Towanda daily review. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1879-1921, 1881-12-30
Flowers Of Spring.

Flowers of Spring.
Thoughts of childhood and Of youth
struggle to the light out OF chrysalls
condition in which they are born. The
"outer-clothen" situation OF the germ IS
in the first surroundings Of its life-ln
blood and breeding, contact, and educa-
tion. It's growth is nourished through
all the tender susceptibilities to early i'm
p-essions, traces Of which every man and
woman carries to his or her dying day.
The inference is not strained that as
sumes the aftermath must be in that
retrospective impulse which turns the
souls musings back from old age to
d reams and scenes of early life. Old men
are praisers OF times past-With Horace,
1audator tempOris dctt, and Marc chanted
the pleasures of the remembrance Of
thugs long past in hGc Olino noenaln1SSe J".
ua5W. 1t is one Of Sha aSespeare's most
exquisite touches that sends off FalStatf
with Dame Quickly's description OF the
poor knights deaCh-bed and dellrium
wherein che aye, babbled Of green
fields" 1t was a pretty conceit OF our
own Stoddard in the quaJran that de-
Scribes how
The children glad at her coming;
When the children old and gray,
There will be more light in their spirits
That they danced in her smile to-day.
And who has not noted the spirit Of the
lines in Thackeray's Christmas Carol that
puts forth the petition,
Pray heaven early love and truth
May never wholly pass away!
Before us lies a brochure Of pretty
verses privately printed, the youthful
poet yielding to an instinct peradVenture,
as did Pope who
-lsped in numbers, for the numbers came.
Albeit, (paulO nin0ra caSdnous,) ours is
very healthy poet, at all events, that thus
thrummed the Tyre in early adolescence
Five pieces are there, and done at inter-
walls in period of two years. The title
of the work is oversees Written between
the Ages of Eleven and Thirteen" Its
themes are ''Daylight," "My Shepherd,
"Creation," an elegy on "Baby May, =
the whole closing with parody on Long
fellows .'EXcelsior' done in humorous
vein. The very titles of these shy at
tempts to WOO the muse evince healthy
development of the mind. 1t is an abun-
dant merit that it lies mainly i'll the
bright simplicity Of the poetic impulse
ing good for anybody, no matter who.
If there is no extraordinary precocity or
genius here, there is no preternatural
gloom, no morbid prophecy of evil lurk-
ing in the lines. A healthy normal tone
is in it all everything is bright, hopeful,
sympathetic, looking from the threshold
out upon an unknown world. Saving an
occasional skip, the lines run smoothly
along, and,a as in the verses On"Daylight,"
in CHEEKY sort of way. There is kind
of inspiration in some parts that brings
to mind certain situation once deScrlb-
ed in the lines (familiar as they are IA
mOus) written by grave, great author
after his experiences in a White Squall
crossing the British channel:
And when its force expended,
And the harmless storm ended,
And, as the sunrise splendid
Came blushing DER the sea-
l thought as day was breaking,
My little ones were waking,
And smiling and making
A prayer at home for me.
However,. this is the way the cheerful
young neophyte Of eleven summers is
singing of "Daylight" in the initial
piece:
After the night has passed away
And the stars have lost their light,
6 fly steals the dawn of day,
Sweet and peaceful calm and bright.
X X X
Light reminds us Of our pleasures,
But the clouds of grief and pain
For the loss of dearest treasures
Which can ne'er return again