The sun., 1892-09-19


layas are we'll known. Probably moro than
q century Of exploratory work will be re-
ouired before Africa is well mapped.
Tho Question OF . Fat Poet.
A few days sro we told OF our search over
the world and through the ages OF time for
q fat poet. and OF our inability to give tho
name Of any poetry writer. living or dead.
who is or was fat man. We spoke OF the
eminent poets, from HOMER to HAF1z. from
DANTE to JOAQUIN OF the Serras. among all
of.whom we could not find a man OF fatncss.
Our remarks upon this subject have brought
out a battalion Of critics. some OF whom
argue very cleverly. but not one OF whom
has been able to undermine tho ground
upon which we took our stand. We must
not be misunderstood in this matter. We
did not set down every poet OF the
world as Living skeleton" OF tho
kind that Mr.. BARNuM once put on
exhibition: and we took the trouble to
explain that there had been some poets of
fair flesh. disposed to fat. We hold that
no man who weighs less than 200 pounds
can be spoken OF as fat. unless he be unusu-
ally short. and q man OF ordinary height
must weigh at least 24O or $50 pounds be-
fore he can properly DO called fat. At tho
Convention Of the Fat Mems Association.
recently hold in Connecticut. there was a
member weighing $50 pounds. and he wns
far from tho front rank OF mon Of his kind.
Is there poet now alive. or was there evcrN
poet anywhere up to 22O pounds by tho
scales? We are OF course dealing only with
poets whose poetry is OF superior merit.
Among the letters which we have received
on this subject there are two OF marked in
terest which we shall print without conf
ment. merely asking the reader to bear in
mind what we have already said. The
writer of the first OF these letters is pro-
fessor OF literature. wlio sends us his name.
but desires to remain unknown as "X y. H."
We quote:
"BRowStSa 10 represented in photographs as porty.
TON Moons pot boliied lttis man. CotERspGR.
who will pass for poet very we'll indeed. was habby
fat. WILLIAM BLAZE. who was supereminently poet.
appears fat in his portraits. WALT WHITMAN. whom
persons regard our greatest Ameri.
eau poss. was iAtterly fat Tho mystical RosErr was
aud shortnecked ytcroR uUGo tended to fat Roe.
BUCHANAN and EDGAR FAwcrrr resemble each other
in rotundity. BYRON. in all memoirs OF him. is de-
scrbed being in or the other of two conditions
naturally fat arhciay lean. Nothing but const ant
salts tobacco and starvation kspt him down. and
potato expanded him He was fat boy At school. re-
currently waxing anu waning AS Oelly
his vanity swayed tho stronger So that he was most
Of tho time in fact and always by natures intent
IA; poet These few names OF poets. little and big
The list might be much extended. y. y. 2"ki
The other letter is from a scholar Of re-
nown In the world. who also. while giving
his name. desires anonymity in print:
"Sir, THE sux says that all the poets who ever
lived whose can think Of were more or less
lean and thn.' viii you not except the lode stsrre
alsp svla 4,
of poetry that Morning Star of Song uEorrRrr CHAr
cHRt In the Prologe to sire Thopss In the 'Canter
bury Tales mine hoat OF the Tabbard Inn OF C,u
tho other pilgrims, lie in tho vast Is shape
we'll r. and the host Is described as large man. II
LEnvoy de CHAucKR ScooAs' CHAucER speaks OF SEQ.
and himself rounde Of shappe and in the third
part of tho Rounde tho refrain Is, Syn fro love
capped fat Then. too. occLrvss portrait of cH.u
GER. painted from memory, to be sure makes him
pulent. can only say with the hosts Now ware ye
Sires. and let Afs maa have space "S. O."
Yet another letter containing two more
names is in our packet. but it seems to us
that its writer. "A. H. H." estimates
highly the weight OF JOHNSON. as he surely
overestimates that Of TAYLOR:
"Dr. SAMUEL JOHNSON. whose poem. On the Vanity
OF Human wshest is classic. is described by BOSWELL
being very large and robust. lie must have weighed
about $50 pounds Then BArARp TAYLOR. tho last time
saw him. very stout, and must have weighed 26o
pounds. As to Lord BYRON. who dosed himself with
salts to keep down fat. HORACE SMITH. in Rejected
Addrsssea says, Lord BYRON called upon Lady -
| tho other day. why. Lord BYRON how fat you
growing" said She Lady y--is slway saying some.
| thing dtsAgrssable." was Lord BInoss comment"
A Philadelphian. whose name we would
like to print. sends US q letter about living
American poet whom he accuses OF fatness:
but this letter is lacking in reverence for
merit. and consequently cannot appear in
THE Sun. As to the letter Of the dry-w
Mugwump who has an office in Judge build
ing. corner Fifth avenue and Sixteenth
street." and as to many other letters upon
this debatable subject that have been sent
| US. we must postpone their publication In
definitely.
Truly. indeed. this debate about the ex-
tstence OF fat poets. In ancient or modern
times. Is Of interest enough to deserve still
further research. and to be worthy the
thought even Of solemn philosophers. both
fat and lean.