The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-12-07
Is en- Original American literature Pos.
sibility!

Is en- Original American literature Pos.
sibility:
It has been complaint frequently urged
AGAINST American literature by English writers,
and concurred in to o great extent BY such OF
our own critics as have treated the subject, that
!, is devoid of originality and without any dis
tinctiye character of its OWL. They reproach
our poets with being merely more or less sue
cessful i,itators of their English brethren,-
our novelis;s with the reproduction of English
novels, under amsy garb of American man
ner and locale, and in every department of lite
ratYre they tell us that only faint and confused
,cao of English thought, like the mysterious
whispers of the ancient sacred groves, is borne
back across the Atlantic to English ears. 1t Is
difficult 6. first sight to perceive what it IS
that these oensors desire; and if it were not
that the assertion is made matter OF re-
proach, and that, on the strength of it, we are
twitted With want Of individuality, and con-
temptuously asked whether the world is never
to have an original American literature, we
might admit the charge. But one of the Eng
lish listerateurs, abandoning indefinite generali'
ties, has condescended to inform US what is
meant by the accusation. And the spell that
works this result is diffused from tho pages Of
certain WALT WHITMAN, creature who
"locates" himself somewhere in New England,
and who has published a volume entitled
"Leayes of Grass" whereby, in the eyes Of the
English critic-himself no mean poet-he has
wiped away the reproach Of his people, and
opened the path 10 that originality and distinc'
tiveness" which, until his appeara' oo' Ameri'
can literature so sadly lacked.
Few of cur readers, We imagine, have seen
this book, and we do not advise them to seek
it. The spirit of Mr.. SwlNsuRSE clothed In
metre resembling more in its uncOuth, unmelo-
dious grotesqueness the wonderful productions
of Mr.. UPPER than any other professedly
sane publication, may be American original
ity, bu: it is certainly neither common de.
cency nor common sense a "poem" in
which, according to the eulogy of the critic
in the Broadway" the animal propensiiies
of the body are discussed and described with
elaborate notice of the functions of each par
ticular member, may be o valuable ccntribu-
tion to practical physiology, but its claim to q
place in lady's bOudOr, or in the bellies lsttrss
compartment OF gentleman's library, may well
be questioned.
TIE nature Of the subject forbids Illustrative
quotations. If it bo originality 10 clotAs the
grosscst ard most repulsive sensuality in words
which run to the rhythm of no known metricnl
system,-if TO be "oharacteristic and distinc-
tive'' we must discard the old alliterative rule
of "rhyme and reason" and evolve poetical
literature out Of worse than Lesbian filth,
and more than Babclian confusion Of words and
ideas, we think the American people would gladly
defer their day Of literary regeneration as
long as may be.
Meantime, to meet the critics objections to
our literature as it stands, we would ask the
question, Is an original American literature,
rightly considered, possibility? To discuss
this question fully, would lead US far beyond
our limits But we think the conclusion, to
any thoughtful mind, must be thst it is not.
In all that relates to TIE development of mind,
all that creates literature, the two nations
ore identical. The line of Horace, "Celum non
onunuE 7ratan., qui trans mare currnnt," applies
with peculiar force to the present instance
O,, ahetr,cf
tions, our habits and phases Of thought, are
not local, but inherited The individuality of
the Anglo-Saxon mind is marked and tena-
cious. Indeed, there arc facts which go to
prove that the law Of development in England
end America is essentially the same, and that
the effect of colonial transplanting has been
rather to hasten the growth Of that inevitable
modification Of law and customs which charac-
terize all human institutions than 20 produce
il or vary its nature In every sphere OF
thought this is apparent: The Reform move
ment which is now agitating England, is only
the renux Of wave which has had its rising
here; and i is remarkable fact that the in
stances ere neither few nor far between where
statutory notifications of that great inheri-
tauce Of tho race, the Common Law of Eng
land, lave been adopted there lcng after their
establishment On this sidc the Atlantic. The
subject, as we have said, needs a more ex.
Lausti7e discussion lhsn we can here afford il;
bit 1t would be strange if The principle at
which we have hia'ed should fe! Of its effect
In general literature, whel is operation has
0een SO apparent in the kindred sciences CT
po'''lcs and Jurisprudence. Meanwhile, dvclin.
lng the honor CT holding Mr. WALT WulrxAs as
our Representative poet, we woali say to the
critics who congratulate US upon suck aa acaui-
aiti0u what ALFRED TzSsYsoS replied to tie