Mr. John Masefield has written another splendidly thrilling story in verse. In "Reynard the Fox" he. told us the story of a day's hunting. Im "Right Boyal" (Heinemann, 6s.) he tells us, with equal "go" and spirit, the story of a steeplechase. The fox is the hero of "Reynard the Fox," and the reader, who is a sportsman in the decent sense, sympathized with the quarry all the way through, and revolts against the mean trickery of the hunters. In "Right Royal" the hero is the horse.
Mr. Masefield retains all the details of the time-honoured horse-racing story that has been told so often. Right Royal is ridden by his owner, who has put his ''shirt'' on his mount. If he loses the race ko loses his all, including the woman whom he loves. The horse has a bad reputation. He is apt to sulk, He is a reputed coward, but his owner, Charles Cotthill, has dreamt that the horse came to him in his sleep and assured him of victory declare His horse's mind And I was made aware That, being a horse, his mind could only say Few things to me. He said. "It is my day, My day, to-day; I shall not have another, And it was on this horse's dream tip that Charles staked his fortune.
Masefield gives a map of the course which is certainly—sufiiciently hard, harder even than that of the Grand National at Aintree.
In "Reynard the Fox," Mr. Miasefield gives a delightful picture of the gathering of the hunt. He is a countryman and knows country types. But, though races are run in the country, racing types are definitely urban, and the description of the roads leading to the racecourse in Right Royal" are rather forced and unreal—the result of reading and not experience—obviously padding to make the poem long enough for a six-shilling book.
The poem becomes dramatic again when the horses are saddled and are cantering down to the starting post. Charles is horribly nervous, but again he seems to hear his horse's voice "My day to-day. O Master, 0 Master; None stall jump cleaner, none shall faster, Call till you kill me, for I'll obey Iv'g my day today, it's my day to.
day.""
As Charles passes the stand he looks round and secs the favourite following him His beautiful hips and splendid shoulders And power of stride moved all beholders Moved non-betters to try to bet On that favourite horse not beaten yet.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.