The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-03-05

The frat thing that strikes the render OF
James Whitcomb Riley is his originality.
Here. evidently. Is q man WHO would have
folt the impulse to speak tunefully and to
touch the springs OF humor and OF pathos had
he lived before the invention OF alphabets. In
the absence Of books. the lessons to he drawn
from nature aud from human life would have
sufnced. With his own hand has been gar
nered his knowledge Of tho outer and Of the
inner world. He has seen with his own eyes.
listened with his own ears. known In his own
heart the sorrows and JOYS that he depicted.
His landscapes arc transcripts Of his native
woods and fields: all the flowers. the trees.
the buds. the manifold forms OF animal
life. and all tho relations OF man to
outward nature which We encounter in
his pages are such as he has actually
seen: they are not transferred from
books to an alien and homogeneous environ
ment. His flrst-hand directness. his fresh
ness. simplicity. sincerity. have boon quickly
and deeply felt by multitudes unable to dis
tinGuish what it was that appealed to them
and charmed them. This fundamental quail
fcation for song writing would have been his.
had he never derived anything from books or
read a line OF poetry other than his own. We
have said that. had all his compositions boon
put forth through the medium OF the Hoosier
dialect. they would have had only a sectional
audience; but even SO. it would have boon
m audience larger than was reached in
his lifetime By Robert Burns. 1t is. indeed. OF
Burns that one naturally thinks when one
considers the exact and vivid delineation OF
rural scenes and humble lives. the humor. the
tenderness. the grace. the melody Of Mr..
Riley's dialect poetry.
It is clear In this case. however, that the
poet was not only born. but made. The i'm
pulse to sing was native. but he has learned
from elder singers how to string and strike
the Tyre. Scattered Up and down these VOL
umes arc innumerable proofs OF the thorough
ness with which the author has studied the
masters OF imaginative writing both in prose
and worse. 1t would be easy to point out those
over whom he seems to have pondered
longest. and whose methods. processes.
and points OF view he has striven most
earnestly to penetrate and to assimilate.
Tney are Cervantes. lzaak Walton. and Charles
Dickens. Shakespeare and Herrick. Burns.
Keats. Longfellow. and Moore. Far from maxi
Ing any secret OF his studies. he has Inscribed
some OF his most notable poems to his teach
ers. and has even put forward avowed imita-
tions Of them which nre striking tours de force.
Thus In q prose sketch called a Remarkable
Man," we find the following passage. which
purrorts to be an unpublished fragment OF
Don Quixote:
by this time they had come upon the Ag-
ure OF the old hag scented by the roadside.
and. In a harsh. cracked voice. grooming n dis
nal ballad. BY God'srood.' quoth the knight,
In n burst OF admiration. did I not tell thee.
twas some fair princess. decoyed from her
fathers castle and thus transformed through
the despicable arts OF some wicked enchanter:
for thou hast but to pork an ear to have the
sense OF hearing bathed and overlooked with
melody. Dost thou not also note rare grace
and sweetest dignity voiced. as 1t were. from
the very tatters that enclothe her formr
Indeed thou mayest.' said the squire. for |
sst Gold" Vat In this instonca 7 am ra.
.t,sinod ,o thi,l ~ mar, uLo tho bid.,,n,.
dInr.r ..vorv l,t,,. moot ard a 800 dooi -,
$500 - 49, 90.
'"o,oci"'n, ho'u Wy peace' p'"uuerhe"u'
0Ac'a'mou w huisH'' iesl l MAKO 'hee IhaW
thy words with loosened teeth. Listen what
liquid syllables are spilled upon the atmos-
phere:
my fathers halls, so r.ch and rare.
Are de'olate and bleak and bare:
My fathers heart and halls are one,
Since I. thel- life and light. AN gone.
o. valiant KNIGHT. win mana OF steel
And heart OF r"'a. near ny appeal
Release me from 'he spoHe:s eharms.
Ana bear ms 70 my tA'heFs arms
"The knight had py THIS tlme thrown him.
self from HIS steed. and with lance reversed
and yizor dotted he sank upon his knees in the
a,ius and ooze OF tho dyke, exclaiminp: Il
1900 hoort ,oIr nr,noassi INV suooor 4, NJ
-. .ha. A..
manu. sinso '"' .. nv ~ ~ ."o
pearl OF pearls into inc warp anu "oo' VI mS
great Destiny. Nay. nay! NO thanks! Ihy
JAtner 8 DoamlQR eye hlsNAs sHhli 10 my EuoE-
IL ao ..vot,o H. nthi,ha ~ an a h arrow"