New Ulm weekly review., 1884-11-26
THE EABORS OF GENIUS.
PIatc's Thirteen Versions of a Sentence
Tennyson's Struggle With Meter
Bret Earte and Bryant Laborious
Writer'S,

The great Plato, whose thoughts
seemed to come so easy, is said to have
toiled over his manuscripts, working
with slow and tedious elaboration The
opening sentence of s'The Republic''
on the authors tablets was found to be
written in some thirteen different ver-
sions. When death called him from
his work the great philosopher was en-
gagged at his desk s'combing and curl
ing and weaving and unweaving his
writings after variety OF fashions
The celebrated French critic, Sainte-
Bcuve, was accustomed to devote six
days to the preparation of single one
of his weekly articles. A large portion
Of his time was passed in the retirement
Of his chamber, to which, on such oc-
casions, no ndividual-with the excep.
ton Of his favorite servant-was allow
ed to enter under any circumstances
| whatever. Here he wrote those critic
al papers which carried captive the
heart Of France, and filled with WOn-
| der the cultivated mind everywhere.
The historian Gibbon, in speaking of
! the manner il which he wrote his ''De-
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire"
said: "Many experiments were made
| before could reach the middle tone
| between a dull tone and a rhetorical
defamation. Three times did I COM
pose the first chapter, and twice the
second and third, before [ was tolera-
bly, satisfied with their effect" Lamb
| toilcd most laboriously over his essays.
These papers, which long ago became
as classics in the English language,
1 which are replete with the most delicate
iancies, were composed with the most
cNacting nicely. Yet their author is
regarded the world over as possessed of
genius Of high order. La Rochefou-
cauld was occupied for the space of fif-
teen years in preparing for publication
his little work called ':Maxims," re-
wrifing many of them more than thirty
! times.
The great Belzac, after he had made
plan of a novel, and had, after the
most laborious research, gathered to-
gether the materials which he was tc
embody in it, would lock himself in his
private apartment, shut out all the
light of day, and then, by the aid of his
study lamp, he would toll day and
night over the work before him. His
servant, knowing so well his peculiar
habits, would attend to his every want
bringing him the necessary food with
which to sustain his physical needs
and thus he would toll on and on, unit
finally, with his task completed, as ht
thought, he would come forth from hi:
:. retirement looking more dead thar
alive. But invariably his task would
not be altogether satisfactory to him
after all, for again he would seek tn,
, seclusion of his chamber to rearrangt
! and make more perfect that which h
had before supposed wholly complete
Then, too, when in the hands of tn
printer, he would be as apt as not t,
alter, in one way and another, tn
! manuscript, until both printer and pub
Usher rwere on the verge of despair. King
, lakes beautiful "Eothen'' was rewrit
, ten half dozen times before it wa
given to a publisher for consideration
: Tennyson's song, "Come Into the Gar
, den, Maud,' was rewritten some fifty
times before it gave complete satisfac
, ton to the author.
Coming to the gifted Addison, who's
diction is full of such grace and sim
! plicity, so much as to create envy, We
. admiration, in the mind of every write
who has fourished since his day, W,
find that the great author wrote witt
the most painful deliberation. It j