The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-07-03
THE DEAD ASSASSIN AS A POET.


ruE DEAD ASSASSIN AS A POET.
1t is after just and proper notlce Oh 'he
d.r;no effort which the decedent Chas. }.
Gu;teau made at the close OF his disastrous
career to entitle himself to place among the
American poets, that we propose 10 Close he
columns of the EVENING LIGHT against all fu-
ture mention of the Guiteau name, IN homage
70 the national bias toward the lame OF tha'
unfortunate genius, and to consign HIM for
ever to the dark and stirless waters OF OBLIVION
Now do we know how it happens that int
dead bard should remind us OF an Am
ercan Poet of half a century ago. wei
known in the early days of that society Inns
w,s Mcdonald Clarke, called, not unklndly,
the "mad poet. 1t may be because
Clarke was likewise reputed crank, which
is the late name for genius, and because ne
too was unfortunate, although Clarke was not
hanging by the neck at the moment OF leaving
the world We think it was the whlSk.
sickness, now undergoing quarantine, which
they call prohibition, in Iowa, that disturoe'
the Glowing harmonies of the mad poets fer
vid mind. We are happy to be able to recall
snatch of one of his inspirations to compare
with the dying lyric of our national swan.
..Why do look back on the street
AT every pretty girl meet
And. then, why wonder as 60
If she would say me yes or no
All how much married should be
If could marry all see.'
Although Mr.. Clarke might have reached
the scaffold by that marriage rout' and lett the
world a lyric, like the later bard's to be set to
music. he did not do so. 1t is probable that
the pretty girl of the period was lempla
and saved her life by saying the mad poet
I" y" BY inadvertence, or the jealous de-
Aims of rivals, Clarke has been dropped from
the late standard editions or the American
Poets and is now fighting against an obscurlty
that threatens to engulf his memory and
to leave his future vast blank or immense
vacuum.
We are concerned to know what ma
tonal Mendholson, or Auber, is going
to set to music the devout lyric whcf
was horn in the throes of almost the las
moment of the prolonged Guiteau inspiration
81 wrote it this morning at about ten clock,
said the dying bard from the scafold. 1t wa
probably an after breakfast lyric and occupied
the interval between that hour and the /
o'clock dinner. We trust we hazard no IN
Justice in suggesting the melodious lines,
sI wonder what shall see,
When get to the Lordy!'
seem a plagiarism from the mad poets
coupet,
"And, then, why wonder as 60
If she would say me yes, or no.
but inspirational sources are open to all gltte'
minds. and then the application of the though
;s so dissimilar that we will not press IN
CHARGE We will say in conclusion that
nav be a question in metaphysics whether tn
Later hard, after his painful accident, is seen
-"Splendid things
Beyond all earthly exception.
There is a startling probability that he i
seeing sights that makes of his immortal caP,ul
each particular hair to stand on end like quill
uDon the fretful porcupine. But 1t is ques
ton we do not urge for fear Of encroaching OF
the domain of Rev. Mr.. Hicks. Our reader
may indulge in prayer.