, 1874-11-01

| diffo sive, stretching purposeless through l,2o
lines. Fanny's father unused his earnings
till be could '*set up in Hanover square !" AMI
his daughter fed. in dreams, on "socil splen
dor and SUCCESS" The goal attained. sorrov
and ruin AZ quickly overtake them. Miss Fan
ny'a linguistic attainments are thus catalogued:
She could speak French and Italian equally well
AZ Chinese. Portuguese or German, and.
What ia still mora suxnrisng, che could spell
Most Of our longest English words on hand;
And thought Of studying Modern Greek and Dantah-
While outuardiy the father " trod grandeur,
pinnacle Scandal hinted that cash was scarcs
with him, and credit altered" 70 roassu1e the
world, great party is given:
Some five hundred caFd9 Of iuYitstion
Babe beau znd bella in full costume appear.
There WIS q most magnificent variety,
All quite salect and Of ths first soaety,-
The arbi.era Of fashion snd genhuty,
In different grades Of spendor, from tho had
Down to the very toe of our nobility.
II the following verses outline the manners Of
the time, We rejoice over = great improvement
in the behavior Of the best society:
It would b.
A violation Of the 1ateat rules
To treat the with too much courtesy.
The gectlemen-
Lounge in graceful asttudee-are ssared
Upon, tue while, BY every fair ones eye,
And stare themselves In tu1n prepared
10 dart upon the trays, swiftly BY
Tue dex:erou- Simon bears them. and to take
Their share, At least, Of coffee, cream, and caks,
Is now to be tho ton.
IT'S now the rage
To deem song like bugle-notes in battle
signanose, that bids each tongues artillery rsst1e.
The next day, "payment is stopped" and
father and daughter sink into obsoursty through
several hundred lines. There is in Halleck's
poems no humor resulting from permanent con
trasts in human nature; all ia shifting aud
evsnescent as bubble.
More than twenty years ego, James Russell
Lowell gave our literature poems in an in
his subsequent popularity. The first "Bi9lo
Papers we're written during the Mexican War.
Their shrewd Yankee inaight exposes the cum
ming greed hidden beneath q ragged cloak Of
boasting. National weaknesses reveal them
selves in q most naive manner. It Is curious
that no dialect. however awkward. can degrade
dignity and nobility OF sentiment. The portraits
Of demagogues
Who impress on the poppylar mind
The comfort an wisdom o gotn' it blind,
yet answer to the life. The Honorable Preserved
Doe Gays:
The fust thing for sound polititians to larn is,
That truth, t.ror kindly IN al sorts o. harness,
Muss be KEEP in the 3bstract,-for apply it.
YOU'RE ept to hurt some folks interests BY ii.
Tn wil,tn' man should 60 tou4ble strong
Agin wrong in tho abstract; for that kind O nroug
Ii oilers unpopular. and never gets piticd.
Because it's crime no one ever committed
Through all these poems the sacred, Puritan
convictions aro enhanced by the racy, homeiy
idioin. There is tender, poetic mysticism, and
love OF Nature, blended With satire aud Yankee
sh.ewdness. in some OF the later comic poems.
We know how
Pleasure docs Enake us Yankees kind q winch
Ez though 'twuz su1nshiu' paid for by tho inch:
But yet We do contrive to worry thrr,
Fl Duty tells us thet the thing : TO du-
It is pleasant to hear the worlds beauty de-
scribed in common phrases, and TO feel that
wearers of coHhide boots are stirred by the
sweet revoalings OF tho poetry ensoullng nature
and life. We acknowledge the brotherhood be-
tween the former and the poet whose rhymes arc
perfect time and measured melody. The latter
is most valuable to binder Spirits, since,
as soon as aught awakens its proper feeling, the
'svirtuo has gone out" OF it, though there may
have been no word spoken:
Our sr.ipg Kits everyth In tune,
An gives oae leap from April into June:
Then all conaes crowdin' III, afore you think,
Young oak woods mist the side hill woods with pink;
The eat-lizd In the hylock- bush is loud
1ha orchards turn to heaps ., rosy cloud; M
Tie ced4rs blossom tn, though few fo1s know Il,
An look, all dpt in sunshine. like poet
The bobolnk
Climbs against the breeze With quiverin' wings,
Or. givin' away to |: in mock despair,
Runs down brook Of laughter thro' tho air.
Loveli's comic writings are calm, strong, and
healthy in sentiment, md profitable studies in
language. The worth OF words is revealed by
quaint spelling (siuce the Yankee diaiecs objects
to Overlapping its ideas).
John G. SAKE IS mora1lzcr, apt to see surface
suggestions and connections OF opposites; he is
moro satirical and facetions than humorous. His
pieces nearly all leave on our minds sense OF
effort. His longest poems must be ephemeral,
since, when passing customs are sati1ized, the
wit becomes less apparent as tho yeats 60 by.
Miss Mcbride was written in 1916. The re-
verses Of soap-boilef aud bis proud daughter
are related. As in & Fanny" there are hits at
fashionable frivolities, and ho1ne-thrust 1t our
most vulnerable national aHectation !:
OF Ill the notable things On esrth,
Tbs greatest one Is pride Of birth
Among our " fierce Democ1acie,"-
4 bridge across I hundred years,
Without prop to Save It from sneers,
Not even q couple Of rotten PeeES;
thing for laughter, 1outs, and tears,
Il American Altstocracy.
"Progress, poem OF 48G lines, Of which 4o0
have at various times boeu' quoted u full OF
felicitous language and facetious wit. SA1o
writes for amusement. and he amuses- HIS
ptace is unique, and there Ia none among our
wits to dispute II. Ihe lon9 poems fatigue:
pastime at which to assist. Excessive sharpness
wounds both object and specrator. Saxe metes
due measure to literary women,
Who wzt.s lyrics, needless Of tho seorrhin9 buns;
Dress up their sonnets, hut neglect THAR aons.
His classic pun is good:
He ciisd - loud a. loud could be,
In place where nobody rides 1t Ill.
Among the best satites are those LII " The Devil |
Of Names"
Who cheats by false axacea and duplicate faces,
And by hiding bad things under plausible phrases,
This Nquoz, dye see,
Il tha water OF death, though topeEs agree |
To think 1t, and drink it, AZ pure Eau ds Vie.
1.-The Cold Water Man and 1.-THE Br1efeBs |
Barrister" are the best samples OF punning and |
They are perfect in their kind
and manner.
For time, SAKE, Lowell, and Holmes, were
The only writer's Who wero At Ill successful in
comic poetry. Oliver Wendell Holmes is genial,
religious. thougnttutly sad when he is not jest
log: radia:ing hia hunor, Hpe, sunny, wa1m,
|ixe Indian sumnar. 10 II nsvax f1pPAaA and ]