New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-23

perhaps not regarded 50 much in the hght VI eApo
riepce as materials for the composition u POIy
In grain and FIBRE StOddard is essentlaiIS an
making use of words as an instrument lor 'no va
vroosion of beoutv instead of selecting the neounl
of color and form The exquisite finish OF MANY VI
his creations indicates an eqnal degree %
refinement and poetic passion. Stlll' MI o.'uu"l1
informative tendencies are combined WIN ~"
nine love of Nature and remarKaole po"oi u
curate description. visible improvement III '
rosnoct NAV he noticed we think, in bis later pro-
ductions, which are comparatively lree hun Uno
minnie errors of observation that were sometimes
rorceived in the poems of his youth His more re-
cent pictures of rural scenes evince pro1ounuer
svmpatby with the manifold forms of materlai me-
and are as remarkable for their exactness as Ioi
their freshness and animation. An admiraDle eA-
annie of this is presented in few lines III Vno
proem TO the present volume, i'll which DC alluuos
the return of one to his native town lnthe county
after n weary absence amidst the artihcial pompS
and perpetual turmoil of q great city,
When he comes
Back to the dear old place where ne was vears
sns suddenly from him and his heart grows hght;
There is sprngy motion In m, ms ste r. ,o,rs
AS though the blood was hitting In ms venus
And If his feet could Ovcrtake lis thoughts
(They Wild, he would be everywhere at once
For he is child, and boy, and man az once
Here are The garden beds, edged round Win DoG
Down which lie played and plucRed loIpluuen no"'i'
Here is the barn. upon whose seedy moor ,,d,
He stumbled aud in whose dry, dark NOW no hd'
There are the orchard trees he used 10 cnlnp
For russets Winter greetings; this the path, -,
Through which, at morn, he lotered. book IN hand,
And reached the schOOhouse Just as the pel ""o in5
Aud this q short cut TO the Gnarled OAK, .
Where he discovered tile BIRDS nest iuil OF egEs'
Wc soon gre S1FG lane Whose grassy foopah winds
Through rows of slender 6eeches, white ana 'al'
A ouiet but faithful reminiscence OF the country
life is presented in the following idylic sketch;
Not what we would; but what we must
Makes up the sum Of living ,,..
Heaven is both more and less tnan JUST
Swords cIeave to hands that sought the piough'
And laures miss the soldiers Dro"'
He. whom the city holds, whose feet
Have worn It's stony highways
Familiar with It's lOnellest street.
Its ways never my ways
NY cradle beside the sea, $500
And there, hope, my grave VIII pe'
Old homestead! In that old gray Gown
The vane is seward blowing,
Thy slip Of garden stretches down
To where the tide is flowing;
Below they lie, their sails all iurled,
The ships that 70 about the world'
Bearer that little country house,
Inland with pines beside II;
Some peach trees, with unfruitfnl ooughss
A well, with weeds TO hide IT.
No flowers, or only such as rise
Self-sOwn poor things which all deeplse
Dear country homeI Can forget
The least OF thy sweet trificst
Tho WindoW-yines that Chamber YET,
Whose blooms the bee sill rifles
The roadside blackhcrrles, growing ripe,
And III the woods the Indian Pipef
Happy the man who Is his field,
Content with rustic labor;
Earth does to him her fulness yield,
Hap what may to his neighbor.
Well days, sound nights, o can there Do
life more rational and lreef
Dear county life Of child and mani
For both the best, the strongest
That with tho earliest race began
And hast outhved The longest
Their cities perished long ago;
Who the first farmers were we know.
Perbaps our Babels too, will fall.
If So no LAMENTATIONS
For Mother Earth Will shelter ALL
And feed the unborn nations;
Yes and the swords that menace now
Will then be beaten u the plough
Mr.. StOddards most effective poems are frequently
in the minor key. aud eVince m inclination to
ouerulous complaint rather than a sympathy with
the ioyous aspects of human life. He unlocks tho
fountains of tears moro readily than he points out
the sources Of delight But he shows no traces Of
effemiuate compliance. lie is not embittered by
the miseries of our mortal state. He always gives
signs of brave heart and manly courage. evidently
conscious that we are born less to enjoy than to
endure. The experiences which he so wildly de-
scribes have made him rare master Of the element
of pathos Few works of English literature, whether
in verse or prose- more abound in passages which
touch the deepest emotions of the heart approach
SO tendery the sources of grief and tears. An ex-
ample of the pensive strains which lend q gloomy
coloring to several Of the Later Poems" may be
found in the lines entitled "The Vanished May" -
Why is It that when Spring is come,
The first sweet touch Of spring,
That something all the Winter dumb
Begins In me to singf
Begins, perfOrce, this sunny DAY
TO sOlcnnize the darkened MHyt
Why the bird sings know, see
Its Journey through the air;
There is q nest In yOndcr tree,
its little ones are there.
Thy song, sweet bird, Is not like mine,
But one amending valentine
wander through the woods, and mack,
Above, below around.
The tribes that live on leaf ana BARK
And burrOw IN the ground;
If Life be happiness. guess
Tie world Is full OF Happiness.
Why is IL, then, that am sadi
What have done to-day,
When every creature else is glad,
Why ask what have lost In truth,
What is the saddest loss but Youth
My youth has gone, and what remainsi
The woods, the clouds. the sea,
The wild March winds, the April rains
But what arc these 10 me2
When head and heart alike are gray,
What can restore the vanished May2
The sweet pathos which so often seeks to express
q world of suGerngs as if by Gush of the nightin-
gales song will find response in many hearts, of
perfect accordance with its plaintiye notes. The
brevity of these exquisite compositions enables us
to Gull few flowers Of love and sorrow from the
choice anthology:
THE TWO BRIDES,
] saw two maids at the kirk.
Aud both were fair and sweet;
One in her wedding robe,
Aud one In her wiudIngsheet.
The chOr1sters sang the hymn,
The sacred rites read,
Aud one for life TO Life
And one to Death wed.
They were horne to their bridal beds,