Pièce 95 - Letter from John Jay Chapman to R. C. Trevelyan

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Barrytown N. Y. - Has just finished reading the "Bride of Dionysus"; thinks it 'must have been good as an opera... as it is all extremely effective from the stage point of view' [it had in fact not yet been put on stage]. Finds the 'verse forms are peculiar to read', but thinks they would work well in performance, while the language is vital and fitting, sometimes beautiful. Discusses what he sees as a lack of 'unity' in the drama, but does not think this would matter on stage, and that the sudden appearance of Dionysus echoes the 'artificial solutions in Greek Tragedies' and the "Book of Job". Thinks the 'reminiscence of Browning''s "Mesmerism" which he perceives in the incantation a 'very good idea'; the evocation of the Homeric hymns and Ovid is also 'delightful'; expects there are many other references but his 'classical scholarship is nil'. Congratulates Trevelyan 'heartily'. Adds a long postscript clarifying his point about the lack of unity.