New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-29
UILDE IND UHITKIN.

clarence fOOt IN Inc International RcrifF.
Mr.. Oscar Wilde need not dctIin Il, long. fHf
what Is he hut multiflrOus echo He has for all
that appears, no motive whatever for singing, and
says rs little in his poems as lie does in his lectures
lie has a cleverlsh knacll at verse making and ~
there appears &c be nc especial reason for his
having begun, so there seems no reason why he
should ever stop. lie has call to sing, like the
elder poets OF our time, or like the Swinbumes,
Rossctts and Whtmans, who carry in their verse.
in lis camestEess IN It's music the seal Of their
mission. As we turn these llstlcsS pages, we seem
to watch a dancer who swings indlicrcntiy each
partner that comes along. and yields ner ndlitcr
entity to the next IN line
lgion seems 30 Us worth thinking about. The clear
impression left upon our mind by this book Of
poems Is that Mr.. Wilde is the sport of the hour,
and blows hot or cold, believes or dsbelevcS. -
amGrOus devOut. or intellectual or sentimental,
according rs the wind sets from this, that or the
other quarter His cleyerness IS not all his own,
bus is Il part of the fashion OF the time; every
body who is anybody IN these days must write
verses like somebody else or show that lie could DO
it on cOmpulsion and Nlr. Wilde is too clever and
thinks too well of himself to let himself be beat at
this game with his cor temporarles. Accordingly,
be walks "a funeral pace with lennys0n IN . IN
NemOlalnp dances BaCChlnt-llke IN a brccch ClOut
with Mr. Swnburne, sings penItentIal psalms or
sOnnetS with ROSsattl on whom, by the way no
layishes the most eXtravagant praises, and writes
long strings Of aileSs verses In which Keats Is seen
reflected like the heavens in "A duck pond. Even
his reading Of Walt. Whitman is reflected IN some
of his titles. But, all the time, what Mr. Wilde
really is, never get the smallest mixing. ana
perhaps It woud be wasted time 10 try 10 learn.
Strange said Mr. Emerson, when he was asked
his opinion of Leaves of Grass" "StTange, that
man with the brain Of a god shOuld have snout
like a hog" And the story ran that Mr.. Wendell
Phillips turning the pages OF the book, remarked,
Here seem to be all sorts OF leaves except ug
leaves" . The prose preface Of ten pages double
columns is omitted, which Is pity, for 1t is very
characteristic of the author, and shows more
clearly than the book itself where the author came
from intellectually. Mr. Emerson said once of
certain philosophers that they had all lien milking
the same wedenbors; and Mr.. Whitman; a;
no one who reads his prose preface can Conbt, had
been for a long time milking the New-L2gland
Observation-Disclosures The preface read, Ike selection
of papers from The D'qi. Parts of it remind one OF
The Manuscript symphony OF Dolon,' but the most
OF II is an echo Of Emerson himself minus his music
The book. however was misunderstood as was to
have been expected. Mr. Emerson, who had tho
penetration to what was line and original IN II,
was as wrong in his Judgment OF one element IN u
rs was Wordsworth in his Judgment OF NIlhe5m
Meister.' As Mr.. Emerson himself reports: " ne
proceeded to abuse GOethes Wilhelm Meister'
heartily. 1t tul of all manner OF iOrnlcation;
Ii was like the crossing of flies in the air. lie had
ne yer gone farther than the first part dsgnsted
was no that he threw the book across the room" III
the marble purity of his mind Dir. Emerson was
more shocked than he need have been by Mr. w hit
mans plain speaking, for that after all Is all that
hi, much berated cOarseneSs amounts 10. At tlrst
he could not see the wood,god Tor his phaIIr'.
Later he wrote Il letter 10 Whitman, IN winch he
said. I" / greet You NJ the beginning of 4 great
career Whitman showed that he was not quito
n pod for he was so tckled with the compliment
thr hack OF n new edition of his book Thu was
breach of confidence, a, Mr.. Emerson thoueht and
he expressed his private Indignation n the liberty
taken. But what else did he expect lIad lie never
read ESop! =, ,,-,.., ....,
drawbacks. and no writer ever more freely invited
the public to an inspection gratis OF all his obles.
the fact remains that Nh Emerson was right IN
greeting him a. he did: If Whitman really does
nothing more than enlarge and eXaggcrate the
" Nature and tie first volume OF Essays OF ms
master he does it in way to ontitlc himself TO tho
award of originality as much as that master Is en-
titled to it, The doctrines OF lndiYlduallsu oil ler-
soual independence. of the unity OF souls OF tho
oneness OF man with the universe, OF the equal
tIth Of good and evil these ale al mere as we llu
heard them sWcetly or said by the Orphic seer
himself only they were here lambled. confused,
with endless repetition, without art without tiste,
without sense of proportion and absolutely Wthout
humOr. Here were scOru OF Jhe coh'cIl'lpuo Va
society By one who never knew them ana VINO was
as ignorant OF society as Digger lhulah INC
sincerity of COWS and dogs and horses, 10, whom
Alan and his wife and be Lord God walking III
tie garden IN the cool of the day were all rs one;
primal nakedncss of which the author maze great
show OF not being ashamed, known z wen enough
that the logic OF his position mace suilc UNI f.
able. And all this. with much more, was Put loIth
in good masculine English with llrihrl-!.Ho Src"u,
ness without mincing OF words or phrases .Wo
hcsrl the paln talk Of tarm-hands ana mechanics
of sailors and soldiers, without the lear OF women
The new edition OF Leaves of Grass" has
neither the unity nor the expression Of the Original
book 1t is not essentially altered IN the man part,
nor is what cOarsenCss was once there IN the ieISt
softcupd or eXpungrd, but it has been gone over
too much with the file rough as is still lelt an1
all that Whitman has written since the hIst DooN
"rrnar,d - crowled here pelEmcll without order
mr. sequence. He is neither "a true American nor
Greek We're he the former, he would have sense
OF hunor: were be the latter he would nav >clso
ot nrt Eut ,yn owe HIM a lust debt for being what
he j. and for the much that he has written Il woqd
not be easy TO repay him with grateful words. ne
and Emerson are the only poets we nave thus t''
olrnaJ. an the rest are mit3tOrs, or make
believes. or players upon iew>harps Iut Emerson
ATS far above Whitman by virtue OF ms H3DIe aIt
and little as he has produced, cannot be- DIoushI
mt" rownar,,on with his more profile disciple.