The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-11-24
PokrRy's INFLUENCE.
lrall Mall t;aset,r.l !

Ah AtAtt AAAGtN>t
 ] A working man sends ns the foliowlns sceouat of his own expezlenre as to sAe effect ef poetry on his own life. ltsosly recommendation. he semasks. Is iss ssrict and literal truth
 "ls the poel,c sensihility really gAins" You ask the question let me give brief and plain rcese~ ct my own experience during my apprenticeship to lite. was born nosth of the Tweed. Death too snon appeared ,n my home. and 1 was cast out on what fouad to be ehcesiess and calloas world. began to question fascA and wondered why nay lot should be so hard. became fcnd ot solitude. did not dream of the future. 1 could sec nothing beyond the cruel present. with Us daily deadcning dssdgesy. i,u, these came . change. l was on my way one clear and sharp winter nigh, to my lonely garres lodging when l paused on the bridge across which had To pass, leaned over the pArapct. and was gas,ng down on the black depths, when suddenly experienced mental change which al tered the whole current oi my being. could not account for II nor analyfc It then, and cannot do sc now but there n was, A ~,de vista ot hope and pes>lb.l- fly was spread out before me. l seemei in an instant tc have entered on ncw and nobles stage of life, had suddenly awakened ,o a new perception ot the beautiful. although the lght vas ,e, dim
 About ,h,s tune found companion who was fond ot books. He took nc often home with h,m. and we spent the evening m reading Rusns and Byron and Scott Hyton was the tasor,te. We never tired ot h,m Ia Gtahams "Sahhath and Rollosk's ", curse ot Tune" totgot- ten though both be nowadays. our youth. tnl minds found numerous passages which pleased. Summer came. and be- an to discover .n my walks many ot the beauties oi nature abon, which the poet sang, In the trees and flowers, the s,cy hills aud green valleys, the simple ham- lets, wlth theu blue smoke curling up Mat,s in the eioamins. the r,ssne and >eI ting sun. l experienced an ncApte>ssbe pleasure Whi, h had never known before tn Sundsys ! sought the country more and the kirk less. The haIman,es whi.h d sl,gh, btcefc st,fted tn the hf woods ueaI ml home were la tnc iat sseetet than the sttalnS ot the well ained chon .n the old cathedral. IL was at this stage that my love oi dcsetptnc poetry was strongest lhc fi,sonets ot hiilon and the death ui iiaidee had far mofc at. fractions then than In Memottam The years slipped away and the tnesna. bic change. iollowcd III then ttaln. fof- tune ordained tha, should N,sn tete,gn lsnds And shat Joy then my acquired tastes gave me shall never iotge, the day l Npent al the waterfall in the island oi Icnange than winch spo, there IN not A more beautiful ,n ths beautiful would
 ,evelipg III the wealth oiunpi, al acn- cry who h thetr ahounds And heating singapatc how truly. trlt. did Irnny. sons lines destithe the scene "sunmet ,sles oi Eden l,'ng tn ,la'k purple spheres of sea Then and cvet afterwards thanked t.nd with all my heart that | had learn-d te read aad appreciate pae,fS.
 aescisi yeAis ui quiet lie an sn island tn the ess, ,teascd tenlold my po. eie srusibiln," What to many men would have been supple han,shnrn, only siiotd ded mr an ese ellen, opportunity of getting acquainted ~,h ihe ~e.ks oi xiost of the men ~ho have made English poetry what II is. Az my knowledge oi the,r writings ~idened, my syinpa,hies ~ith all m ankind qule kened 1 sas hun. d,eds oi umes brutrs m human shape tom this old England oi ours kick and cuff the helpless preasais. and my blood boiled returned to my native iand with a deeper experience of lie. and gtta'e, dcs.te Ia do what l could to les sen the sufeting ot some who beai so much l wslk through the streets oi ,h,s mighty metropolis somrtitn~s and cal II ~ta<ness and unmaniy II you will th tears stat, to my eyes al tho scene l vee. II va, poetry that opened my eyea To these things. and many more beside 1 ,h,nk were |, only poSsihir tp get some of the ponf cicatui~s thai ,htong our thafoughiafes and teach them io see some oi the beau ties oi nature. what different men and women they would become 1 have lil He time t1 read poetry uo~ Twelve hoH's per day of hard work leave no lelsurc Tor the cultivation of the mind liui. thank heaven. have good mem ory And .inid all the hustle and wotty si'h which have tp on,end, 1 often ts call a setse hr ptetar~ tfon some af n} faso,iie authors. which makes the ~hesls of esis,rnee tun far more smoothly than they would otherwise do No man an truly love poetry and the beautiful ln the material and moral worlds without beihg the better for it. Life s worth hvtng and poetry does more to brighten and ennoble II lhsn mos, persons suppose Poetic sensib.li,y. then, hoid IS really d gan"