New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-01-08
secret q Literary spsccss.


A correspondent of the Nashville Banner, alf1SiDg
to the literary success Of George D. Prentice, ye-
marks:
Nj. Prentice talks little and reads much He thinks
much He reads bot . few lines without stopping 70
write word or 30 On piece Of paper, and puttDg j.
IN his hat. saw hin, while reading paper stop
in bis pocket. goeas i was .1shais of VIZ that
struck, and opine bin vii b born Of his reading.
To read Buch and carefully, remarks the New
York Journal Of Cospmerce, and TO "inwardly d.
ges is no doubt the rule Of great part Of our most
eminent statesmen and soholau and the true secret
Of their success The practice, too, OF making memo
randa of casual flashes Of thoughts or new ideas as
they occur, laying them upon the shelf for futase
use is an excellent one, and is always conducive to
literary success. Ever available these ideas may he
mustered into service occasion requires and -
living germs, they need only fertile brain and pro-
per mental culture to produce The most abundant
harvests. As iron sharpeneth iron, in like manner
much reading, which is the atrition Of thought with
thought, sharpeneth the intellect Truly, mans wit
and wisdom are "born Of his reading"
We wish we were rich, like some men We wot Of,
who know nothing Of the substantial enjoyments Of
ie although possessed Of Millions 70 that We might
place beyond the reach Of possible want few noble,
grand, sublime, but poverty ystricken genuses Then,
we would like to have our own way with George D.
Prentice-the finest wit and snblimest poet Of the
age. We would talk To him somewhat in this wise
Yourself and family shall be placed in an1uence and
shall be continued in afiuence as long you they
live the simple. but express condition, that you
secude yourself for twelve months fix your mind on
some glorious theme, and comply with the impas-
stoned request Of the Rev. T. Hampstead, himself
magnificent poet, which reads thus:
Sing us one more great song,
With q flow and fire sublime,
To roll like whirlwind's voice along
The h0ary crags of time;
Forego little while, &
s. The herd OF common men,
The blade Of wit, the war with Guile,
The strife Of word and pen
Sing as one more great song,
Son Of the l1ty Tyre!
With its storm Of music grand and strong
As the clouds down.rushing ire;
A song to awe and thrill
A song for the listening world.
To live when the praise Of kings is still,
And thrones to the dust are hurled.
From the din of men retire,
To the silence Of thy SOUL
Till its hidden light and garnered fire
Around thee Cash and roll;
Then seize those burning forms,
And pour them through thy lay,
Till its echoes rush like the tramp Of storms
S Down the wales Of time away;
One song, high, solemn, deep 4
The gift, O bard, is thine,
Let the roar of waves through its numbers
Aa sweep,
And the Sun gods armor shine
Sing the eternal Years,
Sing of young love and faith,
OF human agonies and fears
Stronger than chains or death;
Sing of that ghastly Power q
Before whom nations bow,
Sing how the final shadows lower
Round the dying mothers brow
Tell how the phantoms swim "a
Through the chambers where men lie
1 Whilst eye to the eye Of friend grows dim
| g. And ours shall not be dry;
| Sing Of the young lighthearted,
4. The lovely and early lost,
l Green paths by deserts parted,
By rocks and whirlwinds crossed;
4 Alay to shake our souls, S
/ 70 make thhnf sufse and beat
1 ss With the passion within ike the tide tina
i s.7-.+,s 5s.,4l l.s rolls
Through the heart of crowded street
i More would we hear thee tell Il
| In that same matchless strain,
| OF the sounds that swell, the founts tha
| well
1 Within that dim domain
That realm where only eyes
4 Amounted, go to trace
The woes, the joys the ecstacies,
4 The glory Of the place. 4r