Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-03-22
SWINBURNE.
His wopderruI Gttt Of Melody.

Before the advent Of Swinburne we did
not realize the full scope Of English
verse. In his hands it is like the violin
of Paganini. The range Of his fantasies,
roulades, arias, new effects Of measure
and sound, is incompatible with any
thing hitherto known. The first emotion
Of one who studies even his immature
work is that Of wonder at the freedom
and richness Of bis diction, aud snsurrus
Of his rythm, his unconscious a~llitera-
tons, the endless change of his syllable
Misunderstanding in the alternate
s%oftness and strength, height and fall,
riotous or chastened musico OF his a~flueni
verse. How does he produce IT'D Who
taught him all the hidden springs Of
melody He was born a tanner OF words,
a subduer ofthis most stubborn, yet most
copious of the literary tongues. In his
poetry we discover qualities we did not
know we're in the language "a softness
that seemed Italian, a rugged strength
we thought was German, a blithe and de-
bonair lightness we despaired Of captur-
ing from the French. He has added q
score of new stops and pedals to the in
strument. He has introduced, partly
from other tongues, stanzaic forms, meas
ures, and effects untried before; and has
brought out the swiftness and force OF
metres like the anapestic, carrying each
to perfection at a single trial. Words in
his hands are like the ivory balls of a
juggler, and all words seem to be in his
hnnds. His fellow-craftsmen, who alone
can understand what has been done in
their art, will not term this statement
extravaganza. Speaking only of his
command ver language and metre, /
have a right to reafirm, and to show by
many illustrations, that he is the most
sovereign Of rhythmists. He compels
the intiexible elements to his use. Chau-
Ger is more limpid, Shakespeare more
kngly, Milton loftier at times, Byron has
an unaffected power, but neither Shelley
nor the greatest of his predecessors is so
d%ithyramble, and no one has been in all
moods so absolute an autocrat of verse.
With equal gifts, | say, none could have
been, Tor Swinburne comes after and
profits by the art Of all. Poets often
win distinction by producing work that
differs from what has gone before. 1t
seems as if %Swinburne, in this ripe pc
Rod, resolved to excel others by a mas
terry Of known melodies, adding a new
magic to each, and going beyond the
range of the farthest. His amazing
tricks Of rythm are those of a gymnast
%outleaping his fellows. We had Keats.
Shelley and Coleridge, after Collins and
Gray, and 1ennyson after Keates, but
now S%winburne adds such elaboration
that an art which we thought perfected,
seems almost tame. In the fret place,
be was born a prodigy-as much so as
Morphy in chess; added to this, he is
the product of these latter days, a phe-
nomenon impossible before. Ii is safe
to declare that at last a time has come
when the force Of expression can no fur
Their 90.
| do not say that it has gone too far.
The fruit may be too luscious, the odor
of a flower too intoxicating to endure,
yet, what execution Poetry, the rarest
poetic feeling may be found in simpler
verse. Yet again, what executionl The
voice may not be equal to the grandest
music, nor trained and restrained as it
should be, but the voice is there, and its
Possessor has the finest natural organ in
which this generation has listened
Scribaer.