Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-03-15
OUR MARDI GRAS.
What Frank James Thinks of the Mem
phi illustrations of the Birth
and Progress of Poetry.

The following, which we copy from
the Osceola IinleS,i is from the pen Of our
old and able coadjutOr, Frank James:
This question is made the subject Of
neat piece of blank verse in the APPEAL
of last Sunday, and it gives us an oppor-
tunity Of saying something about the
marvellous street procession and series
of tableaux given by that mystic body
in Memphis on MardT GFas, that lack Of
time and press Of other business prevent
ed US from saying last week. The poet
of the APPEAL but echoes our senti-
ments, and those of every one who was
favored with the opportunity to witness
the gorgeous pagesntry, when he says:
Long did gaze upon the enchanting sight,
And gazing unused, and conf ured in my brain
One puzzlng query that fear will vex
More than myself for many year TO come.
Twas this: Now, by nay soul, from what great
mind
Came all these glorious ideas and designs?
WHAT is the Memph, and who its guiding
lights?
What subtle brain hath wrought triumph
antly
This vivid portrait of the mighty dead
And their divine conceptions?
The writer has seen many brilliant
and beautiful psgeants Of various de-
scriptions in various parts Of the world.
He has enjoyed carnivals in Venice and
Rome; he has seen the gorgeous spectac-
ular displays in the great theaters of
Paris and London, incomparably the
finest of which was the production OF
the Midsummer Nights Dream" in
London, few years ago, but he has no
hesitation in saying that the display of
the Memphi far outshOne them all The
poetic beauty of the conception, the his
torical correctness of the detail, the ar
tistic skill and finish Of the production,
stamped the designer and director Of the
pageant as a master mind-one gifted
by nature and whose gifts were cultivat-
ed to the highest degree by proper edu-
cation. II this is true of the street dis
play, what shall we say Of the tableaux
at tie Theater? Words fail us in at
tempting to give even an outline Of
their weird and Wondrous beauty. AS
the curtain rose and disclosed each liv-
ing picture an involuntary exclamation
of surprise peIvaded the whole of the
vast crowd that packed the New Men,
phis from pit to dome. Nor was it be.
cause thespectscle appealed simply to the
eye. The thou. auds who gszsd entranced
upon it were comprised of educated peo-
pie, not only of Memphis, but of the
whole United States, and many from
beyond the seas. In the tableauX before
them they saw not merely a skillful
grouping of figures, artisticslly posed
and set off by vari-colored firesS they
saw grand aesthetic idea, conceived in
the brain Of poet, elaborated by
scholar, and put upon the scene by an
artist of the highest skill. The most
natural question that each should ask
himself and his neighbor was, "Who
hath done this thing?" Now that it is
all over, and since we believe that the
public should "know, and knowing, APP
preeiate" the man who, in the hidden
reeesses Of his brain, had elaborated and
had brought forth the greatest spectacle
Of modern times, we think it no viola
tien OF confidence to give the name Of
the artist. In 30 doing we know that
we yield to the universal desire OF the
people of Memphis, who, proud Of his
record In the rast, will be delighted to
sdd this glory to his already enviable
fame. The author is General Cotton
Greene, q soldier, gentleman and
poet.
AFFIXED Robertson's RuEinsss College.