The Hazlehurst signal., 1883-12-27
RELIGIOUS DOUBT AND MODERN
POETRY.

The fatal nnrr0WinJ tendency which
attends the intellectual processes oil
skcpticism Is nowhere seen in more
startling light than in its action upon
poetry. The freshness and spontancity
OF song is lost, the lyrical cry becomes
a lyrical wall. simplicity and ul'ne'sof
emotion become unknown, and the
Imagination, having lost courage for
ANYTHING like colossal effort, is frit-
tered. away. and wastes itself in SPAS
modic and often morbid creation.
There Is no clearer lessen taught us 10y
the history of human thought aud action
than tha, the greatest deed and uttcrancc
are impossible without the serenity and
courage which spring from living faith
with God. The great poet must, like
Milton, ever live In his great task.
masters eye. and then he will not fail
to make his own life true poem.
There is no compensation for the lossof
faith in poetry. Doubt may sometimes
lift its cup full of the wine OF misery to
the poets lips. and he shall drink and
find a certain bitter cxhilaration in the
drauCht which fires the mind with brief
poetic fcrpor, but that throb of short
and daring effort Is oil too dearly pur-
chased. The world asks that It's poets
shall be prophets; that It's singers shall
be believers; that their inspiration shall
bc drawn from above. else II were bet.
ter that their gift died IN them, and
their song were never sung.
The keystone In the arch OF life Is
God. II once the poet pluck that down,
what wonder is Il that all his life falls
straighlway into ilIimitable despair and
ruin? What wonder that the stars fade
one by one above him, until at las. he
sits in cities of dreadful night, and bows
his head, and only asks 10 dc? In
poetry, as In philosophy, 1t is needful to
Insist upon the abiding power and
presence of the religious instinct. All
outrage done to that is outrage upon
that which Is noblcst In humanity. 1t
brings its rcvcngcs with 1t, and the
Nemesis which follows skepticism In
poetry Is confusion and paralysis of
power and effort. Nor is IL possible. rs
Tcnnyson has shown us, for any man to
be even Indifferent to the religious in
siinct. and yet be great poet. 1t Is
not given to the mighticst genius to
sit as god, holding no form OF creed,
hut contemplating oil.
In attempting to shun the most
solemn problems of the universe. and
work ont for himself n perfect intel
lectual culture, such q poet simply
builds palace OF art, whose splendid
corridors ring ut last with his despair,
and all whose glory he Is glad to barter
for cottage in tho vale where he may
mourn and pray. Tho religious in
stincts of the race have always been
the secret springs which have fed the
great poetry OF the world; and the
iconoclast who would propose to HIM
self the daring programme OF ellmi'
mating faith in God from the poetic liter
aturc OF England would speedily dis
cover that his proposition meant the
destruction Of everything which the
common consent OF four centurie, has
yo.cd best worth preserving.
From Robert Browning we may take
one line which should be the first article
In any poets creed: earth changes
but thy soul and God stand sure"
From tho verse Of him "who uttered
nothing base" we may quote whn
seems to us rs beautiful conception o
the poet as poet ever uttered, and ont
which our generation were wise In lay
ing to heart. The true poet Is
t2ne I'm whom persuasion and belief
Have ripencd into fath, nnd faith become
| 4 passionate Infusion.
Rec. w. j. DGpson.