The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-03-20
BYRON AND HIS POETRY.

A correspondent writes dissenting from
our view that Byron. above all other poets
of the century, was prominently the poet
of permanent popularity with men of
outdoor thought and action, as distin-
guished from contemplative men of closet
culture and meditation. The Posr-INrEL-
MeENcER did not deny the fine poetic
genius of Shelley, Coleridge. Keats or
Wordsworth, it simply maintains that
none of these great poets is ever likely
TO equal Byron as poet of the people;
Byron is pre-eminently the poet of men of
action and vigorous outdoor energy of
mind, when they care for poetry at all.
He is the poet of love, of war. of robust
action, and his genius is for description
rather than for didactics.
Carlyle sneered at Byron as nothing but
"a sulky dandy" and Emerson said that
Byron had nothing in particular to say
10 the world, but said it magnificently.
Carlyle said that Cardinal Newman had
the brain of a medium-sized rabbit" that
Charles Lamb was a "gasping tomfool
ricketty with gin and water" that Keats
was miserable creature ~ that Golden
was only an inspired bagman who believed
in calico millennium" that George Wash
ington was a 'poor creature" Carlvle's
genius does not make us believe with him
concerning Newman, Lamb, Keats, Cob
den or Washington, for greater men than
Carlyle saw beautiful genius for humor
In Lamb that gin and water did not extin-
guish; saw vast sensibiity to beauty in
Keats where Carlyle saw nothing but a
sentimentalist hungerng after sweets he
could not get; saw statesman in Golden
where Carlyle saw nothing but pedantic
commercial traveller; saw a mighty master
of verse in Byron where Carlyle saw moth
ing but "a sulky dandy"
Byron had something of dandy in him
il common with all handsome young aris-
tocrats of his day. and he was born with a
morbidity of mind and heart, which was
made chronic curse to him by his moth
er's vicious education and his own disso-
lutte habits, SO that he became misan-
thropic and hypochondriac, or, as CarlyIe's
sHeer phrases il, "sulky' in his thoughts.
But with equal justice Carlyle might be
tlippantly called "sulky" sloven. for he
was far more repulsive misanthrope and
hypochondriac than Byron ever was, and
he was selfish, vituperative. scoldinc
boor at home and abroad, which Byron
was not. And Carlyle is more open even
than Byron to the charge of heroizing
men Of passionate power of intellect, who
in their immoral and INSCRIPTIONS selfish
ness have scourged the world.
The Byronic heroes, Lara. Alp. the Cor
sair, the Giaour, are all bad men, with
some virtues linked to their crimes, while
Carlyle's heroes are of the type of Fred
erick the Great. a natural born pirate and
despot, more prudent but less humane
even than Napoleon. Byron sincerely
loved liberty in church and state, spent his
money for Italian freedom, gave his life to
Greece. appreciated and eloqueutly eulo-
gized Washington. Carlyle was bitter
tory. hated "a niger" sneered at Wash
incton. Garibaldi and Mazzini laughed
our war for the Union TO scorn. and WAS
never 50 happy ~ when an English
tory minister was tormenting Ireland.
Byron was an affectionate and loyable
man. Leigh Hunt, Moore and Shelley,
all men of pure life and gentle manners,
testify TO the warm, generous and faithful
quality of Byrons friendship. If Carlyle
in his ~ years of life ever did kind act
or had 4 single aflectionate friend, outside
the gifted wife he worried into the grave
with his aggressive selhshness and gusts
OF cuerulous temper, there is no record of
il, so that It is evident when Carlyle dis
missed Byron a. nothing but . "su1ky