Wichita eagle., 1890-01-25

all alike surprised ana Delighted. OuCu
universal popularity must imply rare .f ex,
could hardly exist without merit. That
his works are read more and more eagerly,
more and more extensively by other ma
tionalities outside of Scotland a generation
after he is dead is proof of his greatness
After the lapse OF SO many years IL Is
plain that his writings have given occasion
for the most royal warrant OF fame ana
appreciation ever granted TO poet or sage.
Net understood or appreciated by the
people OF his time as he should have been,
we see now through the serene light of in-
tervening years what constituted his
greatness.
Let US now examine the ground of the
excelency of this wonderful man. In
what does his merit consist? And in the
first place it lies largely in mis- sincerity.
Whether he writes prose, poety or song,
his style is not only simple, vigorous. ex-
pressiYe and beautiful. but it is without
affection. II is sincere. There is nothing
weak Or garrulous about him. He saw
through character at a glance.
In playful tenderness he had no superior
He was full of humor but also full OF prac-
teal sagacity. He was a sincere man.
The passions which he describes are all
natural-such as lived and giowed in his
own heart The scenes he portrays, rude
and humble though they be, are all his
They inspired him. They kindled IN him
noble thoughts, beautiful emotions.
His poetry was purely the outpourings
of the moment, the response OF the heart
to the circumstances of life. Its charm
aud power lie not alone In the feeling eX-
pressed, but also ia its freshness from life
aud in truthfulness and sincerity. He
was one of the most sincere of men. Ia
his life as in his poetry there was no at
fectation, no cant. His loves his Joys,
mis- friendships. were all real and his
miseries
No idly feigned poetic fancy"
Another reason for the singular and
wide popularity of Burns was his happy
choice of subjects. He does not choose the
distant, the imposing, the great. He does
not write from hear<ay, but from sight
and experience. He is poet OF natures
own making aud from nature he took his
subjects.
He lived and toiled amid the scenes he
described. He speaks because his heart Is
full and he speaks what is in him. 1t is
the scenes amid which he lived and
labored, the rough scenes of Scottish lite
the straw roof, poverty, the lowly, the
obscure. These rude and humble scenes
inspired him. What lies at his feet, what
comes under his eye, the joys, the sorrows,
the loves the fears and the hopes of I'M
heroic persons; farm laborers, nut-brown
maidenS, the OWrie cattle. the wounded
hare the ''Muris and moses many" OF his
own loved Scotia and her lone glens. these
are to him the subject of finest insplra-
ton.
The "hoar visage of winter" the voice of
the tempest, the scenes of solemn desola-
Jion, all these interest him. Touched by
the gloom and the misery OF winter
how tenderly he thinks of the
''owrie cattle" and the SILLY sheep"
2 hot do ba Il nd Str trIp
through the drift for shelter, his sympathy
goes out to these in the cruel tempest and
with the bird whose spring song delights
him but was now suffering the beats OF
the pitiless storm.
Oh, it is touching; it is wonderful. amid
the gloom of personal misery that sur
rounds this man, a tenant of Il lOwly hut,
that ne should have heart to pity all
these. 1t is the voice OF sympathy, 1t IS
the voice of mercy, it is the voice OF Burns.
His soul goes out into all the realms OF
being with tenderness, with compassion.
His is the great endowment of noble ma
ture with every living thing.
Homer and Virgil and Shakespeare and
many others have left the impress OF their
minds upon their compatriots, but none of
them have voiced the thought and speech
of the great mass of their countrymen as
Burns He was zone of the people" and,
while not the equal of these giants of ln-
tellect, he has been taken closely to mems
hearts. The poor man, the patriot, the
man of sympathy each call MIN friend
each feel him brother. 1t is impossible to
find nature with a deeper insight and
wider mpasSlon than belonged to Burns
In everything he sees humanity. In him
the depth of tenderness, OF passion, OF
imagination blend in the clear light of
truth and love of nature. He had heart
that flowed out in sympathy for all living
and lifeless things. The daisy falls not
unnoticed under his pillow nor the ruined
nest of that wee covering Uimerous
beastie." 1t finds in him pity for being
turned out of its home of "leaves and stlb-
ble," which cost it ''mony weary nlbble,"
and sympathy by being compared with
man, Tor
The best laid schemes Of mice and men gang aft
And leaves US naught but grief and pain for prom
How Tenderly he describes its fears;
"Oh, what panic in thy 6rea~tle;
Thou need not start ava SO hasIy'
WI pickering brattlel
I wad be iaiJh to rim and chase thee
WI numbering prattle,
I'm truly sorry man. dominion
Has broken natures social union,
And iuStihes that iii opinion
Which makes tFee starle
AT me. thy poor earth-b0rn companion
And fellow mortal
Burns had true poets soul. He loved
to walk forth amid nature. The sounding
rustic scenes of Scottish life, he loved.
Such life was perhaps one OF the
humblest, one of the rudest, but 1t was his
life He became poet in that life, and
this life, its history. its music, Its superStl-
ton, its patriotism, It's heroic memories,
were all illustrated by him IL most Won
derful manner.
He saw a world of poetry III common ev-
erv day life; in the ways and customs, the
loves and griefs of his fellow peasants. He
has word and a tone TO express every
mood of man How deep and how pierre
ing IN his sorrow; in his JOY what rapture.
How soft and sad are his tears, how laugh
ing his mirth, how sweet his smile. Ihe
Jolly BegCar'' is perhaps the most strict
" poeuical OF all his poems. The subject
is taken from the lowest department OF
human life, but the genius OF Burns raises
it to the domain of art. In real poetic
rigor. true harmony, hghtness OF move
meut with precision Of detail, 1t Is a word
picture true to nature.
Burns love Of country was rarely, if
ever. excelled. How anxious he was 70 do
something for his Caledonia, and yet it
seemed to him he could DO so little, but
his influence after ali was of no small mo-
ment on the literature of Scotland. One
small province stood open to Barns. Twas
that of Scottish song; how devotedly he
labored in il; what purity, what sincerity
OF expression we uUAI III lEtsc SOuH>. no"
truthfuily they deal with the tender pas
sions; no poison is ministered in secret
INFO those manly strains, but everywhere
is discovered the native nobility and direct
ness of his character.
One OF the finest specimens of domestic
song of which there IS any record is that OF
John Anderson My 10 John
His Bacchanaliau songs are rot coarse
or vulgar, as some would have Us think.
His willie brewed a peck OF malt" his
scotch drink" and his Earnest prayer
and cry" are full OF humor, and breathe