Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-03-17
DRIFT.

II anyone were TO ask me what Is the
most important literary event OF the sea.
con, my answer would be, the appearance
OF q new volume Of poetry by James Rus
sell Lowell. am not sure but that II is the
most important occurrence in literature for
. good many seasons.
Unqucstionabiy Mr.. Lowell IL the great.
est American poet now living, In fact, /
feel more and moro sure, his latest volume
has helped very materially TO strengthen
the conviction, that the verdict OF posterity
will be that In James Russell Lowell
American literature first resched maturity,
that In him its blossoms were most fully
developed and iis fruits most perfectly
ripened. In saying this do no. cherish
the memory Of Longfellow any the lees.
His poetry will ever liDger In our hearts
and homes, ~ their fondtss expression.
Nor do abste one particle OF my esteem
and reverence for our dear old Quaker
poet" noble champion OF the right, clear
voice Of the national conscience. Bu. are
not these very characteristics, which give
10 these two poets their popular distinction,
the marks also OF certain evident llmita-
tlons, combining their excellence within
more or loss rpecisl sphere'
Lowell's superiority, It seems to me,
lies Just In this, that he 10 not specially q
poet OF the heart, or Of the conscience, but OF
the whole soul OF the co nplete manhood OF
the age. He is a. earnest and rs nobly out
spoken for the right and true % Whittier,
but stands upon q broader, deeper founds-
tion, not only conscience, or conscience and
feeling, but intellect as we'll; and all
fashioned and expressed, moreover, with
al artistic finish sometimes sadly missed
in the older poet. Indeed, while he has
all the consummate art oi LongfelIow, all
OF his wide soholarship and graceful
delicacy Of thought, feeling, and ex preston,
his spiritual horizon IN q wider one, his
range larger, higher, and deeper. While
soaring as high, or higher, than any before
him, and penetrating to profounder depths,
he yet does 30 more harmoniously, that IL,
without deetroy Ing the symmetry Of the
spiritual sphere which bi- muse inbabits
and flis In every part with melody and
heavenly beauty.
On the very verge Of three SCORE years
and ten, an age at which most begin TO
| drop less fruit than sere and yellow leaves,
! he seems as fresh and virile as ever. There
| In none of the fond, regrstiul look ing back
ward at the "good old times, none OF
| to be noticed In his latest volume. Evil
IDENTIFY still for him.
"'tis the saddest sIgh, to see
An old man faithess In Humanity"
aud he believes Rs firmly M he did at the
very beginning of his career that
"The present moves ATTENDED
With ali of brave and excellent an tair
That made the Old time splendid"
One quality forgot 10 mention, without
~ph lab a, t,o ka
and In which Lowell always has stood
| preeminent in our literature, his humor. 1t
WAS this that first brought him fame AT
home and abrold and indeed 1t was this,
too that long kept his other, greater quail
| ties from receiving due recognition. In
| the popular mind he remained all too long
only the author Of tho "Blglow Papers. /"
| He had long to suffer Tor negleciing the
| warming DR.. Holmes somewhere gives
young authors, to beware OF becoming cele
| brated for witness, AZ the public Will ever
| after persist In laughing even at their most
| serious utteTances, 1t II only In the last
fifteen, or perhaps twenty, years that MIR.
Lowsll's foil greatness as an all-round poet
| has come to be recognized, popularity
| mean. While his fame M q humorist has
not been diminished, 1t has at least been
relegs,ed to Its proper place, as only one OF
his claims to greatness.
That this humor OF his In still as keen Rs
ever Is abundsntly shown In his latest vol.
ume. don't think anything In the "Big.
low Papers" themselves Is funnier than the
poem "At tho Commencement Dinner,
1866 In acknowledging toast to the Smith
| Professor" 1t Is 80 characteristic Of that
Kind Of Mr.. Lowell's humor that must
give you at least the opening stsnzas OF It.
They will bs particularly appreciated by
Il A. hau h.A skx /, 10. hnn
Of replying TO toasls, or who expect to have
"Irise, Mr. Chairman. as both Of US know,
with the impiomptu 1 promised YOU three
Dragged up 10 my doom by your might and
| my name,
And feel Ike your good honest doigh when
BY stirring. .impertincnt aevIl of ysas,. =,
ou inu,t diss; says the ieaVeh' - can T.
Just examine my bumps. and youn say It's
"But yon must" the tormcnter insists, "'tis
You must rise when l bid you, ana. what's
more. be light"
"'Iis dreadful oppression. this making one
what we'ie sure TO be sorry for all the next
| week
This asking some p;or stick. like Aaron's. to
Into Q oquence, pathos. or wit in cold blood.
| spte on
Couia pssor, hke an OK by mere poking' TO
"Ihey say It is wholesome to rise ith the
| Ana dare cav 4, may ho 4, M, ovsr,on..
Il think 1t was Thonso who m sde the remark
Twas an excellent thing In Its way-ior a
But to rise alter dinner and look down the
| meeting
On a distant (as Gray calls III prospect OF hat
| wu, s,,m.o n, ho,,,,uo,, ,.r.nr,r, No.,