The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1868-10-15
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Next Saturday = new volume, by Henry
Walssorsh I.0ngfsllow, viii be published
simultaneously in Boston, london and
Leipsic, an honor that could come TO bns
few living authors, bnt no one could better
deserve IL than be whom Nrs GDeleycs lla
t.tbe n6lsrn yirgil.sr Tie title pfthe voi-
nm il, 'sTfe NewsEHgtsu6 Tragedies. " Of
which there sre two, entitled John Endi-
colt, - And Giles Corsyy6f the Salem Farms. :
The scene Of the first Is laid in Boston, IN
Tho year 1865, and pictures the fate Of the
!, Quakers among the early Puriaane, than
which nothing could be more tragical. Inc
thsme Of the second tragedy is told in the
first few lines Of the prologue, which copy
from some advance sheets.
aDelusion, Of tho days that once have been
/ Witcheraft and wonders VI the world unseen,
Phantons Of air and necrcmantic arts
| That cru.hed the weak and nwcd the stoutest
hearts
These are theme tonight; and vaguely here,
| Through the dim mists that crowd the atuos-
fher6, AsS*ts
We draw the outlines Of weird figures cast,
| Ii shadow o. de back ground Of the past y
The prologue continues with a picture Of
| the town Of Salem, contrasting its present
| peaceful duiet~ with the terrible scenes Of
1904, and CLOSES With the following i've
| lines:
| "something Of this our scene tonight will show;
| And u Who li.ten 70 the Tale Of Woe,
Be not too swift in casting the first stone
Nor think New Englsad bears the guilt alone.
This sudden burnt Of wickedness and crime
Wss bat thA common madnces Of the time,
When in all lands that lie within the sound
OF Sabbath belIs, Witch vas burned or
drowned"
Both poems have soubre tone and COLI
oring, borrowed from the spirit Of the early
colonial times, that would be almost oppres-
sve bat for the admirable art displayed in
their construction, which hurries the reader
onward with unfagging power until the final
catastrophe il reached. The different char
actsrs, clothed in the simple but strong and
rugged spaech Of the period, stand out
strongly defined upon the background Of his
tory, which the poet has not once perverted.
The early history Of the colony of Massachu-
sets is reproduced faithfully, and with only
such deviation from actual records as is sug-
gested in the prologue TO John Endicott:
'Nor let tho Historian blame the Poet here,
II he perchancc misdate the day or year,
And group events together by his art
That in the Chronicles lie far apart;
For a. the double stars though sundcred far
Seem to the naked eye single star,
60 facts OF history At , distance seen
Into one common point Of Hight convene"
Both of the prologues, as the brief ex-
tracts have given show, are written in Mr.
Longfe)low's best vein, Astounding in those
felicitous smiles, seemingly spontaneous and
unsought for, which arc one OF the greatest
charms of his poetry. Here are six lines as
an illustration:
ITO night Ne strive to read as We may best
Il. IL
And bring to Light upon ths blotted page
The moufnful record Of earlier ago,
That, pale and half effaced, lies hidden AWAY
Beneath the fresher writing Of to-day =
Here is another from the FIRST tragedy:
"Truly No do bnt grope here in the dark
Near tho partition wall Of life and death,
At every moment dreading desiring
Ts lay our hands upon the unseen door !"
Here is an old story capitalized in three
lines, which forms one Of the bits of relief
to the prevailing sadness of the book. One
c the characters says:
!" feel ike Master Josselyn whom he found
I he hornest's nest, and thought it some strange
fruit,
Until the sceds came out and then he drorpcdi IT,
The story Of Giles Corey is the more touch
ing and powerful Of the Two, and the simple
narrative Of the sufTerings and death of this
poor persecuted farmer excites q sympathy
that ali the pomp and pail of royal tragedy
embalmed in English history has not the
power to awaken.
When Cotton Mather sees the body Of
Corey, crushed to death by heavy weights in
the Potter's field, he utters the following,
which closes the volume:
&c sight most horrible. In land like this,
Spanglsl with churches evangelical,
In oar sslvations, must We seek
In moldering ststute-books of English courts
Some old forgotten Law, to do such dseds!
Those who lie buried in the Potter's field
Win rise again a. surely ~ ourselves
That sleep in honored graves with spitaphs;
And this poor man, whom We have made victim,
Hereafter will be counted as . martyr!"
learn that these tragedies have been in |
type nine years, but cannot learn for what |
purpose their publication was SO long de- |
layad.