Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-30
FRIDAY MORNING WOMEN
THEY LISTEN TO PAPER ON ELIz-
ABETHAN POETS.
Yesterdays Meeting of the Club--The
Guests-Mrs. wells's Paper-The Pro-
gramme for the Next Meeting.

There was quite brave showing In
the Friday Morning club rooms yester-
day in spite of the storm. The guests
were DR.. Mary Allen West, DIR. Roger
Gavitt and Miss Annie Hopkins, all oi
Toledo, O.
The subject of the day was The
Elizabethan period. Mrs. Tolhurst
was absent, much to the disappoint-
of the club, and the paper upon the
Women and Customs of this Era was
not Forthcoming.
Mrs. Wells, however, was on time.
and read brief but delightful paper on
the Poetry of the Elizabethan period
Passing by the pastoral days, the
wild barbaric Harp That Rang Through
Tara's Halls, and the impassioned song
of ancient bards, we come at once to the
lyrical poetry of the Elizabethan age,
commencing about 1880, and reaching
it's height during the reign OF James /.
This was an era of great men, of great
events, of great discoveries, and of great
enterprises.
The glory of the Elizabethan litera-
ture was in the drama, and included four
distinct dramatic periods. Aside from
its dramatic magnifcence it was rich in
lyrical poetry, in songs of sweetness and
simplicity, spontaneous and intensely
human. The song writers of this age
massed their powers, and the result was
a richness of style, sincerity of thought,
dignifed, yet full of unique grace. II
may be called the wine of literature
compared with which most of our mod
ern writing seems weak and favorless.
No conditions can account for the out
burst of genius of this age, proving
beyond question the perfection of
the Elizabethan songs by COM
posers whose works have remained
hidden for nearly three centuries. DIR.
Thomas Compton is among the most
fascinating of these, writing both the
poetry and music for his songs. He
publisheda a volume of Latin verse hardly
inferior to Ben Jonson. He was
stepped in classical feeling. In his
melodious serenade "Shali / Come,
Sweet Love, to Thee" we are reminded
of Shelley.
Among the lyrists whose verses we
are considering, is Captain Hume, who
in 1906 published the First Part of Airs
French and Polish and Others Together.
The earliest of Elizabethan singers was
William Byrd, organist of Lincoln Ca
thedral, who published Poems, Sonnets
and Songs. One of the famous musi-
clans of this period was John Dowland,
who published several volumes of songs
and airs.
Mrs. Wells's paper was interspersed
with very beautiful selections from
these writers, most charmingly rem
dered. She said at the outset she had
not selected the poets we generally con-
slider Of this epoch. but had taken few
charming songs for the viol, and flute
songs, most rare and interesting
which had been gathered from sources
beyond our reach-notably the British
museum, the Bodleian library and the
Royal college of music.
Discussion followed the paper, partici.
pated in by Mines. Hubbard, Wells
Wing and Croft. Doctors West and
Garitt made few remarks on woman's
generosity and her expression of hel
power, as compared with Elizabeth's
time.
EsNext Friday will be continuation o.
Pioneer day, Mrs. Gen. Fremont and
Mrs. Senator Cole having charge OF the
programme for the morning.