The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-11-27
These birds thev would build In her hair
But not ono ord bnllls IN hrr heart.

ButnOt one bird builds In her heart.
she has = thousand birds; vet she
Would give y thUu-nud chccriully,
Al bnlnt plum ami lpul II tongue,
Tor one small Gnitcrcd 6iri to come
An ST inn her heart, though dumb
She has thousand plrdsj yet one
She signs sometimes She loose away,
Aud get she does not weep or say
She has thousand birds The skies
4 yery queen queen OF hiry and
WIN az rth's iruitages at command
She sits upon the waters BRINK
A. mournful sould you can think.
She has thousand birds and yet
shc VII look dgwn~ard, nor iyrset
The nuttered white Winged iurt dove,
The changeiui thrOated birding. Love,
Then new for aye across the seas
The waters kiss her feet above
Her heaa the trees ore bOssOnlng,
hnd fragrant with eternal SPRING
Her brls, her antelope are there
Her birds they would build In her hair
she only wsit, her 9ir , Gnt H. ho Main
lmpOring Love to come again
so the poem ends. why Morgan fed, why
vasques pursued, why Ina pined. you are not
told ; and II you ask, the author will "pertly"
answer that his task is ITO rhyme, nor give
the reason why" OF this fight and pursuit,
which are all that can in any way and by any
stretch Of courtesy he called plot, you get no
edge Of their cause. II YOU try to guess at
the relation Of his personages, he gives YOU
no aid. but on the contrary, does the most he
can to render you uncertain aud your cOnjec-
lures vague. 1t Is bis business to rhyme, not to
reason.
This author does more than promise "transl-
tory flashes and meteoric powers" he EXHIBITS
both. In bis first work he gave pledges that he
might become real, even a great poet. That he
has disappointed SO many expectations stu
seems To have been his own fault. He appears
to have failed Of great excellence through
lack Of sincerity, industry, and an innexiole
purpose. Tie is therefore so much the
more to be censuied. 1t would be unjust to
blame man for not exceeding his powers. He
who TRIES with them, and with those whose
good opinion he courts can hardly he too
severely condemned. To satisfy the necessities
Of his rhyme, Mr.. Miller often resorts to the
readiest makeshifts, without reference to any
consistent meaning, occasionally using for this
purpose some familiar collection Of words that
Is utterly inapt, a., for instance, at the end OF
the following stanza;
O dark. eyed Inal All The years
Brought ner bur solitude aud tears.
10. ever IOUhing out. she stood
AdOW II the wave. adOwn tue wood,
Auown the strong stream TO- the south,
had-faceo aud sorrow fui, her noulh
fa,.ed u ou5 70 gI,ip And h .arSrse
why surprise? She saw nothing but the un-
changing waste OF wood and water; she Razed on
II In a sad revery without perceiving ANYTHING,
In fact. what surprised herr Sometimes, too
II he petceives any significance In the phrases
used to make up his verse and give the proper
sound at the end, he completely fails to make
such significance evident, 10 IN the last liue VI
the following quotation;
A right foot rested on the dead,
a tlcA mama leacn'u shd clutchd heari
lnc. notucr pr{eo, noi dreamed % hope
a nerce lace rttc 'd, % ucroc iace p.eru-
Mona vent Wnlrlug u, ernead,
No starie! oul Of kt4ole.
Why should a star fan out Of Ethiopel That
country was more than three thousand miles
away from the scene described. II star must
fall ON tue occasion. Il woulc most probably and
most poetically have teen one that could e
what was going on there IN the American desert.
II is hardly worth while to mention minor de-
fects in TINS work, some imperfect lines, some
| week RHYMES, some rough yersincAtion, some
lmIr PER use OF words. These are matters
winch IN a nearly perfect poem should receive
due attention but la tuis composition the de-
ncienci,- are 80 radical tnat no de4iee OF 1nisn,
no amount 90 decoration. no handiwork OF
! fame, could hide them. 1t does not Ieacn such
| a p,int Il excellence in form and Substance as
to make the reader care much for the more
technic f,ults. And yet tue book holds de-
| tachcd pass ges that are strong and truly
| puetic, tnuugn crude. Some of them may be
Sc, in the quotations below, brought together
from different paris Of the volume. Examine
hem aud you en- but lament that Mir. illei
should not more earnestly cultivate his powers
Nhits.rous nncomm men were these
1nc.csrtttr- h,wl4 < 10 one sta-l
orga, horni-ial i't beu hhl IN
. hosn from Auy uoraer lanai
Mcu drsprratr anar 81 nhni,
| Ana men Do love 4uu utu iu utnt.
| Al ucA Who liy,d uut 80 ,ors,t,
| WHO ouh sought these so de o. ulac
Iaelr Wrctcnt Ness. held 90 toe nt
A,ou, aious tina -o.naus eood,
AATis',f ua, 1a oil si.a. ti ''''
TIA moved nNc gudr alul- tine trees
| 81 stern. 80 stubuotu-hroWrd a.. II",
Az ,sc6 a1ai no, S'e aud t,ii. ''''''
| kney ana uucuus iuus saul,
sur, OF sunen heicuits.
They toss'd the forest ike toy.
Inat - Il foIs" ten race Yi men,
Together s.nce tue Fl se Of Troy.
Ana they descended and did roam
Through eyc ia d'st.nces set round
Mo'e " aud 9'eS , ;A~ t4e forms
Ana hc 'rd them { % nAe sounding seas
HnG iofn Ike 6ai ii,mcnis Of Mar.
Inc, .as me aarkne.s comg a9~n,
| o. DVu's Cathedral, quit Of stars.
Thy imb'd SO nigh i seemd cftsoon
1u4t H. some name-nt ruin lay
Thrown down before tntlr weary way.
Two sulleu nuiiocks led the luc.
Ilcr 81 Al ey,- slning bris Ike wine
Ia 'S ad 10 t Tide Ge'd 4crds at b~'
Ah4e'cu no~ lh'J, ,ta cd lac sod
h6a. atcly ste pa and -l.tcly lrod,
| HING even Ia ,apuN.!.
re ,'ye..e, varli,c la, o, low,
a ,ri "a ac4 ' and i'rc ea''.i," S D,"'