New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-02-10
NEW PUBLICATIONS
A COLONIAL WRITER.

~
AWE pp.nsrREFT AND HER TINE. By Helen
Campbell. 12mO, PIP. 313. boston d. Lo'hfop CO.
Mrs. Campbers account Of Anne Bradstrcet and
ber time deals necessarily much more WIN the latcf
than the former OF personal detail concerning the
subject of this attempted biography very little IS dis
coverable. and II IS only by drawing broad sketch
q, the period and filing in with items concerning
manners and customs generally that any impression
y, intimacy can be produced. Even with all that
can he derived from such helps very much remains
mre conjecture, nor does the literary work Of Anne
Bradstreet aid the bioglapher much in establishing for
her distinct personality In the circumstances and
considering that there must always be healthy desire
10 form a tangible conception OF a woman who, if not
remarkable for genius herself, the progcnitor Of
noble line Of American thinkers and poets and prose
writer's such tentative effort Mrs. Campbels NAV
be Welcomed and cannot be read without interest.
II must always be borne in mind in cimat
Ing Anne BradstreetS place In literature that the
truth cannot be reached by applying modern standards
ain the country Of the blind says the French prOVerb
"tbe one-eyed is king" and the rank OF ammo
Bradstreet must be determined Jy comparison with her
own contemporaries and the conditions in which she
worked and lived. so far as literature IS concerned,
the New England OF her day truly country OF
the blind. and TO the restraints and dscOuagcm"nts
proceeding from the Puritan view Of life and the
universe added in her case the lettering and
Whaling influence of hopelessly bad model in style
and FORM
Du Bartas-" the divine Du Bartas.7 as his admirers
were accustomed to call hm-waS the poet If calvin
Ism. The taste which revclcd in his cacophOnou5 and
lnsipld had been nourished upon the euphuiSm
Of the English Puritan cult. QuarleS and Herbert and
Crashaw had exercised their ingenuity in twisting The
English language into pSeudo-IIebraic form. Milton
called these writers fantastic" yet the word in
sufficiently describes them. does that of euphuiSm.
Their spirit sincerely plouS. which cuphsm was
not 1t the stiffness Of limitations Of AnglicSed
yohr ftI INvaY lolic and
artificial phrascology, that characterized their verse.
The hardness and inhexibty Of their opinions were
reflected in their moral and religions dogGerel and the
Puritan aSceticsm which threw the pail Of sin over
nature determined the Dvincibe 0iciailty and deadly
dulness Of their compositions. OF all these qualities
and defects Du Baras was the most conspicuous eX-
ample and Anne Brdstreet followed Him with painful
fidelity. The Puritan reaction from the expansive
movement Of literature in the Ell2abethan age went
very far. Perhaps II reached its climax In the pro
duction of that monument OF grotc-querie the Bay
State Psalm Book but the apotheosiS Of On Bartas
had previously indicated that the spirit Of poetry could
not coexist with the spirit of New England Purtanism
The student Of the beginnings Of American literature
Is apt resent the sitting Influence Of these agencies
upon Anne bad tlect ai the more because size mas
left evidence which proves that she really had the
root OF the matter in her. that with better model
and a more bhoyart atmosphere shc might have pro-
huced poetry of lncOntestabe commences. once OF
twice she broke away from her lcadinSstiinGs once
or twice she I,ol,. o,. lne mo-, in. once or twice
She observed the beauties and marvcl Of nature ard
expressed her thoughts and perceptions freely ana
easily. Then she exhibited power and a sweetness
Of distinct promise but the clouds closed in upon her
again too quickly. and she returned 10 the sth' dull
proSaic STYLE upon which she had formed herself
There is a marked difference between her poetry ana
her prose- however. In the latter. her Puritan train
Ing and habits Of thought helped nstead OF hndcnnG
her and the readers of her Renectons Moral and
Divine" will find in them singular dignity ana force
a vigor and felicity of expression often missed by an
thor of reputation. and hardly 10 he looked for In tbs
delicate and gentle woman, mother in Israel though
she was. This part Of her literary work she ser no
account by. hut, is the case with many perNcs@c
nor,als pridod hersolf-if modest woman can be
said to have INDUCED pride at ailuPon those rlNmel
onaternions which have become forever uateadabl'.
Vel the publication of her so-callcd poems had ono
happy consequence. 1t the occasion Of revealing
among her Puritan c0untrymen a certain generosity
OF sentiment Of kind little manifest In those days.
They recognized with almost concerted delight land, 1t
must be said with surprse the fact that these verses
were by a woman and they did not hesitate TO say
that she had beaten the men poets at their own aHd'-
craft. They We're of course, talking nonsense Dut
Il was kindly nonsense and after all 1t wOnld nave
demanded no heavenborn genius to surpass the work
OF Du Bartas and his tribe. And Anne BradSreet de-
served encouragement as much as does the husband
man who demonstrates the fertility Of soil long sup
posed hOpelessly barren For she wrote at time ana
IN a society which were essentially allen TO literary
productvity. Apart from the deadening intellectual
Influence Of Puritanism. the stern conditions OF coonN
ton precluded any growth Of culture Science wealth
and the constant friction Of terminating minds are
necessary to literary development. and nothing OF TINS
could be expected in new country among a poor PEG
ple whose first business 1t TO secure for them
selves a subsistence.
What this early colonial life was Ike Mrs. Campbell
has endeavored show. and while she borrows largely
from Palfrey, Tyler, Hubbard and other writer's her
pictures are sufficiently graphic to be at once enter
tanning and instructive. practice of quoting without
naming her authorities is TO be reprcheAded and 1t is
necessary 10 point ont that the work Of prooiread
ing has been very careleSsly DONE the Typographical
errors being numerous. The use OF such word as
"beheadal7 in speaking Of the death of Charles the
First however can hardly be excused as printers
error or an oversight Of the prootreadcr such slips
can be corrected in another edition, which may be
antcjpated for book which. while defective In more
than one respect, presents an interesting view OF a
personqlty deserving study and sketch OF colonial
life I'm the seventeenth century full enough TO convey
definite idea of the conditions under which tile woman
who has been STYLED the mother of American htera
ture.' lived and Wrought