New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-11-24
EDITORIAL BOoR-.NOTES.

worsted in q succession of campaigns, recovered
their courage and retrieved the glory of their
arms, by placing bard at the head Of their
forces; or since the day, at least when he OF
the " Lion-heart," Richard of England, was
troubadour as we'll as commander, we can be-
think US of no man whom both Mars and the
MUSES. have favored so much as George P. Nor
ris. The laurel and the bay equally crown his
immortal forehead. &c Tam .Narti guam .Mer-
eurio,' he is at once brigadier- general of the
New York State Militia, and the chief songster
other poetical city Certainly, the armies which
he conducts are but the militia of either valor
or of verse but what then In this gallant and
learned age, we have heroes who never fought
and poets who can't spell. In short, Gen. Nor
ris must be looked upon as having arrived near
the topmost summit of all human fame One
last promotion is all that he needs to place him
there that he should be elected to the Assem-
bly, or to the Common Council of his city, and
thus join the civic garland of oak to the double
wreath which he already wears.
1t is, however, with the poetic, not the mar
tial exploits of Gen. Morris that we have at
present to deal. His poems are of the sort call
ed (not appropriately ''fugitve;" and SO
would probably be his exploits, if he ever took
the field.
Gen. Morris has undou btedly carried to its
last perfection that art which the present Age
so much encourages: the art of putting into
shallow tinkle of slip-slop rhyme all the veriest
commonplsces of thought and all the weakest
namby -pambyisms of feeling. To divest verse
of all meaning, and of everything but as much
jingle as might distinguish it from prose was all
that was necessary to enable every body to
write poetry. The great impedimeut to a gem
eral inspiration was the imaginary requisite of
ideass Gen. Morris has shown how completely
and how pleasingly they may be dispensed with
and in thus making poetry accessible to the
reading and writing of all, he has certainly
brought about for it an Universal Empire
Liking not, however, to say anything of either
authors or politicians which we do not proceed
to make good, we will exhibit few samples of
the sort OF poetry which is characteristic of Mr..
Morris. Perhaps we could select better things;
we certainly could select much worse so that
the following " Croton Ode" is at least up to
the general level of his productions
WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF THE CORPORATION
ofrY OF NEW YORK, On the INAuGuRATioS
TON WATER WORKS.
Gushing from this living fountain,
Music potirs falling strain,
As the goddess of the mountain
Comes with all her sparkling train
From her grotto-springs Advancing
Gfttsring 10 her feetheIy spray,
Woodland Jays beside her dancing,
She pursues her winding way.
Gently on the ripping waters
In her coral shsllop bright,
Glides the rock-kipgs doye-eyed daughter
Decked In robes OF virgin white,
Nymphs aud ads sweety smiling,
Urge her bark with peariy hand,
Merry the syiph beguillng
From the hooks OF fairy-land
III.
Swimming the snsw-curled biow,
See the spirits lair
Lay their cheeks, pillow,
With the beads in their hair.
Thus attended, hither vending,
Floats The lovely Dread now,
Eden's arch OF promise bending,
Over her translucent brow
Hail the wanderer from far land
Bind her flowing tresses up,
Grown her with iadeless garland
And with crystal brim the cup;
From her naunts Of deep seclusion,
Let lntemperance greet her too
And the heat OF his delusion
sprinkle with this mountan-de
Water leaps as II delighted
While her conquered foes retire
Pale Contagion flies affrghted
With the bafied demon Fire
Safety dwells in her dominops
Health and Beauty with her move
And entwne their c,rcing pinions
In sisterhood of love.
Water shouts glad bosanna
Bubbles up the earth to bless
Cheers it like the precious mama
In the barren wilderness.
Hence we wondering gaze assembled
Lake the grateful Hebrew band
Where the hidden fountain trembled,
Ana opeyed the prophets wand.
VII
Round the aequeducts of story
As the msts OF Lethe throng
Crotons waves in all their glory
Troop In melody along.
Ever sparkling bright, and single,
Win this rock-rbbed stream appear
When posterity shall mngle
Like the gathered waters here.
Now, the swelling nothipgness of all this, the
pomp of eommonplaees, is not to be exceeded
Yet this is, we assure our readers, rather Gen
Morris's better vein. We might easily, to place
our assertions beyond dispute, cite other pieces
but it would be at the hazard of wearying Just
as much as we convinced
We will, then, turn to some general remarks
on this sort of poetry, and the fortune which it
occasionally is seen, for time, to make.
In the earlier condition of Letters, there are
few poets and much poetry but hy-and-by
period arrives when the poets are many, the
poetry little Gen. Morris belongs eminently to
this second epoch. He could never have become
poet, except out of the irresistible force of the
iaet' that in his day, all were poets Now, this
oelng the Ingenious state of things actually ex-
listing, 1t were doubtless well that it should, if
possible, be explained.
For our own exploitation of it, we shall ascend
to Homer; and that, for no better reason than
because, inasmuch as he wrote better nos,ry
than any body else, he probably knew more
about il than all others.
Now, the aforesaid Moeonidas AYERS that IN
his time, there was language of the gods. not (
to be understood by men, until interpreted to
them by those favorites of the gods, the poets.
But it is evident that this language has subse.
quently been lost; and hence the poets, having
No longer any thing to interpret, give us what
is by no means divine.
Such is the "truth severe in fairy fiction