Mr. Gilbert Cannon has called his new volume of satirical
fables Windmills (Martin Seeker, 5s. net). The reference in the title is not to Don Quixote, but, as we gather from a quotation at the beginning, to A Tale of a Tub. Swift, in describing the " Aeolists," who worshipped the winds, mentions that they also believed in a devil—" a huge terrible monster, called Moulinavent, who, with four strong arms, waged eternal battle with all their divinities, dexterously turning to avoid their blows and repay them with interest." Mr. Cannan's four " fables " owe less to Swift, however, than to Samuel Butler, on whom, it will be remembered, he has just brought out a critical study. War, the " woman question," and poverty are the main objects of his satirical attacks. But we cannot help observing that Mn Cancan's moulins-d-vent are not such huge terrible monsters as he himself believes. They rotate with a slow and sometimes aimless dignity, and one can hear the machinery wheezing. The winds will probably continue to blow in spite of them.
Previous page
