of notes of books and various kinds of publications pertaining to the Jewish people will hereafter appear as a regular feature of THE MACCABEAN. In order to stimulate interest in Jewish literature we shall be glad to answer inquiries with regard to Jewish books and periodicals, and will be pleased to publish short letters referring to such literary subjects as will herein be discussed. Readers of this magazine will be able to secure from THE MACCABEAN at reasonable and often reduced rates all publications that are referred to in these columns.)
THE LOST "CHILD OF HALF-ASIA."
Wie published in our last issue a poetic tribute to the memory of Naphtali Herz Imber, entitled, “The Poet’s Spirit,” and written by a non-Jew, as was made clear by the name of the writer, Joseph Fitzpatrick. True to the subject of the poem, it contained some beautiful lines and was characterized by a strong Iyric vein. The picturesque personality in the striking career of Imber elicited a number of tributes from non-Jews, and among those there was also an excellent poem “To Naphtali Herz Imber,” writter by John S. McGroarty, in a Western pubication, called the West Coast Magazine. I quote the closing lines:
"Where Ghettos cower or wealth sits high, The Song I made will be sped, While we shall be sleeping, my dreams and I—
A pillow of dust for my head.
"And never was bed well bought as ours,Where we will rest and be still,Till Zion shall rise with gleaming towersAgain on the Holy Hill."
Of the articles on Imber written by Jews at the time of his passing there were many important contributions by writers for the Jewish press of this country as well as abroad. Of the articles which appeared on the other side of the Atlantic the most eloquent utterance was that which was written by Israel Zangwill for the Jewish Chronicle of London. This obituary notice had much of the characteristic fire and eloquence of the noted Jewish-English author. This might have been expected for it was after all Mr. Zangwill who had caught the true spirit of the wandering minstrel, the author of the “Hatikvah.” and his pictures of Mel- kizedek Pinchas in “The Children of the Ghetto” willlive long as the .. portrait of this remarkable character in Jewry. For this portrait and for the other interesting characters and descriptions of the book as well as for its fine humor and artistic literary style, this volume must remain a favorite book among Jewish readers. Besides the description of the character of which Imber was the original, the book has other descriptions that are of special interest to Zionists. Speaking of English Jewish literature which is of especial interest to our readers, one is reminded of another volume of Mr. Zangwill, namely “The Ghetto Comedies,” which among other interesting tales contains his Zionist story, “The Jewish Trinity.”
As to our lamented Imber, he was not only written about extensively by others, but he also wrote extensively about himself. It is known that his autobiography was accepted and revised for publication by the Jewish Publication Society of America several years ago and the book was to appear under the title of "A Child of Half-Asia," and the knowledge that