New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-03-29

With our laOOrlous living
What men call treasure and the gods call drossI
Lie seems jest Of Fate's ccntriylng,
Ouly secure III every ones cOnnlving,
long account OF nothings pad win loss
Where We poor puppets, Jcfhed by unseen wires,
Alter our little hour OF strut aud rave,
WIN an our pastebOard passions ana desires,
Loves hates, ambitions. and immortal fires.
Are tossed pell neil together III the grave
Eut stayl no age was e'er degenerate.
IJnIess men held it at too cheap u rate.
For IN our likeness still We shape our fate.
An. there In something here
UnlathOmed by the cymes sneer,
soiiIethiog that gives our feeble isus
nigh Immunity from Mani;
something that leaps MES narrow bars
A SEED OF sunshine that doth loaven
Our earthly Gulln0ss Win tue beams OF stars,
Aud glori!Y our clay
With light from fountains elder than the Day
conscience more divine than we
A rIadness led with secret tears
4 vCuug, Notwithstanding sense
o. some more noble perudLence;
v1ieh ' aaGnts Tie soul aud will not ctitb
stin gIimnerIag from the A-hts OF undegenerate
years.
Some day. the soft Ideal that wooed
Coufronis lis ferceJ, foe RrSet. pursued,
And mot myself was loveGl Prove now Thy tTutl;
liam OF thee the promise OF t'y yontA;
give me thy life, or cover IA empty phrase,
Tue victim OF tiny genius, not its mattel"
Lie may he gwen III many ways,
Aud loyalty TO Truth be sealed
A. brayely IN the closet a. the Held,
30 bOuniilul le Fate;
Bat then to stand b. slde her,
When craven churls Ceride her;
IT, 'Iont q iie in arms and not to yield;
This shows, netnlnks, GJ4s plan
Ana measure of a stalNart man,
Iiinbed ike the OH heroic breeds,
stand self-pOised on maDhOoOs solid earth,
Not forced TO frame excuses fer his Oirtn,
Fed from NrEIu with ali tue strength he needs
swell. II is James Russell Lowell who has put more
,ich culture and pure nature into his verse in five
xearr than a good many popular poets have done in all
their lives Here is what sTcvos me, friends: see
man of noble genius almost uuaeknOwleGged by the
sountry he bonors a man who works with the truest
literary honesty neglected fJr cha.latans; man who
sipgs the woods and the fields IN tones as exquely
accurate aud sweet as the gamut OF the winds aud
waters aud wild birds forgotten for artificial jinslers
No OF other American poets approaches him In
spontaney lie has the finest AIT II athc art OF be-
ing natural HIS method and his thought ore large and
free vigorous and he is emphaticaly the poet OF
what Is beautiful aud genuine III America that II
makes his couutrymeu's iDZrltude seem TO me pecu
Marty hard Even when in the BglOw Papers he writes
Of affairs VITA Yankee shrewdncss and humor and IN
ihe homey Yankee dialect he drifts into music like
lhis:
Under the yaer-pines house.
When SHINE makes cin All sweet-scented.
The baskiu' ives, wind pirr couteDted
While way o'eihedd, q sweet an low
~ distant bells that rIDg for mertln',
TIE Wedged wiz geese their Dug!cs bow
Further an further south reireaun.
Or up the slippery knot strain
Au' see a hundred hills like iSan's
IAft their blue woods in broken
Out o ihe sea % sunny silence;
Tn farm-smokrs, sweetest sish, on airth,
Slow thru the Winter air ashrinlhn'
Seem KIM o. sad and rOun' the hearth
or empty places set me tninkin'.
81 concede all Mr.. Bryant's claims as painter OF
North American scenery, bur his work turns almost
formal and ant auated beside Lowers healthy glow Of
beauty and simplicity aud grace
Here we all spoke out Indignantly Respect the Poet
of The Woods" Bryant the very best poet want to
read" and = RDsalind who. il may be concluded,
aas no doubet and hose in her disposition whispered
+" adore Bryant"
"Oh," said our ncghbor coouy I'm not breaking
vour idols nor crupehnS your prejudces DO respect
Mr. Bryant very heartily HIS WORK is honorable, most
Onorabe II simply does touch that particular spot
Al my heart that responds 70 the sound Of the
June wind IN pine wood, 20 the long roll OF waves
up shelving sand, and to-Lowell. care very deeply
for Emersons verse. but hnd 1t rugged-now LOwells
high thought is married 70 sweetest music.
whittier Is the Twilight Poet-harmonious aud mel
anchoy. The color Of bis verse is soft grsya spirit
oal and refined ugt hiuk he has bad MS full measure
Of public appreciation LOngfelOw, too. How long he
mas reigned over the school and the college, aud the
eebter-tabe IN the paTlor His best work Is the sim
pest-that which ike dams kiss. unssked. unsought.
gave itself and not bought As for Holmes. pre-
fer his and his philosophy to his poetry. which
seems to 10 belong rather 10 the past generation
than this-though Locker never imagined ioveler Bit
Of de s0cttte than Dorothy O. But didn't mean
70 bore you with my Dsunderings about these cid
favoes I've been thinking especially Of the younger
Get Of poets.
RI Ii. stoddard like Lowell has not had the apprecia
ton he deserves Tue delicate bright fancy the manly
feeling OF his verso appeared 20 have weighed down
meath the level Of popular liking Why didn't wise
10 his generation, aud twaddle, twaddle, twaddief
see he has turned his honest hand TO q new manner.
and is writing graceful aud simple home that
will bring HIM three umes much popularity 90 his
more valuable work.
IL was surprised cot long age TO boar what
an enormous proportion Of utterly trashy novels
WAS lead in this country; but these figures did
not no shake my faith 10 popolar Judgment a. does the
success Of poetc twaddier esmesreA with tho fssi.
ure OF such sincere and clever writer's ~ stsddard
stedman, TsSlor. ss4 q few more. ssS fsiiure for
they have not become poets Of tho eenter<sbs; tasr
audience though certainly the ose best worth hsviag
small. don't mean 70 Fay that those fau,aess w.
men, They an have more OF less ono fsxit, which
leans TO virtues SIDE; they are etspesed -
May the tyraos WITH the dofiosts Ariel LssroH @< Is
Svery fnsSAass. sst n 90 esAES srsoaoe a Stag~e
naginaton Il isading stnaGs tat brtxst creature viii
xeSitsbly ssku Iisvs the sE& ttak ssnss dmsss n
sennbly TO writer from conscientious and sy1RNhehc
ssudy Of the grandest work Of God soA but the st
~, = Islsss ~ no Assf sla SaAa ~ ~ verse ~