New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-12
MR.. STEDMAN'S LECTURE.
THE POETRY OF sEl:EXPEEssION.

THE POETRY Or 81 4. -ENfl'CSSIO>.
Baltimore. March 1.-THE fourth lecture in the
Turbun lectureship poetry at Johns Hopkins was
given this afternoon by C. stedman. The hall
was again crowded by an enthusiastic audience The
lecturer continued the subject of hi, third discOure.
~Thc Poetry Of self Expression dealing with the loss
Of the pagan tranquility and creative vision. the reign
of the subjective and the too often morbid. and the
value o. the personal note in art Now that town
life is everywhere lac said. the Wer;herism
of former days replaced by kind of icjeunc ac>thcu
cism, with its own peculiar aiecta,ion of wit and in
difference. Hut to the secluded youth not yet con
cerncd with action and civic life subjective poetry still
makes mysterious appeal Forty years ago the youns
poet of the period conscientiOuy otherwise became
a Childe Harold. among men but not Of them one
who had mot loved the world nor the world him. lie
found a mild dissipation in contemplating his fanced
mise,icS. and tragic parsonage in his own ewes
and usually c0XcOmb in those of the unfeeA. neigh
borhOod This mock heroic pose, 80 often without a
compensating gift. was and is due to the novel CON
scousaess Of individuality that t. each and all
TO the OvoI-conSc.Ou>ness of it, which many Scnli-
mcntaliss, against thousand Sights and failures
tain by arrested development to the end OF their DAY
At its best we have noted scnSibiy intensified 10y
egotsm. Keats understood this clearly. even when
experiencing ii. In spite Of the real tragedy Of his
Ger. he manfully outsrew it, his poetry swiftly ad-
vanced to the robust and creative type he wasted
under fatal Illness and in his hearts despair
Thence passing to brilliant description of Byron as
the immortal voice of this limbo Of life of shelley
"a "altuism ncarnate,' poet whose personal suffer
ings were emblematc of wOnged and ballied human
ity; OF IIenc. "whose whole soul is the legacy Of his
personal mOod"-tle lecturer proceeded thus.
i think that the impciscnal element IL art may
be termed masculine, and that there is something
feminine in controlling impulse to lay bare ones
own heart and experience. This is ii should be.
Certainly mans attributes pride and
4fn ion. /.
out speech until the day break. The fire of tho
absolutely virilc workman Consumes its own smokc.
Hut the artistic temperament Is, after all, an
drogynOus. The wOman's intuition, seDsitiveDcss.
nervous refinement Join with the reserved power and
creative vgor Of the to form the poet As those
or these predomnatc have the major strain the
minor appeal for human sympathy and the proGer
Of it. a man must have notable gift a very eX-
allied nature To make people grateful FOR his confessions.
The revelations Of the feminine heart are the moro
beautiful and welcome because the typical woman IS
purcr unsel,h, more cOnsecratcd than the ypl-
Cal man. Through her ardent schrcvclatiOHs our
ideals Of sanctity arc maintained She may even,
Ike child. be least selt-cOn>cOus when most I'M
restrained in sefcXpres,ion. ASuredly this was 50 in
the ease of the greatest woman poet the modern world
has known. Mrs. Browning
Mr. stedman dealt vigorously with the latest school,
with It's motto Of art for arts sakca school whose
poets and painters show kind of circumstances in
the OstcntatOus preference Of their art TO themselves,
even in their prostraOn at the feet Of Our Lady Of
Beatty Their motive is intrusive that the re-
suit. although allurng, often Smacks Of artsanSip
rather MAN of free and natural art. 1t does
not rise like al eXhaatiOn.' II IS merely the
similudc Of the impersona and art for the artists
sake rather than for the sake Of art Its claim TO
obiectivity IS in fact the lack Of any style whatever
except that derived by the rank and file from their
study of the chiefs. II is all in the fashion aud all
done equally we'll Even the leaders, true ans ind
vidual poets as they have been-TennysOn. ROsseti,
Swinburne. Norris Sully lrudhOmme, often have seemed
10 compose pcrfunctOry, not from Inspired impulse.
Mr.. stedman's criticism upon Matthew Arnold whose
interpretive nature his critical theory Of
art was heard with deep interest. His career"
added the lecturer strengthens my belief that the
true way is the natural One-that way into which the
Of his time. The value Of new piece OF
art now is the tone peculiar to its makers genius
Death in art. as in nature, Is now the loss of indl-
viduality-a resolution into the elements. We seek
the man behind the most imper,Onai work; more, the
world cOnceveS for Itself ideals Of lis poets artist,
and heroes plainly different from what they were. yet
adapted to the suggestions received from their works
and deeds' The final test Of poetry he held Is not
by it's degree Of impersonalty but by the meas
Of the poets genius and force OF its expression
The method which he follows. whether realistic or
romantic. objective or sefintrusive is ncssential