River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-12-19
A FEW THOUGHTS OF BRYANT.
Ely CHARLOTTE +. RATES.

linger afresh ever his memory who wrote
of them with so much beauty. This au-
tumn, in what an unwonted wav does
the loveliness Of both poem and flowers
meet us, since the poet is no longer here.
Perhaps many do not remember "The
Fringed Geniian;' for their sake the |
last three stanzas are given;
Thou waitest late. and CONTEST alone
When woods are bare and birds have flown, /
And frosts snd shortening lays purtcnd
The aged year is near his end.
Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye
Look through its fringes to the sky,
Blue-blue-as If the sky let fail
A flower from 1T cerucan wall.
would that thus, when shall see
The hour Of death draw near to me,
Hope, blossoming within nly heart
Make look 10 Heayen rs | depart.
Not only docs the close of his hint Of
Bryants sweet faith ia the other life, but
bis poems abound ia silasions to IT, and
80 vigorous was his character IS a man,
thai his belief SIS poet has all the greater
weight, and adds not little TO the mass
OF evidence that The ages have given us
II has seemed singular that the .fanatop-
sis" should ever have rested under the
doubtful eye OF the most Christian critic,
because II does not refer TO the bright
and immortal side Of thiugs Those who
make such criticism seem to forget the
verg meaning OF the title; death viewed
solely as deaih-and the poem pretends
| to nothing more-couid hardly he dealt
with IN manner more at one with
human experience ana poetic genius. 1t
is not religious hymn Watts aud his
fellows can blend death with what is to
| follow, If need be, for sacred or funeral
service, but the poet meant only to pre-
sent death ia that form in which it daily
occurres to the sight and knowl-
edge of men; the poem taxes
matters just as far SIS our certainty of
things can take them, and does not trench
on the domain of faith, unless the ''quiet
dreams suggest that. An English critic
who edited Bryant's works years ago. said
in the preface: "What a golden close it
had been to the poem tFhanatopsis) TO
have described the uprising of the vast
congregation OF the dealr' etc. This
/ would have been far from natural, at all
events When We are saddened at the
thought of death and its accompaniments;
at the successive rise, progress, and fall of
generations, our reflections, unless we are
far on the way 10 sainthood, stop at the
turf, and the dim sense Of rest implied by
it. TO us in mood like this, that rest
seems eternal IN our use of the word. and
we repea. the poem, word for word, in a
depth OF sympathy. III when we have
laid aside this purely natural and human
train Of thought in gies7 of death, that faith
comes in with its derived light, and its
promise ofimmortal activities.
Il IS somewhat memorable that the
same poet should have written a thug OF
equal, hat necessarily different beauty
not 50 much as regards the tone. but the
rhythm 1.-THE Crowded Street, the
City Of the Dead and the City Of the
Living thus immoftalized by the same
voice. The latter poem IS rarely refer
red to in the list of masterpieces, but
some collectors have the discrimination
to place il where IT rightly belongs,
among the poets FIRST. For the benefit OF
such as have not the book at hand, lie.
few stanzas be quoted:
now FAST the fitting figures come,
The mild, the fierce, The stony lace;
some
Where secret tears have left their trace.
They pass-lo toll, 10 strife, 10 rest.
To halls ia which The feast Is spread;
To cham bers where be funeral guest
10 silence sits beside the deaf
And some to happy homes repsir,
here children, pressing check TO check.
With mute carasscs shall declare
The tenderness ihay cannot speak.
And some Rho walk 10 calmness here
Shall shudder as they reaeh the door
Where one who made their dwelling dear.
It's flower, its light, is seen no more.
VINO 81 obis crowd to-uight shan tread
The dance till daylight CLEAN again
Who sorrow Ger the '-1.Smelg deads
Who writhe in throes Of mortal pains
some, famine struck, shall think how long
The cold, dark hours, how slow the light!
And some who Eaunt amid the throRg
Shall hide in deBs Of shame tonight.
Each, where here his tasks or pleasures call,
They pass, and heed e9ch other not;
There is, who heeds and holds them all
In his large love and boundless thought
These Il. geliug tides Of life that seem
In maynard, aimless coarse TO tend,
Are cddjes Of mighty stream
That rolls 10 lis appointed end
Mt only does the mass OF Bryant's
poetry tend TO strengthen the bulwarks |
Of virtue. freedom, and moral greatness. /
while so much Of it beautifully portrays
the phases and attitude Of nature, but one |
particular poem deserves well q first |
plsce in all hearts and hymn books
throughout Christendom: Blessed are /
thcv that Mourn Following arc the /
first third and sixth stanzas
On, deem not sy are blest alone
Whose lives q peaceful tenor keeps
The power that pities man has shown
4 blessing for the eyes that weep
There is q day Of sunny resi-
For every dark and troubled night;
And grief may bide an evening St.esl,
Bat joy shall come With morning light
For God has marked each sorrowing dag,
And Tzl4a1oercd cveF.r seers4 tears
And Heavens long age Of bliss shall pay
For all his children saiitr here.
Here is the supplement, surely, to
,'Thanatopsis. Z If one is wanted
III d book called Laurel Leaves " pub- I
lished by Mr.. Gill. is q translation from
the Spanish made bF Mr., Bryant, appear
ing TOR the first TINE, we Oeiieve, in that
volume, though copied elsewhere since
II s as smooth snd perfect as if original
and the gem called The Price OF
L Iessure. y Is 50 marvelously lovely ts-.4i
we bring il 10 sight here:
Upon the VALLEY Jap,
1he liberal morning throws
a Thousand drops OF aev
To wake a single rose,
Thus, often IN TIT course
OF LIES few fieetInC years,
slae1e pleasure costs
The soul a thousand tears
TIE writer Of tais Erflcie was 50 sur
arised at such beauty from Mexican
poet, Jose R5sas, IS 70 enquire Of Mr.
BRYANT about him. and learned taat
Of his; -Fahalas. has Docn
adopted ss a reading book 10 the schools
II the Mexican capital, and that Rosas
vas krown as 4 poet before its pnbiica-
ion 10 1870
1t IS not unmeef - recall. IN closing,
he poets sonnet en- the month q Dc
osper. Doublv beautiful il j while think
NJ Of the realized H.Isn in the quiet and
ovIiness Of his Roslyn hane. 50 much
.njoved the last few yesTs ii Bryani3s life.
Though he died. IS he had wished, wlfh
s.Ss..s l...s - ~, 8faeS Uni ft,asS /