Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-07-07
gasirs' 9tpartmtnt.
For the Spirit Of the Age.
POETRY AND THE POETS.
I. r..

the Olympic Thundcrcr, and awoke with
their notes divine the spirit Of song that
dwelt amoug the sons Of men which IN
its time SAM the praises of its God, and
woye the deeds of the brave into garlands
with which TO deck their tombs.
The technical. definition Of Poetry is
DNfetrical composition y but I cannot re-
ceiyc this as all the meaning of the word.
There are words, the meaning of which
can only be understood by the influence
they have upon the feelings; and this Is
one Of them. This word-Poetry--is com
yrehensivc: embraces much. ia a Poet,
We arc wont to imagine q nature finely
wrought; a nature which does not view
things in the calm, unimpassioned manner
in which the most Of mankind view them,
and whose noIicst feelings and most secret
thoughts are all spread out upon a scroll,
upon which the eye Of the curious may
rest Poetry is indeed the flow of feeling
of n highly strung, sensitive being, clothed
in words Of beauty, uttered in strains nn-
sical apd harmonious. }
The mind, or rather the feelings, OF n
Poet, serve as KALEIDOSCOPE through which
the objects Of nature, how ever shifted, arc
always presented TO him in new and beau
tifnl phases, which continually elicit from
him fresh bursts Of admiration and Joy
Viewing things, and feeling as the poet
does, the cold, common p~arlancc Of every
day life CRATES harshly upon his sensibill-
ties, tuned to the harmony of natures
sveetcSt notes.
It is from this peculiar view Of the poets
nature, that we are led to believe in the
inspiration of his songs. | do not mean
such an inspiration as awoke the energies
of the teachers of Israel nor do | accept
the fancifnl idea Of the ancient world, that
there were goldcsscs whose peculiar pro-
vince il was TO assist in the songs of their
bards; Int, that Unborn, mate principle,
or rather divinity, which prompts the mind
and guides the hand in the construction OF
the beautiful and useful. | must believe
that genius is mate that the divine attri-
butte Of poetry. is born with the birth OF
man. The wild eloquence Of the Indian,
is A. different from the schoolman as night
is from day yet, which is the more effec,
tive! and what is the difference? The one
Is the c~yerfowings OF a soul stirred by The
power Of Unborn ~eloqucnce; the other
studied observance of rules and a finished
a%rtistical Grafton. The latter may be per
feet in its construction, but it can neve
reach the heart. When men listened t
Cicero, they said, GLOW beautifully h
speaks" but when Demosthenes spok,
they said, "Iet MS fight Phillip So
poetry. Take the labored production
some one who has spent much time in ii
construction Of a poem; the measure
perfect, slI the words arc chastc, and IL
subicct may be fruitful but after all the
il n stiffness in it that renders it far fro
- A.~
ture Of knowledgc-of rule, alone. The
is no soul III 1t.
| 10 not mean to say that the rules
art arc useless. The diamond, rough Al
unpdlishcd, or the gold in the mine, a
apt illustrations Of my meaning. Thou,
rough, clouded or hidden in the rock, tn
still are precious but it requires the ha
of arl 10 make known their greatest be'
ties and highest value. But can art, w
all her boosted powers, create one of t
smallest Of diamonds, or Of all the dust
the earth form one grain of gold? A
can size, by the greatest stretch of her pc
cr, take the sensual, groyeling mind &
elevate it into a worshiper of the beautit
True art of any character, is but the des
less energies Of NJ immortal spirit.
Deprive the sculptor or the Painter
his ideal of loyeliness, of his passion
creation, and give him simply a code
rules by which all his works are to be Q
erucd, and when will we ever have ane
err greek slave, or the eye rest with plC
ure upon the eloquent creations of anot
Raphael. Deprive the Poet ofhis insp
ton, and when will he ever sing anot
"Grand Tie Deum," and when shall we b
another Illiad, Eneiad or Paradise Lost
Poetry is sometimes regarded as
sickly sentimentalism of school-boys
lovers, and the Poet considered to b
useless piece in the complex machine
society. 1t is often the case that wha,
call poetry, is nothing more than trs
yet even in the fugitive pieces that we
scattered abroad through the newspar
written by some one - fame unknown
find rich gems. But in poetry indeed, Il
IS none OF the spirit OF sentimentalism.
watch the moods of David, and say VIII
er those songs of his were written when
soul was quiet or sick with a diseased ia
and gather all the sublimities of Ho,
Milton, Byron, and all tho host of pC
and witness there the power that ST.
the rock out of which gushed the It'd
musical waters.
And why should the Poet be counte
useless 1t is true, that he tolls not as
mechanic or the farmer; he goes not
enid the pomp and glorious circumst
Of war;" nor does he appear upon the
arena of Politics but is man all sen
that he must enjoy none of the hi
pleasures of life? Is he forever to S
ior the attainment of power, wealth,
and the adornment of the body, and !
st down within the portals of the tie
of the muses. and feast his soul upon
rich notes that ever float though the
chambers within? No! Man was
for better things-for a higher desti
than forever 70 crawl among the SEN
ties of earth. Deprived Of nourishr
the soul must droop and all its capab
Of enjoyment die. ! envy not the man
can End 20 pleasure in the peru:
"thoughts that speak and words that b
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