The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1889-03-21
Sl.5O PER YEAR.
THE LYGEUM.
-
Prof shaw's Entertaining REperl-
menta with Air.
A. Musical FeaBt-aen, Sherwood on tho
Literature Of tho War-V6rY
Large Attendance,
THE LYGEUM.

church W. crowded last evening, and
tho eyoniD,F'a entertainment waa Of un-
! usual interL at
Prof shaA "a lecture on "Some things
about tho wa Id We live in," was an at
tEactiYo foatn 70, His lecture was on
Aiy, with intA resting and unique ap-
paEatus % demo nstrate the force Of his
remarks, The oublC was of a high or
dor OF merit sd os were rendered by
Miss Bessie llarrA on, Miss Ethel Yates
ana Mr. Paul KnA lpe An tho mem-
bors were heartily 4 pplouded The leo
ture wal delivered b y Gen, sherwood,
topic. Tho Literh ure of the War
Period 1861 1890 " Q have only yspaoo
Tor brief synopsis
Gen Sherwood gaid This great war,
tho lcrsoat, the doadls at aud longeat
enduring OF modern t.L Qe9 haa given
! but little permanent ma nature TO tho
| Nation or The world, "a vas Time for
| intense pclSOu, but not fec thought 10
| was q period Tor nGN lng history
| not for recording it The books grow
ug out Of the wac Gre but ! 'HW There
UlG less than four huudtN = To date,
from both North sud SouN b aud the
best history Of the conflict lJl not by AN
American, but by % FrenChn nn Tho
thoughts and desires and pursuits
oil men were all thrown into - 10 great
witches cauldrOn, ana II 10 yOt 90 soon
for the best extracts Of The 4 rev 10
work through the heGria and ph sos OF
men 10 Is not tire epoch which
achieves results that i8 the mHt er OF
books, but the succeeding ep0cN that
reviews reaulll. Let me WTitA the
songs OF people, some ono 0ayB nd l.
care not who make the Lawn a qidO
from the songs and bnA ads
Of the war there 10 little li.s ra-
ture worth preserving In TIM ,es
like these the pent up emotions Of m m
and women leave the level plains II
prose and mount the DIZZY heights Q Il
poetry sud song THIS must aoooun /
FOR the fact that, aside from LinColnli
Gettysburg 0rati0n, Edward Everett
llaleR' "Man Without u Country" andA
few notable Orat0rial efforts by Henry
Ward lieeCher aud Col lngOB0ll the
literature OF chief value, relating 10 tho
war is itg poetry. Nor, In this no
spect is America different from any
other country What hayO become OF
the exploits Of Ulysses and hgamemnon
and Achilles Of the glorious Hector
and the defenders OF Troy save what is
q Virgil In flowing Greek and
sturdy Latin. What N The nnCst lltera.
ture OF th5 Bible, but the battle OdO8 OF
Miriam and Deborah, and David, the
sweet singer of Israel TaasOS com
momoratiOn Of the conflict OF the
Crusaders 10 reclaim Jerusalem from
the lnndel, TNnnsOu'A tales of King
Arthur's Court. Sir Walter SGOtta
rhythmic story of the exploits of the
Scottish border knights; Lord llyron's
Isles OF Greece aud Waterloo These
Ore the works that commemorate great
events and strike every nOta In the
gamut Of human emotion Gen, Shet.
wood then gave u list Of tho
leading wGr poets aud song
writer's, grave, humorous lyric and dra'
matte, and quoted specimens from zach.
Lack of GpueG iOrbids recital here.
The list includes song wrllora and poets,
both North and South. lie said
IL is u remarkable fact In our history,
that Of all our National poets, Whittier
In The only ono who entered with heart
and feeling into the spirit of the war.
LOugfellOw did not write 4 single line
TO aid the struggle, and Vim, Cull0n
Bryant with the single exception of q
short ode, was AZ still as the grave an
quite aS cold, Walt Whitman wrOt0a
dramatic poem Of great power, and
Ralph Waldo Emerson says Whitman
Ia the greatest National poet America
has yet produced Edmund O. Sted-
man sprang into prominence In 1862,
with the poem "Giy0 us u Man, which
80 deeply impressed President Lincoln
that he read the poem to his CabnoI.
IL seemed 10 voice the heart cry OF the
Nation for man 10 command the
army OF the Potomac. Tho greatest
dramatic poem of the war N "Sherl-
dams Ride written by Thomas Bu-
chanan Reade, inspired by SheridanB
magnificent lighting ut Winchester
This poem came white hot and com.
plete from the poets brain, at single
sitting, The grandest lyric poem Of tho
war was written by u woman,
The Battle Hymn Of the Republic,
by Julia Ward Howe. She wrote
II by the cleaning camp Ores Of the
army Of the Potomac. The most pa.
thetic poem of the war, was by Father
Ryan, u Catholic Priest OF Mobile, Ala,
bama, entitled "The Conquered ban,
ner," II was written In an hour when.
the news came OF Lee's surrender, with
the collapse of the OonfoGeracy 10
BlnBS tne requium OF the lOBt cause
with pathos and fe9ling, indicating
the deepest deeps Of that despair, whom
all Is lost, of earthly hopes, or Of the
herafter. While thg war period is
crowded with heroes and heroic achieve
mouts II produced no great epic poet;
nor has the country as yet producSd an
enduring epic of the war, Themuso OF
history and the muse OF poesy have
not In marriage bond sOnt un their
ringing oadenCes to heaven, OVer tho
grandeur OF the theme, Vicksburg and
Mission Ridge, Nashville and Raleigh;
Gettysburg and Appomattox. The poet
who shall weave this woof oa shining
gold into enduring epic song is yet un-
born.
In the atkence OF President Clark
fonner Mr. Q, &. Row ofIloiated with
his usual grace and dignity.
An imperative NoaOsaity.