Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-06-16
THEpoETRY OF TEARS.
Atlantic Mopthiy.l


curious thing.
"By no means" replied hepromptly.
ether composition is quite simple,
about ninety eight parts water and TWO
r,srts salt. albumen, and r'ucuS
did not pursue the conversation, out
thought. without saving so, that If tears
are not curious thing, professor OF
chemistry certainly is.
/ bsppenea. few days alter, TO re-
neat the conversation TO our professor
of physiology, who, bringing his super
ciisrv muscles into play, said "Simpie
as it may appear TO DR.. Atom, the gene
sis of tears rs quite complex process,
and they have multiple mechanical func-
tions. They are sccretcd by the lschry-
NAL gland. and partly 10y the orblcularis
muscle are conveyed into the Iachrymal
canal and thence into the eye. "hlch
thew food. and thus eiiectuate deHrslon,
facih;ste the movement of the eyeoall,
and preserve the transparency OF the
so-called cornea.
could only respond, 81 dare say.
All YOU tell me is very wonderful ana
very complex, INT how on earth 90 the
little babies learn to cry so early and 50
uell?" did not tell him that did not
cotnprehend n word he had uttered, ana
hence the wonder --OntJsS 'G"o'"H pro
r,g0nifco. Much less did / reveal what
was passing in my mind. 1t seemed to
me that science is like pin-very use
fnl for sticking things together, and very
nicely contrped for THIS purpose Dnt
one man spends his whole HE IN colhng
the head. smother in shaping the shalt
snd another in sharpening the point,
while each understands nothing but ms
own part of tine pin.
II next occurred 10 me to find ont
what the poets say about tears. They
traycl from earth 10 Heaven very rapidly
IN daring. desultOrv way, and always
through mists and clouds. seeing things
and parts of things very indlstinctly,
and rarely telling the truth about what
they 90 see vet Notwithstanding they
now and then seem to find out some
THINGS of more or less value which other
people DO not know.
AS we do not at present keep apro-
fessor OF poetry at our university pc
pan 10 rummage among my books. Inc
first lines that met my eye we're THESE
Tears. feelings bright. embodied FORM are not
More pure tnan dcwdrops, nst'lres tears
here Is a definition of tears that we
ran accept without averslon-tears are
the bright. bodily form OF feeling. The
poet does not tel us that when We weep
we age doing nothing more than secretng
a mncus fluid by means Of the leehry-
nal gland. He feels bound, however, TO
state the facttha tears are not more pure
than dexdrops The whole truth would
have been that they IRE not as pure by a
rood deal. Perhaps Mr.. Bailey did not
know that theY-eontain mucus, albumen,
and salt. We wish We did not possess
the uncomfortable information. We
shall never again be able to kiss the tears
from her cheek with the relish that once
We did.
Voltaire calls tears "the silent Ian
euage OF grief Pollock breaches:
sweet tears tho awfut language eloquent
OF Infinite Affection. IA too'eiS
For wOrts
Byron says "The test OF affection
a tear" If thiswere. only true
Shakespeare gives the necessary eau
ton
Trust not the@e cunning waters az his eye,
Fer v1lsiny Il not withOu. such rheum,
And no, long traded in IL makes ltseem
Like rlversof remorso aud innocency'
And Moore SAYS:
The smiles Of Joy. the tears OF woe.
Dscei:ful shine. decoitful now.
Again, Shakespeare says more coarsely :;
Iftba. the earth could teen with wornsn's tears,
Each drop she falls would prove crocodile
Bot under the circumstances, perhaps,
Othello. from whose lips the expression
falls. is not more trustworthy than
Byron.
Perhaps Tennyson has uttered the
real. though unsatisfactory truth
Tears, Idle tears, know not what they mean.
Certainly DR.. Young mislead his
gloomy friend Lorenzo IN his re-
searches upon this subject
Lorenzo, hast thou ever weighed a sigh.
Or studied tho philosophy Of tears!
Hast thou descepded deep into the breast
An, seen ibeir source /: II not. descend with me,
And trace these ortny rtv'iets 10 their springs
The Doctor was already too deep for
reality. as he not infrequently was. The
lachrJ,mai gland, the source OF tears, Is
not in the breast. but high up IN the
head, near the outer part of the orbit OF
the eye.
The feelings, as assigned by poets,
which start the flow of tears are diverse
and even opposite-msinly, however,
misery. grfei, and sympathy with the
sorrowing. but il has not escaped them
that Joy often weeps and that even
laughter cries
,Iep4ac,,s sOys
Wanipn to ftRBee-, seek 70 hide themselves
In DROPS OF sorrow.
Here is pretty smile m prose ::
"Tears OF JOY, like summer raIndrops,
are pierced by sunbeams.
do notrecolect an instance thor has
nv hasty glance at some poems sup
piled me with one) Of notice by poets
that tears are often brought into our
eyes not only by sorrow, anger, sympa-
tiny. and some other OF the stronger
emotions, bat that even merely aesthetic
appreciation of something heroic, beau
tltul. tender, affectlOnate, exquisite, or
strikingly appropriate will sometimes
make the throat swell, the voice falter,
and the surprised eyes overflow. Many
reader OF How Horatus Kept the
Bridge" or of the conclusion OF Lu-
fhers defence before the Diet OF Worms,
or Of the peroration of Websters reply
to Hayne, or of Coleridge's "Hymn IN
the Valley of Chamouni." or OF the
Ride from Client TO AK" will have
some experience OF this
Once 1 wss travelling from Dion to
Geneva IN company with a party Of
tourists, who were gsyly testing and
laughing under the exhilarating stimulus
of the ascent OF the Jura range on "A
faulsiess day, when suddenly deep 81
lsnee fell upon the group. The dill
gence had stopped on the last mountain
eresa, and the historic city, with its rush
ing Rbone, lay beneath us, and Mont
Bisrsh rose in the far distance. We had
gs2ed hardly Animate on thescene, when
one, perhaps not the least manly OF
our party, burst into an uncomfortable
eush OF teaxs, aud was Obliged to bury
his face IN his hat 10 hide his mortifica
ton al being Thus startled into such &
manifestation Of emotion. / knew &