The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-01-06
Written for the Register.
Gentle Touches.

science or trade? TO this question no
satisfactory answer has been given,
hence the conclusion that poets are born
such The largest experience and
best observation confirm the fact Let
il not be supposed however, that nature
has amy aristocracy, or that there is any
royalty III mental attainments. True II
is that all are not poets, yet il is equally
true that all are not astronomers, or ar
lists, or inventors, or mechanics, vet all
may be useful in their way. When that
pursuit is found to which the mind has
natural adaptation, by patient, earnest,
persistent application all may attain to
some degree of excellence in the arts,
or sciences, or the avocations of trade.
Young persons on beginning to write of
ten manifest an inclination to compose
in rhyme; or if they write prose, they
seem to study kind of -emi-poetic
stvle, as their composition partakes al
most of measure if not of rhyme. Good
poetry has another element above and
beyond all the efforts of measure. and
swceicr and finer than rhyme. IL aims
to inculcntc some agreeable or useful
sentiment, while il scars away in an
easy rapture, not possible to describe,
and invites the reader to the loftiest
trains of thought. II abounds in fig
ures, metaphors, and the drapery of a
brilliant Imagination. Call it taste, gen.
ius. Inspiration or what you will, ii is a
gift of the soul which but few can COM
prchend. Ii was anciently said, when
| Orphcus rccted his verses to the music
of his lyre, that not only the wild beasts,
but the trees and rocks of Mount Olvm-
pus were bcnumbed with cnchantmcnt,
and the babbling brooks stood still to lis
ten. When judged by the standard of
effect, we must own that there are but
| few good readers, and far less good
writer's of poetry. Never is il agreeable
to hear indifferent poetry read, unless
with a rich voice and great care in mod
ulaton il is improved in the reading,
but sadly indeed does ii fall upon our
feelings to hear the sublimest strains of
poetry indifierently rendered. There
are surely the most exalted motives to
induce ministers Of the gospel if possible
TO acquire the art Of reading well. Since
however, ii is so seldom that we hear
that part of divine worship more than
indifierently performed, we deem ii GER
tain that few only can acquire the art of
reading ii well, That some persons en-
ioy poetry, and feel its power, and have
a natural gift to enter so far into its
spirit as to be enabled in reading to so
impart it, effect to others as in some de-
gree to justify the tabled account of Or
phcus, may be illustrated by an incident
which occurred some years ago, in a
rural district in Vermont.
The circumstance was never before
written; many of the witnesses are now
dead the few who remain remember
the scenes as if they transpired but yes
terday. The standard Of common school
education was at that time so low that
but few branches were taught. English
grammar was seldom taught, and indeed
the teachers We're rare who knew any
thing of it. The winter term of school
had closed, in which there was an ad-
vanced class of perhaps a dozen pupils
between the ages of eighteen and twen-
ty-two, mostly of Young men. Their
school days, as they supposed, were now
ended, and the reality Of business life
was before them. Some Of them desired
to teach during the autumn and winter
of few succeeding years, but were am
bilious to assume higher rank than
their present attainments would justify.
If a teacher could be found to give them
the needed instruction, il was proposed
to have a private normal school tor a
few weeks A Young lady oi their own
age, The daughter OF a Clergyman, was
obtained. The branches TO be taught
were, English Grammar, Higher Arith-
metic and the Surveyors art, as il was
then called. Though young. the teach
or was abundantly competent to the
task. Her pupils were In earnest, and
made all possible eXertiOn. The rudi-
ments Of Grammar were soon mastered,
and in accordance with the usage OF
those times, they began TO parse what
ever of interest CHANGED to fall In th0ii
way.
As Il singular illustration of the laws
of mind, il has been supposed that good
readers, however rapidly they advance,
spell every word as they pass along,
without any special eXertion of voli-
ton, for if word is misprinted, il is
surely noticed. Other things evidently
) transpire by the same law. When the
eye is closed in the act of winklng, We
are then in total darkness, yet 1t Is not
the subject Of volition OF of conscious
ness, unless our attention is called TO il
especially. In like manner, in this
brief school, the class became so habitu.
ated 10 parsing, that they thought they
spelled every word, and parsed every
sentence while they read. In their ex-
ercises, it often happened that some ol
the most obscure, abstrusc and difficult
passages in the language were under
+ consideration. One day that sweet lit
t tie sonnet of Cowper on the "Rose" oc
D cupied their attention. Though famil
> lar 10 every one, the study devoted to il
yielded new and unexpected beauties
Its style, the choice selection of words
) the adroitnoss of management &c. .,wer(
: all pointed ont at length il was hinte6
4 that its design was apparently hidden
+ The teacher wisely admonished them tC
: seek the authors meaning. Divers,
I, opinions were elected. As defmici
n resort, II was deferred To the teacher fol
' Judgment. Great was their surpris,
when she unfoldcd the moral which hat
stumbled them. 1.-THE author" sh,
y said, chad endeavored, under thi
Is splendid imagery, to portray brid
l. leaving her home, not without SOM
g misgiying, and often with many tears.
. BY the "delicate mind" n lady was per
= soniled, and by the elegant rose"
: bride.
e The husband, kind enough doubles
In his intentions, sometimes found wheI
= too late for amendment, that his "ele
8 giant rose" had been treated with undue
~ but perhaps unintended, and thought
- less severity, until 1t was ruined.
r "Ibis elegant rose. had shaken it lees"
il Is the language Of remorse, "Shall nc
read the pieceI" said the teacher, "poi
g. sibly can give my version of II bette
than by any comments can make"
moment she stood still calmly regardin
her audience; then her lips were parie
L. with smile, the crimson came to he
Il. cheeks, her eyes at first sparkled, the
ms swimming in tears; her voice warble
e. gently and slowly with angelic swee
meas as she began to read