Los Angeles herald., 1892-11-07
POETRY'S INFLUENCE
IT HAS FURNISHED INSPIRATION FOR
GREAT AMERICAN ORATORS.

Tennyson's Poems Not Particularly Popu
lar with O'Conor, Conltling, Corwin
Choate and Ingersoll-They Preferred
Shakespeare, Milton and Byron.
Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, Oct. 17.-As soon as the deatt
OF Tennyson was announced publishers il
New York city began to offer various edi
tions OF his works-some of them very ex
pensive and others as low as fifty cents fol
very fine type complete edition. Yet the
sale has not been large, and it is evident
that, while Tennyson is esteemed as great
poet, his works have not that popularity
In America which some others have en-
1oyed.
A greater sale of Whittier's poems fol.
lowed the announcement of his death than
was the case with Tennyson's, and when
Longfellow died very large editions of his
works we're sold. 1t is interesting to know
what some of the ADLER professional men
nave thought of Tennyson and other poets,
ana TO what extent they have relied upon
the greater versifiers for such charms of
language they have possessed
Charles O'Conor, one of the greatest
can bar, was lover of good poetry, and
was also able to say wherein the highest
charm of poetry lay. He knew Tennyson
and read him with pleasure, but he did not
rely upon Tennyson as he did upon other
OF the English poets for discipline in
diction. O'Conor studied Milton and
Shakespeare, and he often said that what
ever capacity he had for expressing in pure
English such thoughts as he had to utter
was due very greatly to his familiarity
with these poets. He was fascinated with
Shelley's poems, and often declared that
the art of versifying could be expressed in
In no more exquisite melody than was to
be found in some of Shelley's verses.
1t is not generally known that Roscoe
Conkllng, who had an extraordinary COM
mand OF English, gained that mastery
over the mother tongue through assiduous
study OF some of the poets. Conkling had
no great admiration for Tennyson as COM
pared with the veneration with which he
regarded Milton, Shakespeare and Byron.
he was accustomed to commit passages of
Milton and Byron to memory. He has
said that no man can become perfect ora
tor who does not know Milton. Tennyson
he was fond of reading, just as he was fond
OF reading the greater novelists. He ad-
mired Tennyson's technical skill and his
mastery of words, but he often said that
Tennyson was of no service to one who
made public speaking profession except
ing that the reading of Tennyson gave him
a broader culture.
Tom Corwin, whom many regarded in his
day as the greatest orator the west has
produced, cared but little for Tennyson.
He was inclined to regard him as a wom-
ans poet and young lovers ideal versi-
fer. Corwin reveled in Byron, and he
knew "Lallah Rhook" by heart In CORE
spondence which he once had with Conkling
bespoke of the benefit he had gained from
a thorough familiarity with Byron, whose
copious and oriental richness of diction
was peculiarly fitted in his opinion to the
study of one who desired to gain fame as
an orator.
Joseph II. Choate, who is one of the most
delightful of orators at the American bar,
declares that Shakespeare, aside from the
intellectual discipline the study of his
works gives, is the poet for the orator.
Colonel Bob Ingersoll knows two poets
by heart-Shakespeare and Burns-and it
is his opinion that there is more of genius
in half dozen of Burns poems than there
is in all of Tennyson's verses. Ingersoll.
age Tennyson as poet. Whatever excel
lencies he has as an orator-at least so far
as diction is concerned-he attributes to his
familiarity with Burns and Shakespeare.
Abraham Lincoln never read any of Ten
nyson, but he was of opinion that if be had
any style at all the first suggestions of it
came to him when he as a lad read Mil
toms paradise Lost" and that poem he
read frequently as long as he lived.
Rufus Choate, the most gorgeous in his
diction of any Of the American orators,
loved Byron and studied Byron's poems.
Those who read Choate's speeches care
fully can detect the influence of Byron in
his diction. Tennyson had not reached the
luster of his fame when Choate died, but
as poet he could not have appealed to
that master mind.
Daniel Webster, who began his career of
oratory with what he called "a hifalutin
STYLE" afterward changed it to one of Sc
we're simplicity, and ascribed such merits
OF diction as he possessed to the study of
Hooker, to familiarity with Millions prose
and poetry, and above all to Shakespeare.
1t seems to be fact that the greater
orators have for the most part made
Shakespeare, Milton, and, of later poets,
Byron their constant companions. On the
other hand the gentle essayists and the
fine writers are those who love Tennyson
above all. Howells, Warner, George Will
liam Curtis and Aldrich are among those
American authors who have been willing
to defend Tennyson against any who have
claimed superior merit for other English
poets, Shakespeare excepted. Clergymen
too, seem to prefer Tennyson. Bishop
Brooks reads him constantly. He was a
favorite with Beecher. DR.. Greer, who is
rapidly coming to the front as one of the
most brilliant Of American pulpit orators
has Tennyson upon his study table. Cor
don, the charming orator of the Old South
pulpit in Boston, admires Tennyson above
the others, and Professor Swing, of Chi
cago, finds his greatest literary delight in
the reading of Tennyson's poems.
e. J. EDWARDS.