St. Paul daily globe., 1892-12-27

| III as q human Delng He Idlieu u IeSpOilu
to those preconceiyed notions of
| ideality with which his well-meanihg
| admirers tormented him. While poet
| Worshipers persist in attempting to
| verify the output of their lively imagin-
| atiOns. they must not be surprised
| weak human nature asserts itself in
very unpoetic way. The gentleman who
visited in AmeSbury and saw the ven
| cradle author of "SnOw BOund' devour-
| ing pie with a knife was fortunately a
practical man, and awaiting plant
moment purchased the knife. This Is
the story that comes from Chicago, and
may be taken for what it is woIth. AT
all events, it is not denied that Mr..
Whittier had his weaknesSes-as who
has nOt?-and might have been observed
under most distressing conditions.
An American poe, whose charming
lyrics have been recited and sung from
ocean to ocean. was the author OF
beautiful poem in which he compared
himself to simple little child looking
trustfully up to the Heavenly Father.
SO strong was the religious sentiment
OF the lines that they were the admira-
ton and delight of orthodox circles, and
q certain pious lady, well known for her
dev0ut life and good deeds, declared
that she must see the writer and thank
him personally. To this end she pre-
vailed upon friend to Introduce her at
the p0ei's home, and.thther they went.
AS they neared the house = it was
summer tinle-lhey heard through the
open windows the voice of the poet
heaping maledictions OH tradesman'S
boy. The poet was most picturesque
SWearer, and the way that simple.
trustful child'' invoked the Heavenly
Father made the good woman's blood
run cold. Though she admitted SubSe-
quently that she found HIM very
agreeable man, she confessed that she
had learned the distinction between
personal and literary religious senti-
ment. A notable example of this dis
tinctiOn was developed a few years ago,
when it leaked out that remarkably
clever and extensively circulated An
Swer to lngerSoll' was written in
naison tie joie in the intervals OF a long
debauch.
This line of comment being true of
literary people, it is even more start
lingly exemplihed in the case of actors,
who night after night assume all vlr-
tues, even if they have them not. 1t is
so easy to remember Gilda, an Amina
or an Elizabeth. and it is just as easy to
associate the fair singer with the char
actGr she assumes and 10 forget that the
actress in her time plays many parts.
The same boy who had heard Mr.. Dick
ems alteration with his driver, and had
WINGED at the p0etess i'll her dingy
wrapper, was called upon at later day
to see Etelka GerSter under trying cir
cumstances. The opera that night
was "Rigoletto," and as he stood
in the crowded aisle and heard
her carol the caro- nome it
was easy TO call up all manner of fan
cics and to ihVest the heaven-voiced
Hungarian with all evidence OF ether
eaitv. Aud when, in the exercise Of a
journalistic duty, he made midnight
call at her hotel and was greeted by a
pungent odor of garlic, and found the
radiant Gilda plunging into national
dishes of the most terrific SAVIOR with
the Zest and appetite of a hungry gypsy,
even he Quailed. For the boys illusions
had been long dispelled, and if he cher
iShed now and then n poetic fancy 1t
was because it pleased him to forget for
a time that "the disappointment of
mankind succeeds to the deluSlon OF
youth" Gerster and garlic amused the
veteran where they might have appalled,
the boy.
Frau Matuna. the magnificent, was a
mighty queen of Valhalla, as she stood
with all the trappings of the stage
around her and projected her great
voice over the din of Wagnerian Or
chestra. But Frau Matuna, sitting i'll
a little German restaurant, dev0urlng
sausage and ''blOot buddingS," was a
terrible shock to the nervous system.
Perhaps there was time when many a
maiden's gentle heart thumped respon-
sive to a tenor note. but happy for
the maiden if her fancy and her de-
sire died with the going out of the
footlightS. Sentiment and daydreaming
undoubtedly did much for Franz Abt,
the sweetest of German ballad writers,
and who was there who did not cherish
a strong desire TO meet the man who
composed the ''Water Lily" and ''Sleep
Well, Sweet Angel?" Surely it was
natural enough to fancy thet nothing
less ideal than the head and face of Il
Shelley should belong to him who ex-
pressed in the tenderest music the lines:
Schlafe wohl. schlafe wohi.
Du lieber suesser Engel, du.
Abt came TO America in 1872 and
cruelty dispelled the illusions. He was
old and fat and homely, and his clothes
did not fit him. He rode through the
streets in an open carriage at the nat
ional sRngerfest, and the people cheered
Nun, DUG IHo IOlDdllcc HdU uleu. lH6
young woman who turned away her
head and said, Il won't look at him."
was net foolishly sentimental. She
acted Oh very praiseworthy impulse.
She knew her own sensitively, impress
sionable nature, and did not care to sac
rifice the harmless, pleasant ideality of
years to the curiosity of moment.
AS long as time lasts people will cher
iSh ideality. and. unhappily, as long as
poets and heroes of romance are born
in direct descent from Adam there will
come the period of disllusion and griev-
Gus disappointment. 1t is strangely in
consistent with the harmonious order of
things that mighty general should be
in terror of his wife, that sentimental
poet should be bald-headed and fat, and
that handsome, romantic ACTOR should
use the double negative and tuck his
napkin in his collar; but thus cruel
does cruel fate dispel the color of the
roses. Happy the man who accepts his
localities for what they are worth, and
the woman who is content with her
day-dreaming without the desire of in
We StiUatiOD