The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-04-03
OUR LITERARY BUDGET.
DEATH or THE POET WHITMAN.
u,s Leaves OF Grass Distinctly Immoral and
aBIot Upon His Fane-He Disregarded
tho Ordinary Canons OF Art

The good gray poet, as love named him
was one Of the most unique and strongly
original characters in modern literature
Though n man OF gentleness and simplicity
kind. considerable, unaffected, his writ 80
were OF such peculiar yigor, so bold ana III
dependent, so unconventional and audacious
that many allowed his apparent immorany
and his determined violation OF all cahohs
ofpoetic art TO hide from them the redi anu
powerful genius that inspired his PEN ~ is
MOI 10 be denied. and the fact viii not De mere
excused, that one volume oil ms Po'"''
whatever his humane or philosophlc PURPOSE
In giving II publicity, had oaneiui innuen NC
upOn the minds OF us redueis' III on q, a.
when natures were coarse and morals lax
thsso verses would have been accounted
hrrtal in their daring sensualism; IN period
Of literary refinement and conventional hOu-
es,v the salient poems OF ms leaves OF
Grsssv were insOlently obscene. ms DARK
stain will ever be upon the lame Oh tue poc',
and must temper the honest judgment Oh tne
nlare he occupied among contemporary
30 and the distinction he is entitled 10 en-
ioy in the esteem Of posieriy. ..
Man il great not q cOTding TO MS abilities,
Int according 10 his deeds, and though II may
be assumed that Whitman possessed III emil
uent degree above bis fellows the profound
snd supreme elements of poesy, 1t cannot be
sajd nor him that he made the highest use Of
his extraordinary power. He sang brayely
and splendIdly ever, not always glorousy;
and though he touched great truths and
sounded strange depths in nature as no
modern poet has, ana bad in the clarion ring
OF bis rugged notes something OF the Morse
fekalds' sOnOrOus music, feeDler writers have
done pObler service TO mankind, and lesser
a - OF or l0nGln4Iad n
character of a poet solely, and without con-
Germ for the ethical responsibility Of the poet
10 the reading and Inquiring minds OF UNI
stable humanity, it is possible Walt Whit
man will be declared, when "A sound critical
verdict Is reached, the most yirlle, penetrat-
ing, and able true poet OF the century. He
scOrned the school, he laughed at metre, and
jeered at rhyme, counting The tricks OF the
Thymester, the melody Of numbers, the patler
of velyei-snOdden feet, things altogether
petty, with which 10 cumber or ad0rn the
diaDasOn Of the divine utterance.
Poetry was TO him something grander than
the harnessed Pegasus OF rule and form. Ills
muse was the north wind dissOnant among
the pines swOOping TO whip the ocean into
rage or bending 10 kiss the violet believed.
Nature within him and without him har-
mOnized, and one was strong, and rude, ana
fierce. and soft, and sweet, and fearful as the
other. Thus the contrasts, antltheses, SEEM
ing incOngruities OF bis wrltings-his verse
being like the elements his own nature and
that older nature he so deeply loved. lie
who 90 ignored all schools became the father
of school and taught untrammeled thought
the way 10 soar.
Whitman Convinced us as Mcpherson
could not that sublime poetry does not walk
or limp aiOOt taxing lessons for himself from
the unchOpped songs OF Solomon and the
magnificent, unmeasured poetry otJoD. THESE
were bis models, rOugher cast, with the Morse
rather th an the Judean spirit VlyIiylng them.
He strOye for the mightiest, the highest. The
soul within him struggled with the finite in
vain hope 10 define the infinite. There was
pain in his failure, but vast JOY in his know
ing These are his words:
Come. then, whoever you are, come travel with
me,
Travelling with me you find what never tires
The earth never tires;
The earth is rude. silent. incomprehensble at
first
Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first;
BE not discouraged on-there are divine
things well developed:
i swear 10 you there are divine things more
beautiful than words can tell.
IL was so nc went on, tireless TO comprehend
the incOmprehensibe and he wrote great
things that will live when bards now loved
and reverenced are forgotten, for Whitman
was akin to nature, and spoke natures lam
guage, telling her secrets and fOrecasting her
purposes. HIS it was TO prove and ideclare
that
The words of the true poems give you more
than poems.
for in his verse is the truth Of this.-Chcago
Inter-Ocean.