The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1884-04-22

AnE FOSaHLON OE POETRY HN
IA lecture delivered by Professor II. N. Fel-
kel at Libra. Hall, Tallahassee, March 25, 1894
Poetry like love 3 20 simple that all NAV re.
cognze and feel II, yet 90 subtle that none can de-
fine it. Integrally considered poetry is a thing
absolute and therefore defies definition But
like evei ything else of an ab,oute nature in the
light OF analysis it is found to have certain prop
critics and characte, st'cs which show its relation
to other things
Poetry has always been placed aneng the
nne arts Music, painting, SCULPTURE, arcRttec-
ture and pcetry-tf'ngs appal emily diverse in
their nature are cl' ID together, and by way of
distinction, demon ted the arts. Surely men
have not made this clas ncation without some
good reason therefor. Let US see if we cannot
find it. First let US coreider the work of the
painter Going nto an art gallery we are there
shown certain pr0duc''on that the cOnnoisseur
tells us is a fine work of srt and wo, b MANY
dollars. few f. ct distant we see COPY of the
same picture, fr,h, fr'- and TO outward appear
pearances quite as fine as the O. 9inal, but this
we are told is Of but little value I' we inquire
as to the respective al is who produced them,
OF the first we are informed that he "a or was
great genius but of the SEE I'D that he is mere
copyist and a man of no power Evidently the
technical skill in the one was no greater than
that of The other. ..Wheae ''sen Is the differ
ence?
ton: What is true art?
In the first place tue work of art must he
an expression q truth. An expression of t'u-h,
but not bare enunciatiOn of ruth. proverb
or an adage may express '"uth, but proverb or
an adage cannot be work of art
But you may ask what is truth? What do
you mean bv the use of this word We will
explain. We know it te be common charac,
tellstlc OF our nature TO experience emotions of
pity on beh"lding the sufferings OF the innocent
Now ii we give expression to this idea we EN-
body tldth. The bitterness of disappointment
is shared by every human creature and when we
call 1t TO mind we recognize it as Truth. These
examples will suffice to show what we mean hy
truth
Now as / have stated you may express an idea,
or fact, Fyou choose to call it so, of this kind
in proverb, but such an expression of it is not
a work OF art. To give To truth artistic express
sion the imagination must be employed. But
how can the Imagination enter into the express
| sion OF an idea which we may find anywhere en-
/ bodied in prOverb, or of thoughts suggested by
facts which we may and do meet with on al
most every hand? Here then we have to
swer the most important question which can
present itself TO our minds in connection with
the subject under discussion.
The Imagination can assist in constructing the
form. BY artistic form, we mean this: Suppose
you wish to express the idea of prayer. If you
are painter you might express this in several
of little child repeating its evening prayer at
the mothers knee; or Using higher, you might
picture medieval nun kneeling before the cru
ci1X, her hands clasped before, her hair stream
ing from her shoulders, and her eyes :urned up
ward 10 Heaven; or rising still higher, you
might depict the SavioT's agony, that sublime
and awful scene, in the garden OF Gcthsemane
Each OF these might be painted upon the same
material, OF the same size, and in substantially
the same coors, and yet each would have dis
tinct form from the others.
Or suppose you ere poet and desire TO cX-
press the idea OF happiness. YOL might do this
in several different ways. You might describe 4
beautiful boy taking for the first time ride on
his newly purchased pony or you might depict
! two happy lovers when first united in holy we'd
lock; or, 10 rise still higher, you night portray
so.le noble soul, who, having outlivcd all OF his
youths companions, still finds happiness ;he most
pure and most exalted, in deeds of scli-sac1ifice
for the good of others Here each might be cX
pressed in verse Written in the SINE measure and
Of The same elegance and putty Of dicion, and
yet he altoGethe diver in e. ,stic form
You will now understand from the illustra-
tons have ven WI It is meant by form when
applied to artIsic expre~ sion 1t is not the out
ward appearance of the work as it presents itself
to us-a tangible body-but it is the particular
embodiment which is given of the idea.
Now you can understand how the imagina-
ion might be employed in giving these various
forms to thought. But to have true work of
art we must have something more than the
mere picture form.
Here then we lay down the general principle
that a tue wolk of art is one in which truth is
conveyed in e'tisic form but not in 'Orm
which tue ordinary M I'D would conceive, yet
form which the Ordna j., mind must acknoWl-
edge to he appropl ate and true.
You will perceive then, in the first place, that
true work of ar, cannot be a mere transcript OF
nature. II must be an ideal expression OF ma
turc. For instance TO axe up the subject OF
happnc' again. In pres ening this thought if
your fOlm ls no higher, no mere suggestive, nor
more beautiful than the ordinary mind would
have conceived reproduction, whether paint
lug or poem, would not be true work OF a..
Your conception must be ideal, and to be ideal
ii must be above and more beautiful than the
real We may conceive of happiness as being
expressed in thors md 70 ms, but if our con-
ceplion Is not something beyond what may be
seen by us any day, CIr expression OF il, that is
the form We give it will not make it a work of
art.
OF course yon will understand that in what
have said assume that the painter or poet pos
sesses he power of perfect technical execution.
This power car not be left out of account. For
you may have 81 Imagination however vivid,may
be able 10 soar never 80 high in the realms OF
the ideal, yet if you want the technical skill to
give a fitting embod ncnt to your conception
you can never rank as great artist. Hence you
knowledge of any ait in order that you may
achieve success in that art. For example, if you
should have a magnificent and sublime poetic
conception q es3ayCd to put 1t in the form OF
verse you would fail utterly in making it fin
ished production, or an attractive work OF art,
without knowledge of the laws of prosody, an
explanation of which cannot now enter upon,
for this would require separate lecture.
But as / have show n, perfect Technical skill is
not sufficient alone At this point men have
often been disal ,ointed. Finding themselves
possessed of a Gel Ain tc ent for drawing or
rhyming they would ass ,e that nature in
tended them for painters or poets. They would
apply themselves until they had mastered all the
technicalties of their chosen art, and then dis
cover, after the best yeaIs of life had passed,
that the essential fl Guilty of the artist was want
ing in their nature In William Hazlitt, the
British essayist, we have a striking example OF
this He possessed some natural skill in draw
ing and m ked taste in the application OF col
ors, and he made up his mind 10 become an ar
tist-a painter He spent years in acquiring IA
ciity in the techr cal part Of his art, hoping that
he should thus achieve fame in his profession.
At length when past middle life his friends con-
vinced him that he pos. essed no imagination.
and therefore could not be a great artist 1t
was then he gave up psinting and turned his al
tention to litera. criticism, but his heart had
been left in his first love, and he could never
give the split and It to his literary work that
he might otherwise have done.
But TO return You will now understand
wherein there is a necessity for the Imagination
IN eve. , true work of art, and, understanding
this, you will be able to apprehend what is
meant by the words artistic creation. he inn
-. lzl1 80 A. ~k1s