Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-02-15
CHATS ABOUT NOTABLES.
MRS. coLQUiTT WRITES OF FAMOUS
PEOPLE SHE HAS KNOWN. ..ss.,

Sidney Lanier. tho Southern Poet-De.
| Hshtful Prentice milford Archibald
Forbes, the War Correspondent-a1rz.
Especial Correspondence
ATLANTA, Feb. S.-Undoubtedly the most
| striking figure in southern literature is Sid
| new Lanier. No one else has achieved dis
| tinction in so many fields, and he stands to-
| day as the foremost man in purely literary
| matters that the south has ever produced
| His 1.Boy's Froissart," king Arthur, - 1.-THE
| Welsh Legends" manifold articles in prose
for magazines and papers, his Centennial
cantata, the long poem "Corn, :" and his large
volume of strong, imprisoned poetry, stamp
| him as genius OF deathless fame. His mt
! steal skill was marked, his mastery OF both
| flute and violin being complete. | think the
[ most thrillingiy sweet music l over heard
was his imitation on the flute of the swamp
| robins call. / knew Mr.. Lanier for the
space of .ten or twelve years, seeing him only
at rare intervals, and receiving from him
| occasionally q note or short letter in his pc
culiarly dainty, fine lined hand
The last time l saw him was in Bruins
wick, Ca He was there on a visit to his
wife and children, who were making their
temporary home with Mrs Lanier's father
and brother. Sidney Lanier was then strug-
Cling in Baltimore. trying to get living
foothold as lecturer in johns Hopkins
university and as a member of q choice
orchestra, in which, if l mistake not, he play
ed the violin. Lad heard of his frail health
md TO
his figure was not spare. his face was full
and his coloring good. He wore soft, long
brown beard to protect his delicate chest.
He was tall, erect, we'll made, features deli
cate yet strong, eyes of mystical splendor
His voice was rich and mellow and his man.
ner gentle. He delighted in the bland air of
Brunswick in the wide reaches of still
waters and green bronze marshes, the moss
draped water oaks and all the allurements of
that time worn, semi-tropical city, and
wrote some OF his grandest poems there.
What can compare in word etching with the
following lines taken from ''The Marshes of
Glynns'
shimmeriDg band
or the sand beach fastens the fringe OF the marsh
TO the folds of the land;
Inward and outward, to northward and southwark,
the beach lines linger and curl
As silver wrought garment that clings to and
follows the firm, sweet limbs OF girl.
Vanishing swervng, evermore curving again into
sight
Softly the sand beach wavers away to dim, gray
looping of light.
mutual friend told me of beautiful
comparison Mr.. Lanier made to her. He had
been spending the evening with her in her
nd %lo
moon flooded piazza together she called his
attention to the fragrant festoons of spotless
Lamarque roses that wreathed the columns
"Ah, yes" he said, "lovely, lovely; beauti-
full enough to be crystallized moonbeams.n
If Lanier is considered by some obscure and
a follower of ''the poet of the Opaque" it
is because they have not studied him thor
oughly, with the clairvoyarce that comes
from an intense and earnest nature and one
attuned, like his, to the saddest minor chords
in the harmony of life. This gloriously gifted
man breathed out bis pure life one Septem-
Der morning in a tent pitched among the
North Carolina mountains, where he had
gone in search Of relief from that dire dis
ease, consumption.
have been told that he had no one with
hun but his wife, that faithful, congenial
woman who had been his rest and comfort
through many sad and struggling years.
Would he have chosen otherwise? To pass,
like Matthew Arnold ''thought-feet from
sweetness into light"-his last earthly glance
resting on the wide, blue extent of majestic
mountains, his hand clasped in that OF the |
dear and loyal woman who had sustained
him i'll lie, and who was endowed with a |
spirit brave enough to support him to the |
entrance of the valley Of the shadows. Truly |
a poets death,
Sted is his song, like sound of summer birds,
flushed is his SYMPHONY linked to celestial |
words;
MusciGn-poet gone to chant IN higher spheres
The heavenly haEmonies too fine for mortal earS |
Prentice milford. Nv first knowledge of !
this strangely original man was through his
magazine and newspaper sketches, which ap-
peared generally III California publications. |
L soon made it q custom to turn first, in the .
magazines, to the articles bearing his sigma
ture, sure that whatever subject he touched |
upon would be handled from an entirely
novel and unhackneyed standpoiut-which
often clothed an ordinary topic with a 'dear-
moss not its due" His long experience as a
practical miner gave him an insight into GER
tain phases of life not to be cultivated in any
other way. He was the associate both in
mining and in literature of Bret Harte and
joaquin Miller. He reported for American
papers the Paris and Vienna expositions, and
II is safe TO say made his letters highly inter
esting.
He spent several years in London and was
cordially esteemed by some OF the most ad-
vanced and exclusive literary circles. He is
a snguiarly independent man and makes his
friends wherever it suits him to do so, with
out the least regard 70 personal advantage |
" hiie was living in New York about ten or
twelve years ago, | saw line III The Herald
to the effect that Prentice Milford would de-
liver an address at - Eroadwuy-some ones
private parlors. i knew that there could be
but one Prentice milford, the combination
Of names could never occur but once We
found about twenty or thirty oddly assorted
people gathered together TO hear the lecture.
Mr. Milford stood by a small table and [
studied his appearance carefully. he looks
as little like a literary man as any one
know. He Is ford, His hair and mustache are
light, his expressive, alert eyes light gray or
blue. His manner OF addressing an audience
IS modest, almost sly.
In the lecture to which refer he recounted
some OF his mining experiences. and OH how
funny he was What quips and
iuirks! What raillery and hurnorl All told
% quietly, SO simply. ! heard Mr. Milford
many times One of his most noted lectures
commanded large audience il California
laIl At the Centennial.
At the time that | saw most OF him ne
vas writing for The Daily Graphic, prepar-
ng among other delightful matter that
marking, pungent column on the days do