Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1888-10-18
AGES OF AUTHORS
4. peri,d in Life When the Great
Masterpieces Of Human Genius
Have Been Written.
Forty Years or Younger.

.-,ocs5ible to write @~N DefOre The
- forsv.n NJ. Rsnan is better
NJ tbs condition of letters in his
W. s,n7tr7 than anyone on this side of
,Naptjc. He Is man of wide cul-
and an author VINO, as philosi phi.
v,itsr. occupies high position in
World OF book making. French
l y ia not what it was quarter Of
l' .'r,n-y ego. Compare the writers of
.,.v uiih those of that period Not
w.! MT an of them, is equal to Balzac or
o.,o And Dumas, the elder, is beyond
III, reach. The gulf between the two il
-,@ld be hard to measure.
D., Is that other ass ertion made
= A Rsnau, chat it is impossible to
a. veil before one 3 40 years of age,
....lv trasy This is one of those ques-
i,r, which il is easy to determine be-
"..ejt is not difficult mater TO array
s,s and draw conclusions. Undoubted-
Ma strength of a mantle full fruit
4, Of bis mental powers-reaohes it's
l,rsy. asa rule, during the decade be-
-, the age of 40 and so. IL is also
,os that many of the worlds greatest
g,,,o-v treasures were wri ten after the
,.,bor hsd reached Lis 50th year. In
ore cases even the Goth mile post on
AZ oprney to the grave had been passed.
IA, il 10 not true that as general rule
,,,bors have been unable to accomplish
,,.,. results before toe age of 40. Let us
sso a reuospeotive glance over the
history Of literature. 1t will be interest
"a, and instructive.
csvaa.,s, the great Spaniard was 80
,srs of age when he finished Don
,9Iote. He wrote it during an impris
Muen..
Dante wal also 80 years old when he
0rpstsd his Commedia-
I5nzoni, Italy's greatest novel writer,
note HE Betrothed when he vas 43.
10 Germany, Goethe wrote, his Sorrow
dWsrther when he was %. The de
4Atfab0ok made the young author fam
asa. once. He wrote his celebrated
drama Goetea Won Bsrlichingeu when he
~ q; his Iphegenie at 80, Egmout at 80,
gthsn Meister at a, an! mis- Majestic
Ematic poem, Faust, ghen ne was SO. He
bad been planning Faust in his mind for
nsny years previous, but il was put in
Nn and completed when the great Ger
nan philosopher and poet had passed the
asddan Of life.
Schiller was 10 when he wrote The Rob,
eH and rs when he composed Don
CsfI0s.
leasing was 81 when he wrote the great
nuqgt, Tbs Lsocoon; 43 when he wrote
b, tragedy Emslig Golotti; 46 when he
gave 80 the world his charming COMEDY,
Enls T0n Bernheim.
Heinrich Heine, wit, poet, satirist and
Philosopher, composed his first lyrics at
a-ls Youthful Sorrows. At 26 he wrote
s@.ebcate5 observation-disclosures of
In7el.
We come nov TO the authors OF NJ.
hlln's own country Mohere,
Ae greatest OF French dramatists, gave to
Ae world his plays at the following age;
Ls Fteoieuses Ridicules at 81, L'Ecole des
'uues 40, Tartuffe at AZ and lie Mis-
1ilt0pe, his masterpiece, at 40.
Racine another great dramatist, ex-
sliHg Ia me held OF tragedy, wrote An
@uaqus waen he was 2S. Iphegenie On
Al.id 81 b, Phaedre nv 80 and his best
t9e5N A'lalie, az 81.
vonsiiie, great poet and dramctist,
'Jle Nellie 40 %, the CID at 80, per
@ work., and at 81 he wrote his finest
a|e5g Poly
,otaige was "a when ne composed
.ip- and 26 when he wrote ZaiTe.
Ajs'eau wrote not much of any impor-
nee '1te he was 81 and then il was an
sy for prizs offered by the academy
Ulo1, which he won and became oele-
'tl. lie peDBed his Julie at 45 end
Hsl0ise az AZ.
e'or Hugo wrote Volume of odes
0a.is1s 80 20, Marion de L'Orme at
A1y Bias at SO, Les Miserabies, his
s,s, sork, at 90, and the TOilers of
Sea 81 GO.
O4nas the elder, was 20 when he wrote
7 Three Musketeers and AZ whtn he
s Toe Count of Monte Cristo.
Isz1o gave to France his Physio logy
Aai'!1gs at 81, and his Comedie Hu-
ll- including Pers Goriot, Cousin
~ 1asauie Graudet, ETC., after he was
Y s2gs composed his Gil Bias at the
s0t 49,
.-s history Of English literature shows
gsl.lS Of genius at very early age.
-es'iug to read M. Ia ne's his
z L-s,'sh literature if only to find
.'le-mau's reasons for this remark
5miug Of the higher forms of
intellect Carlyle wrote Sartor Ra-
ot the French Revolution at ~.
.9s- Burns ia an exception to all
A3 Ras divine genius. Shake
~ Is A'ao an exception. Hs likewise
& as true divine spark. Burns
Fl 81 toor Aaillie's Elegy and John
.!,o'4 49, and all of mis- best work
-ols before he was 20.
7 age Of % Shakespeare wrote
-sse@ His Venus and Aaonis was
Ht an earlier age. When be
'--4 ~, many OF bis best dramas
written, Richard III, Merchant
. Midsummer Nights Dream,
y II. and Ais Well That Ends
'4 bra wrote Hamlet.
when he wrote the Wis
iucrents, and past go when
d bis Noyum Organuu.
ioar of Wakefield, IS; The
The Good Natured Man, 80;
tary 81; She Stops to Con
: DRY OF Animated Nature, 4G.
ss. ft.ram Slandy, 46; The Sen
aa-ley, IS.
49,. Love in Several MARQUES, 20;
.sss, 35: jonathan Wild, Sc;
ssa.e Childe Harold when he