The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-04-17
What is Poetry ?

Poetry is rbythmlcal, imaginative lan-
euage, expressing the invention, taste
thought, passion and insight OF the human
soul.
First of all, and as corollary-a resultan,
from the factors OF Inauguration ana expires
sion-we infer that poetry 10, Ia common
with other art products, creation, OF winch
the poet is the creator, the maker. Expression
is tue ayowed function of all the arts. their
excuse for being; out OF the need Tor IL ART III
the rude and primitive forms has ever sprung.
No work Of art has real import, none endufes
unless the maker has something 10 say-oOme
thought which ne must express Imaginative
is. whether 10 the eve IN stone or on canvas
or 10 the ear IN music or artistic speech; luis
Thought. the imaginative conception moving
him 10 utterance, being his creative ldea-hs
aft-ideal. This simple truth, perslstenllY be-
logged by the rhetoric OF those VINO 10 not
see clear and think straight and VINO al
ways underrate the strength nd beauty 81 an
elementary tact, Is the last 10 be reaiIeu ny
commonplace mecbaniclans. 1hey 90
through the process or making pictures or
verses without the slightest MISSION really
with nothing TO say or reveal. Iney mistake
the desire 20 beget for the beggetlng power
Their mines and puppets have everything
but souls. Now, the imaginative work oi "a
true artist conveying his own ideal, -
creative because il is the exp. es sion, the new
embodiment OF his particular nature, thc ma
FERTILIZATION OF something which rende.o hiIn Il
eongerner, even part, OF the universal soul
that divinity whose eternal junction IS h.
create. The expressive artist u - TINS eH-
tint indeed fashioned after his maker. lie
can even declare in the words OF Beddoe5,
who used them, however, TO reveal Nc sur
prising glimpses Of evolution:
have bit Of Fiat in myfoui,
And can myself create my little world.
At the same time, the quality Of tue poets
creation, be 1t lyrical, narrative cf dramatic,
is IN a sense that ofIeyelatlon. He cannot
invent forms and methods. and symbols Out
of Keeping with what we term the nature OF
things; such inventions, II possible would De
monstr0us, baleful, not TO be endured. Ii II ne
utters, reyels and interprets what NJ sees
with that inward vision, that second sIght,
the prophetic gift OF certain personases-tDht
which | mean by .'insight," and through
which the poet is thought 20 be lnsplt'" q.
This vision penetrates what Plato conceiN'd
70 be the Quintesseuce of nature, what Words
worth. in his very highest mood declares lnat
we perceive only when
We are laid asleep
In body, and become a living soul:
While with an eye made quiet by tue power
OF harmony. and the deep power OF JOY
We see into the life of things
The creative insight, according 10 Us de-
gree, il allied with, IA not the source OF, Tue
mysterious endowment named genius, which
hIimdrum intellects have sought to disnlsow.
claimipg that il lies chiefly Ia Que OF lis ire
ouent attributes industry which The
" sdom OF generations has indubitably
recognized. As an outcome OF genius pro-
ducing the semblance Of what its insight dis
covers, poetry aims to convey beauty and
truth in their absolute simplicity OF kind, hut
Iimitless variety Of guise and adaptation
Edmund Clarence Stedman, in the Century
for April.