The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1890-12-27
IN A PoEr's YOUTH.
william Cullen Bryant's Early Lyricai
Aspirations add Performance


The poet Bryant was IN exception
10 the rule which ordains that preco-
cious children shall either die whiie
young or become ordinary men. says
the Youths Companion. On his hrst
birthday .'he could walk alone. and
when but few days more than 10
months old knew all the letters OF the
alphabet" In his sixth year he was.
as he himself tells us. IAN excellent
almost infallible speller. and ready In
geography In his sixteenth year he
entered college. having mastered III
less than a wear all the Greek anu
Latin required for admission 10 tho
sophomore class at Williams college.
The boy was rs precoeious in rhyming
as in studying. Before he was I'D years
old his grandfather gave him pence
for "A rymed version of the first chapter
of Job, and the country paper pub
lished rhymed description OF tho
school he attended. which he wrote and
acclaimed.
John Bigelow. in his life of Bryant.
saws that ''though these early verses
gave no particular poetical promise
they were remarkable for two char
acteristics by which all his poetry was
destined 10 be distinguished-the cor
rectness both of the measure and the
rhyme"
So intense was the boys ambition
10 be IA poet that he not only read what
poetry fell i'm his way. but IN his priv
ate cheyotions often prayed with feryor
that he might receive the gift OF poet
ic genius. and write verses that might
endure"
"rhanatopsis. the poem which gave
him national fame. was written IN
1911. before he had attained his eight
eenth year though IL was not published
until 1917. The story of its publication.
ns told by Mr. Bigelow, is unique
literary anecdote.
One day DIR. Bryant, the youths
father, while looking through tho
! drawers In his sons desk came upon
some manuscript verses. He read them.
and was SO impressed that he hurried
10 the house OF friend and thrusting
the verses into her hand, exclaimed.
while tears ran down his cheeks,
Read theml They are Cullen's."
la few DAYS the doctor went to
Boston. without communicating his in
tention 20 his son, 20 show these verses
to his friend William Phillips. who was
one OF tho editors of the North american
Repieso, then two years old. He left the
verses nj the Office of the ReuieD with
out their authors name or any intima-
ton OF their parentage.
Mr.. Philips read them and went to
Cambridge 10 submit them 20 Richard
III. Dana and Edward I. Claiming, his
editorial colleagues. They listened
while Mr.. Phillips read the manuscript
aud heard the little he had TO tell about
its history.
'Ah. Phillips" said Dana, with n
skeptical smile. ''you have been inn
posed upon. No one on this side of
the Atlantic is capable Of writing such
verse
Inquiries, however. showed that MIR.
Phillips. instead OF being imposed upon,
had read to them the poems written by
an American boy who had not yet at
tanned his eighteenth year. One OF the
poems was entitled "Thanatopsis,
and appeared IN the September num-
Der OF the ReUlci0 for 1917. The poem
which accompanied II also appeared Ia
the same number under the title OF
"Fragmentn 1t is now known as IAN
Inscription for the Entrance TO q
Wood
A significant fact associated with the
two poems is that 'Thanatopsis" was
six years old when II was printed and
the Fragment two years. Sucl
"patient waiting is rare with young
authors.