Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1855-11-15


messenger. Listen to Goethe, as hi
poetic soulsstruck of this mortal coil,
and plumed itself for its upward fight
He opened his eyes to the near drawing
ct eternity's morn, and whispered "Le
the light enter" How fraught witt
eloquent meaning the dying words O.
the atheist and tyrant, "O!I shall no
scholly del" Conceive. if you can, Of
aught more poetically eloquent than the
whispers of the dying Keats. 81 am
gone; the cold is not heavy; I feel The
daisies grosOing over me-" The spirit
of Webster fingered on angel wings to
whisper through clay lips his proudest
eloquence-a volume to his memory
in three words: 81 STILL LIVE"
"How well he fell asleepl
Like some proud river wid ming to the sea,
Camly, gradually, silently and deep,
LifejOined eternity"
HIS monument is his deeds:
''Nothingc cover his high fame but Heaven;
No pyramid set off his memory
But the eternal substance of his greatness"
There is eloquence in the glowing
imagery and bold ideal of the poet He
holds power to sway the passions, than
which no greater exists. He is no COM
mon man. and possesses no common
power, whose soul is attended in happy
harmony with all the music and beauty
of nature. To the poet,
The meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
And why should he not be eloquent?
He bathes his heart in beauty, lifts his
eyes to the golden light of heaven, and
drinks in the spirit of the universe; wan
ders at eve by fairy stream and fountain,
"When he sees naught but beauty
Where he hears the voice of that Almighty
In every breeze that blows and wave that muir
murs;"
then retires, with all the eloquence of
nature in his soul breathing conceptions,
within the secret chambers of his own
soul, communes with them there till
they take shape and order; then, giving
flow TO thought, an irresistible current
of beautiful conceptions and golden
thought carries us on, most willing cap
tives, to the realms of the bright ideal.
True poetry exercises power most po-
tent in swaying the passions, enlarging
and beautifying the ideal; thus fulfilling
the great mission of eloquenoe. Com
pare Milton and Moore; while Miltonic
verse is all that is noble, beautiful and
sublime, that of Moore, though droop
ing and languishing under load of
beauty, insults the understanding and
mocks the heart by attempting to please
every sense at the same time; it ener-
Yates imagination, seduces taste and
vitiates morality. We are forced to the
conclusion, while reading some of his
and much of other poetry Of the present
day, that the socalled poet, as well as
the lover,
"May bestride the gosamer
That wantons in the idle summer air,
And yet not fall, SO very light is vanity"
There is eloquence in silent thought;
when awakened genius retires within
the secret chambers of the soul, and
communes with reason and with desti-
ny. Look into the dark cave of an
eient time; see the orator of that age,
who afterwards made the whole world
roll in the grandeur of his eloquence,
with head and face half shaven, wrap
ped in the silent solitariness of that SUP
teranean cavern, dedicated to silent
thought; deep, imperturbable thought,
earth-penetrating, heaven-scaling tho't.
He came forth knocking at the gates of
Rome, appeared before the world and
made earth vocal with the long sup
pressed, but now bursting eloquence of
silent thought.
Thisis enough; this has eternized the
echo of earth's voices which have
chanted SO long and loudly his lauda-
tons. In later day this has distin-
guished the noble Kossuth from most
mankind.
There is eloquence, too, in music;
touching. tender eloquence. The love
of music is the noblest passion mankind
is heir to; its undisputed supremacy has
been acknowledged since the morning
stars sang together at the jubilee of new
born worlds, and will be acknowledged
till the people of the nations of the
whole earth, in choir which no man can
number, shall join angelic hosts and all
raise their swelling chorus, making
Heavens arches ring with the glad hal
lelujahs of their jubilant anthems
Musicl 'twould almost recreate life
among dry bones, clothe with beauty
and make dance again. When softer
strains of richer, melting melody fall
softly on the listening ear, it fills the
soul with rapturous delight and sends a
thrill of ecstacy through every joy.
stood on the shore of the ocean; the
waves ran high with rage, dashing
wildly and fearfully against rough rug
ged rocks; fierce lightning stabbed the
murky sky, and outspoke the muttering
believing thunder; an earthquake shook
the world, and awoke the music Of its
groan; while "wind, that grand old
harper, smote his thunder-harp Of
pines;" silent stood, as these powers
joined and "unconquerable. unreposed,
untired. on rolled the wild, profound,
eternal bass in natures anthem" ]
listened, and my leaping heart exclaim-