The state chronicle., 1893-04-18
4lae State Uhrun1cle
TUESDAY, April l8, 1898
Our Poets Again.

Some months ago in speaking Of Mr..
thology ! made mention of a poem of
Joe Holden's, which had come across
in an old number Of Our Living and Our
Dead. The poem. enti led "Hatteras,"
was striking one, and | expressed re-
gret that it should not have been re-
printed in any collecti of verse
/ am glad TO find hat the poem had
already met with appreciation. The
n North Carolina Spe ker. compiled by
Messrs. L g. Harrell and B Meath
cry, and published by Alfred Williams
x Co. of Raleigh, contains this along
with the cream of our prose and poetry
One of the pieces The Review of Our
Dead" by H. Stockard. is notable
production can Angelin the Marble "
by George H German, pom of the
highest merit, opens as follows:
"A- block of marble met the glance
Of Donatelli's eyes
They frightened in their solemn depths
Like meteor lightened skies
Ill hew an angel from this stone
The gift. d sculptor said,
'And fashion it IKE unto one
Now numbered with the dead
No sooner thought than chisel bright
The SHAPED So mass ASS lied,
And blow on ow from morn till night,
The angel form unveiled
Soon brow was carved, alive with
thought,
Two speakii eyes outshone,
And as the master sharply wrought,
A smile broke t. rough the stone.
Thus mallet deft and chisel keen
The rble fetters shed
And " here the shapeless block had been,
An angel stood ins cad
In conception and execution this is
poetic gem of the purest water. Such
lines, so simple, clear a. d strong, only a
true poet could have uttered.
The Century for November, 1889,
contains poem by Mr. John H, Boner,
"Poe's Cottage at Fordham," several
stanzas of which Poe, himself, might
have been proud of. In fact the sub
lect being wisely chosen and the execu-
,ion of a high order, the poem attracted
wide attention and elected praise from
the highest literary authorities in the
lan1. The follow stanzas have es
pecially impressed me
"Here lived the soul enchanted
Bv melody Of song,
Here dweit The Spirit haunted
By demoniac throng;
Here sang the lips elsted;
Here grief and death were sated
Here loved and here minated
Was he so frail, SO strong.
No singer of old story
Luting accustomed lays,
| No harper for new glory
No mendicqn' for praise,
He struck high chords snc splendid
Wherein were fercely bl' nded
| Tones that un6ni, he'd ended
| With his unfinished days.
Mr.. Edward A. Oldham's The Vel
low Hammers Tap" published abou
two years ago in the Century, wa.
ranked among the notable poems of th'
year, by the New York Critic, the high
est American authority
Of North Carolina poets, rythmic =
Expressions see'us to come most natur
ally to Mr.. Theo II. Hill His techniqu
is excellent. 1t would seem that onl
the absence of serious and sustained en-
deavor has prevented his production Q
something really great.
On the whole, see no reason to de
spair of our poetry. Singers will aris
when we are ready to give them eal
Poetry is delicate flower which mus
needs wither on uncongenial soil Whe
the broader culture which we are no
beginning comes to fruit, the coy mus
will be less chary of her gifts to OF
sons ard daughters. For even as d
vine thing rs loetry is, in sens
it Is sub ject to the mundane love of su
ply and demand.
o. w. BLACKNALL,
III K1TrREIL, n. O., April l5, '93.