Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-11-07
OUR PARIS LETTER.
7ecial Correspondence OF the Appeal

I
/ several vOlu mes in verse, her R.coTdi
| Of the Heart, Pearl Of Poland, and Others
I having had their run years ago. She
( has resided in Europe for many year,
/ vibrating between London and Paris
/ and S7pphO, her latest creation, Is the
| result OF several years study among the
| historic aud legendary archives In the
| British museum. The play is founded
upon the weli.knOWn traditions o
! "Sappho's" life; aud is fitted 70 be used
g. 81 acting" tragedy, the scenes anc
! situations being adopted 10 tbs modern
stage. 1t is not my purpose to give an
/ epitome Of the story; those who read
| the volume viii prefer to iea5n the tale
| themselves. But, knowing the author
| personally; recognizing the spirit IL
! which she hiss written outher conception
| Of "SspphO, - "intO whose mouth have
put" to use her own words, "all know
| that is good or great in woman" Il
may not be smiss to copy from the
| volume here and there such passages a.
win exhibit its tone aud temper. ''Sap
| phon has overheard her pupils discuss
| iUg her character, and vilifying her
| She says nothing, but after little SHE
sends them from her, with the iDjunc
ton that they shall return in stated
| time, each with an essay on "5lauder.'
/ She then turns to her friend "Erinna,
| who is also her pupil.
| Sappho-Erinna, let me weep upon Thy
| bosom;
| | heard -, but let IL pass.
| It Is The price Of fame.
| stood face TO face with death, but SANDER,
| Ingratitud5, are foes more terrible.
/ Death strikes and leaves US conscious of no Ill
| They deeper sUaO and STAB, but DO not kill.
| ETfnna-1hou's st Ap1llO's darling.
] SdpphO-Al2s. l starye upon such pabulum
"Sappho" is beloved by "Aicseus,'
her fathers friend, himself old enough
to be her father. He has besn absent
'RbedOpe" enters TO say:
"sappho, AIcaeus is arrived"
SdpphO-Alcaeus!
ffhedope-Ay' ay, Aicaeus' smiling Ike
sappho-swin let the dear old eagle perch
before me"
aAIcaeus" talks with her about Egg pt,
its monuments, its philosophers, its
sirens. pSsppho" interrupts him
Enough of Egypt's sirens. Paint the tenn
That ca t thee on the coast of Sicily"
Atcaeus-With prosperous sails and hearts
elate with Joy,
We fast were making Agrigentum's port,
When from Olympus Jove let loose his thun'
wrapt the black heaven in intermittent flame
And rocked the ocean like an infants cradle
Shook from the yards the pallid mariners,
And swept away the mlZz n like q straw.
a little while the staunch ship braved the
tempest
Parted its blow like skilllul duelist;
like a yanquished wrestler,
And with a wall that startled hell, wen
| sappho-o, wondrous picture! Living
| breathing, speaking;
Loud as the seahOunds howled above hel
grave!
! I'd bsr,er half the sweetest life to see
| The death OF such ship in such a sea!
"Alcaeu5" tells her she is sum moneG
to Athens by "Pisistsatus, TO contest
FOR the laurel crown. In the frenzy OF
her joy she is still the true-hearted wO-
man; remembering her gentle and faith
iul pupil, she says:
"Erinna must go too"
Then flied with gratitude, she kneels
and Erays:
8 Hear me Almighty Jove! This is the mo-
Upon whose dizzy pinnacle tremble,
And heayenward stretch my suppliant hands
steady my footsteps and around me fling
lllums my way with new-Irimmed lamps OF
wisdom,
That I may see the dangers lurking there
i hrust thy strong arm 'twixt me and secret
foes,
That II each upward step like hungry wolves
Bound from their hiding places 10 devour
And tear in shreds the bold and daring
climber"
The royal galley is waiting 10 the bay
TO bear her 20 Athens. She summons
Ter pupils. They enter:
PsptLs-We could not unite upon the
theme you gave US.
SnpphO-'Iis strange! You talked exceeding
we'll uDon IL.
With sood Alcseus depart to-day
20 tend The DioDysIa az olympia
And with the bsrds of Greece contest the
laurel.
Much time ans gold I've spent to pruue your
minds
Ana SOW in them the seeds Of lofty thought:
To teach you virtue and chaste department,
The an OF beauty S most approved adjoining.
70. N ilro7g 70 your several homes return
nd practice on the lie sons you've received.
study self-cOnquest
how much 70 say, and how much not to say !;
And learn tbat victory over self is glory
Greater than our mighttest armies.
She M s and loves Phaon, and they
are WeGdec. She asks him, some time
after, il he loves her as at first. He
answers:
cay, az! but why dost question thus thy
sapPho-An things have their ascent and
AnetT descent
And Therefore have their eliminating points
Whereon they Toise and tremble In their
Al MON the sun casts forth a temperate
glance;
At noon he ourns; at even languishes.
cis thus " Ia love; It's morn is temperate
It's noon is fire, ITS evening ashes.
La another place she tells US what love
is:
II is a bird that sings IN every bough;
hand Inst sweeps the strings OF every heart,
striking out harmony or horTtd discord-
A sEake that charms TO crush; an asp that
Kills
vita painles, stngi csnkerworm that
folds
Itself Gp in the sweetest, fairest buds:
A fam taat blows itself out at one pun;
4 Ere that burns the fiercer when inhemmed
And, IN heat-whited tooth, bites down to
,r.s peace, It's war, It's life, annihilatlon-
lis heaven, It's hell!
TIE book, for private reasons, was
hurried into print earlier than the author
iB,sudej, anu there are, therefore, mac
euracies OF dicti0E and rythm, which
giii, when cone ted, secure the play
against the adverse criticism which 8
casual resder, overlooking its spirit,
might award il now. But these extracts
Wit shOH the character Of the poem;
and the many friends of Stella, both
here sud at home, will rejoice to see its
editions multiply, SIS there is every
PICS Feot that they viii. Stella is on
the gag eide OF the Seine, as most OF the
AmeTiCa-s are. They love the Champs
+ Ssses aad zoe gittfriDg boulsvards.
Y nest FOR the winter is in old Paris, in
the quaint old FOuoourg st. Germaiu.
! am the oply American in the little
Erspch bet4l, which K kept by simple,
banest French widow and her sister
sad bfolber.ia-,aw, the lat an inielli-
8 ur AID industrious architect. We
p ave ArTDsniaas. Greeks, Japane'e, all
az q, am pcOfessiO; al people, aud filing
chairs In the colleges OF ParIs-the ia
Pauese Is s professor OF Oriental lam
gUage and literature, with q trim little
vile, both Of them dressed with scrupu-
lous observance OF the latest Paris
modes. On this side it lie very rare
thing to hear q word Of English; but
one has only TO cross over 2 the gay
shops ofthe Rue de Rivoli to hear every
tone and accent of our mother tongue,
from the Scotch aud Irish brogue and
the cOckney his put in the wrong place,
TO the pronounced precision Of the
northern States and the soft accents Of
the south, with now and then the beau
uful pure English, spoken alike by all
educated people, both in Europe and
America. All countries have their
charms; but for personal, household
comfort in little things, our own beauti-
fol, bountiful new world takes the
palm by common consent over all other
countries under the sun. Fuel aud
lights, and fruits and vegetables are too
dear IN Europe, except in the far south,
and Europeans are 80 utterly ignorant
OF the modern contrivances which we
Yankees (for all of us are Yankees to the
Europesnsl have invented for heating
our houses by furnaces, or fusI-saving
Well-set CRATES and stoves, that an
American is perpetually wondering
where the wits of the poorer people have
been through all these centuries; that
they have not been driven by sheer ne
cessity 10 make their homes more COM
Portable in winter. Still the hotels and
dppdTtementS Helt6Ies can be made very
snug by the exercise of little Yankee
wit, and we Ueydge,t,s get on with little
difficulty. Only IN these past few days
have we had hint OF winter. The
flowers in the gardens are lovelier than
thew were in summer, and Paris Is as
beautiful as q fere, even in the curious,
narrow winding Tttes, and the quaint old
houses tumbling up to the clouds, which