New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-12
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
sroppARD,s LoNGFELLOw.

w,nswoRTU LONGFELLow. A Medley IN
Prose and Verse, by KionNfPn Harlan & Co.
Tho nrincipal objection to the descriptive u''o
rvhcb Mr. Stoddard has applied TO TINS DOOM 10 '
IL ia too modest. His /" medley lnciuoes s'''
deal moro than the collection OF verses oo''""'0
t. tributes" criticisms and miscellaneous aou'oSs''
which most Of us perhaps would expect 10 hhu uo
uea,h such label. 1t is OF course an occasionai
production. intended to appease public curiosity
about the poet while what we may call without u's-
resnect the temporary Longfellow excitement -
s,l fresh: but 1t differs widely from the sort Oh
Matchmaking to which we are accustomed under
s;m,lar circumstances. Mr.. Stoddard has not aI-
tempted a formal biography, nor has be maue' a. a
less accomplished workman might have dohe' Nv
erary scrap-book. The principal substance VI wy
volume is a rapid sketch OF LongieIlow -
artfully interviewer with an estimate oil MS 20
in the history of American letters in "na'
his important productions, and much "ou'o
cism upon his poems as they suceeS'''V 49, on,
themselves in the course OF the s'ois IL emo
hination Of narrative and comment Is .no "u1
,,a,,od os literary biography, and when u Is wei
A., 20 Il is here the result is always interesting
,r tha ,rjncipal substance Mr.. Stoddard auds many
,hr things of consequence. He prehxes 10 inc
xoInme n curious " Longfellow Blbhoyraphy ho
reprints large number OF early poems suPp'.'TUN
by the author in all the known coLections Vi ni'
works and no subj ons few notable cohtr Ou''o"s
tron ner;oslicals and letters of appreciation ana
Renaissance from vaIons men OF lelters'
orc also in the book some letters from Longfellow
IN Mr. Stoddard which have never before peeh pun
usbed The whole makes an eminently Ieadaoie
volume enriched with pages which have perina-
nent literary value AS a specimen OF Mt Sou
lords manner we COPY the remarks into which ne
IA led nv the publication of Hyperion, DOOM
whose best distinction he believes lay III the new
element of German fantasy and romantclsm winch
il poured into American letters y"
If fame comes because it is deserved, which may
mr. may not be tine assuredly it comes to some muc
sooner than to others ch sooner TO the byIons
than the Wordsworths, the LonGtellows IMAM tne
UaWt hornes-why, their cOntelnp0Iar ana risaIs
do not perceive clearly as those VINO come 'teI
them Poor Mr.. Poe could never understahu My
MIR Lougfellow was more successful Wiltel Wan
he was lie might have discovered tnG io"eou
however if he had looked for 1t, since IL lay upon
the surface of the American character Uur lueans
were not lofty forty years ago, nor are ViGy tTnS
lofty now. But then, as now, We knew What w
wanted song and art ana we tn9ugns VIZ W. W.
distinguish what was lew from what was oIu. we
knew what TO expect from our poets: bryant Wds
calm meditatye, philosophlc; Wills. wnen nG1
modshly ScrIptural, was light ana airy llallcch;
snirited and martial; Plerpont, occasional anu
MORAL few epithets described them ana others
who were not worthy to EAnk WIN them. we i1-
cognized their excellence, but it by no means eN-
hausted our admiration aud capacity Tor greater eN
cellence. There was-there ways is-looih ioI ,3
readers are generally slow to admit the fact lhere
were fertile gardens which yielded our elder sngels
no hOwers-gardens i'll which no sceu Oh thSIls ha5
ever been sown or, having been soWn h'u IoiuS ,i
10 rolminate. ! scarcely know how 10 descIloe
the seed which Professor Longfelow began, 70
scatter in Hyperion and " Voices OF the Night;
Romantlcism does not describe IT, 1or there Is hot
ing romantic in The Hymn to the NIght nor
Goes morality describe It, except, PERHAPS, aS ~
bOurreoned in A Psalm of Life The lesson OF
the last was the lesson of endurance, ana patience
and cheerfuness 1t had been taught Oy O, orep
poets. but not as this one taught lt-not IN verse
that set itself to in the memory OF thousahus
and in words that were pictures Inc young man
who wrote Psalm of Lie D." possessed inc aII VI
saving things and very rare art II Is. SNAKE
speare possessed il III supreme degree, anu Opc
and GRAY in "a greater measure than greater poets.
Merciless critics nave pointed our IA Ts ~ Inv n9 ~ ~
readers never saw them, seeing them never careu
for them. They found it hopeful. helpful poem
Footsteps of Angels is 10 me The most sauslac-
tory of all these nocturnal melodies. There IS an
undesirable tenderness III IT, and the VISION o1 the
poets dead wife gliding into his chaihoer, WIN
noiseess footsteps taking vacant e en' mat%etc
"The Beleagucred City Is product eI POeuc aili
fee of which there are but few examples IN Inglsh
poetry IL appears to nave been c"hpOun'tcu .ltci
recipe when called tor equal parts OF outward
fact and inward meaning Given material clty' a
river fog, and so on the poet SETS ms WITS 10 Woh
to discover what corresponds, or can Ic mace 10
correspond. with them splfltuallY. II ne Il SkiGl
he constructs an ingenious poem OF doubtful intel
lectual value. Midnight Mass Tor the Dying
Year" is a medley of medieval suggestion ana
ShakespeaTean remembrance which delnanus
large and imaginative appreciation. Inc snake
spearean element seems to Inc out 0l place, though
il adds to its impressiveness and eiiect as Whole
Ii is medley, however, as have Said, and III must
be Judged by its own fantastic laws. Whatever
faults disgured Voices of the Night" were lost
sight Of or forgiven for the sake OF the beauties,
and for the admirable poetic splTlt Whlcn lnese
beauties displayed.