Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1860-07-20
s'He that writes,

.r- PORE.
AS the person who wrote the critique
over the signature of "Phyl," in your last
issue, is not exactly satisfied with the arti-
Gle entitled "Poets and their influence, -
his principal difference being "with res
pect to the origin and source of all poetry, :"
I will therefore endeavor to give him my
idea of the somewhat indefinite terms,
=" Poet" as well as ''Poetry. In my
opinion
ss'Tis not the chino and flow of words, that move
In measur'd file, and metrical array
'Tis not the union of returning sounds,
Nor all the pleasing artifce of rhyme
And quantity. and accent that can give
This all-perVadng spirit to the car,
Or blend it with the movngs of the soui
'Tis not the noisy babbler, Tlo displays,
In studied phrase, and ornate epithet,
And rounded period, poor and vapid thoughts,
Which peep from out the cumbrons ornaments
That overload their lttleness,
which makes the Poet. The greatest
poet is the man who most roundly, clearly,
easily, and strikingly reflects, represents,
and reproduces in an imaginative form,
his own sight or observation, his own heart
or feeling, his own history or experience,
his own memory, knowledge, or magma
ton. The poet is more mirror than a
maker; and written poetry is just the say
ing Amen, with full heart and clear
voice, to the varied symphonies of nature,
as they echo through the vaulted and sol
emn aisles of the poets own soul.
In my friend PhyIs anxiety to literalize
all fguratiye language, he takes exceptions
to the term, g unwritten Poetry" and pro-
nounces it an anomaly" subjecting terms
and figures of speech to the same rigid
scrutiny he would witness in a suit at
law. By the same rule where the Psalm
ist says, " Let the floods clap their hands, :"
he would in astonishment enquire, where
are the hands p Or again-"The morn
ing stars sang together" f" ''where are the
voices?" Now / am not disposed to dis
cuss the superior morit of this, or that
term, ..r 3. ...-.- Vs.. .--.- ..-
Es Or which deserves the laure els rhyme or blank;
Which holds on Helicon the highest rank
But I am disposed to still insist upon the
idea-though it cannot be proved by any
mathematical rule-that-
" The world is full of poetry. The air
Is living with its spirit and the waves
Dance to the music of its melodies,
And sparkle in its brightness. Earth is vei1'd, @
And mantled with its beauty +; and the walls
That close the univerc with crystal inn,
Are eloquent with voices, that proclaim
The unseen glories eff mmensity
In harmonies, too perfect, and too high,
or aught but beings of celestial mould,
And speak to man in one eternal hymn,
Unfading beauty, and unyielding power" -
My friend Phyl asserts that Poetry
consists of thoughts and IDEAS" and as the
phenomena of nature do not consist of, nor
contain ideas; he argues therefore that
there can be no poetry in the elements, 'the
showers, the thunder, the lightnings, &c.
| must acknowledge | should have been
very much inclined to the belief that he
was writing for 'buncome " or for the
fun of the thing had he not taken the
precaution of expressly stating to the con-
trary. He also demurs to my statement
"that the productions of Poets, as class
have been more galutary in forming the
character of man kind, than the produc-
tions of any other class of literary men.
The assertion" he says, ''needs still
greater qualification before it can be receiv-
ed, | will now qualify it, by excepting
" holy wit, . or including among the Poets,
the sacred writers, then I think we shall
not differ on that point. He informs us
also that he is not an old fogy, and then
sets up g Horace as the ua6un a,auag Of
Poetic literature, forgetting Dryden, Pope,
and Milton, and
g Sweetest Shakespeare fancy's child. n eET
Narbling his native wood-notes Wild
- Ihaye ever endeavored to make it rule to
g Read each work of wit I1ea G.
With the same spirit that its author writ :;
Survey the whole, seek slight faults te find.
Where nature moves, and rapture charms the mind. "
ia The Artesian well at Columbus,
Ohio, has already reached the unpreceden,
ted depth Of 2,400 feet, or nearly half 9
Inile. sfro1 sas
1t is the deepest well in the world, but
as yet discharges no water, nor exhibit:
any signs Of it.
DuBUeuE, Iowa, July, 5.-There is foul