Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-04-16
4 Rod-Caw Fplc.

Arkansas has produced its first h. ro-
ic pn' m, for advance sheets which
We are indebted To ills author, Mr..
Rncke!'y of Bm-Caw. Its title inciu-
siv. il: The River Siyx. "a Dream of
\ bout Five Th"us;, .pd LIn. S. Divid-n
Int" Nine Parts. Discussing the Mi :
lenijia, r ign of Christ" Though, a>
we should judge from n miu"r p sm AL
dressed Ia the punpSir and Appended
to the epic, in " hich tt,. author says:
I love the far North, so rugged and cold,
Where the pumpkins, with delight, often
behold
though we should judge from this and
similar ref FENCES 10 the br' we and
hearty North where the au h.r spent
his youth. that ht is only cit zen "i
Arkansas by adoption, the state may
claim that his muse il entitled to her
naturaliZati' papers. The moral tom"
and sentiment of the River Styx, IA
Dream of A bout Five Thousand" e:c. :.
is of II high order, anu the interest j.
well sustained throughout its nine can-
tos This is n merit l,oss-s-pd by fe
epic poets. In his Description and
ciasSifica iinu If the ships his constant
repetition of the same lines in drscrii'-
ing combats; III his l"rpeiuallv recnr-
ring assertion thatrvery wa rior VIII m
he found il convenient to xii. was pierre
"a thrnugil with a far reachitg spear
and fell Changing as his pale ghost II
tie ruby portals oi his lips, descending
to gI .omy hades, Homer himself fre
quently falls short of sustained interest
So to Virgil, t $50, Dante aud Milton,
not one uf " hnm ,gualied Mr.. Racket,
in tie wide rausr'' su jrct and variety
of inrident. In fat, there is no suljrci
w-are ahlr t" think of just now that
Mr. Rockehy does not at least touch on.
Til. ugh he S sorioinal. as we shall slow
he seems tn have 'rme,i himself up ~
Tasso. AS proof, we may iust.ncr
the tact that both the y ru~alem De-
livere.ir and the River StyX" are di-
vitied into cantns
Though our space Is too limited To
allow US to follow the thread of the
narrative. and though i'm the multitude
of gems in whirh the River Styx"
abounds, we are at some loss for h
choice, We may premise that the hero
ine of the epic met during its cnu 81
(hefore the arrival of thu millsnniufn)
with misfortune in which u young
man and All old mail We're instrumental,
and then proceed tn extract the follow
ing description of Arkansas i'm the mil
lennium ptri.,d:
Here are Stalwart pines, there massive oaks,
And from their huge branches the raven
cruak>.
Whilst The gray squirrel gambols o'er each
branch,
And undrrn -afh them large. white blossoms
dance
Upon the modest dog wood in full bloom.
Dispensing c'"ling shade at sulvry noon.
And bread fields, too, in the near distance
spread.
Whose bnun,eous products di>arm our dread
The apple. peach AMI other fruit trees,
Show white and pink blo>som, under their
leaves,
Some have dropped from their fruit bearing
bud,
Exchanging their brown for the tint of the
mud.
1t may he objected that"bloom" does
not rhyme tu "noun," nor ..tre..,~" "a,
"lrav-~." We have OILY to answer
that is an inscrntat,le Il sp. nsation uf
Provi 'ence which il do,s not b, c..,li
us to inqUirr into. AS n metaphysical
question, ii mig lie argu q nf it. that
rhyme is arbitrary, and that There is
nothing under the nrgauic laws of na-
ture To- prevent "bIo.m" from rhynling
To "noon.h but We prefer To- SILENCE all
cavil on this seor.', with the fact that
"oaks does rhyme to ''croaks,o - which
is better rhyme than Homer ever
made in his life.
Upon the spiuster who watched the
hero md heroine. i'm vine-clad seqGest-
cred nookn with her "sp rkling eye.
glowing iuquissuve, ready 70 spy, each