The Helena independent., 1894-01-01

y0t.
surcly the heart thst road hor own hesrt clear
Nature forssts not soon; It's We forget.
I'VE that with vagrant soul his Gxity
Have slighted. faithless, dons his deep fsith
wrong;
Left him for poorer loves, aud bowed the knee
To mhbeRotten strange new gods. Of song.
Yet led BY hollow ghost or bsckoning elf
Ear from her homestead to tho desert bourn
I he sagrant soul returning to herssf
Wearily wiso. must needs to him return"
Ana when We Yemsm beE shat Wordsworth
has lost some OF his hold. on the present
sgs By what ws too readily consider an in
tsllsotusl progress far in advance Of his
humble muse, the prsfstory stanzas TO this
poem seem like . timely admonition ia
those who attempt to plsce 20 great . poet
among those Who have sung only for tho
sRs in which they lived.
1T may be that his manly ohsnsEbesids
More dainty Numbers. seems . rustic tune;
II may be thought las b-oadened since he died
Upon the century's noon:
1t may be that we can NO longer share
The faith which from his fathers he received;
It may be that our doom is to despair
Where he with JOY bslisved;- s Il
Enough that there 10 none since risen who sSn "a
A song SO gotten Of the immediate soul.
20 instant from the vital fount Of things
Which 10 our source and goal;
And though at touch Of later hands there float
More artful tones than from his Tyre he drew,
Ages may pass ere trills another note
10 sweet. SO great go true
This poem il certainly art In the highest
sense. ard better still IL 10 art employed in
restoring to the favor Of the age a bard
unEsssonably neglected. Not since "Ade.
nnis" cams In all its loveliness from tho
genius Of Shelley has poet paid . higher
tribute to poet: not since then has the muse
sounded more fitting psaise.
OF "Lachrymae Musarum" little need be
said. In the midst Of eli the rhynsd non-
sense which the death Of Tennyson has in
apiSsd. this slsgy stands like gold in ths
dross, the one tribute In verse worthy OF
the master, who ~
Far heyond our vision and our hail
ls heard forever and 10 seen no more"
II Is here that Watson gives 10 the key to
his reputation AZ . poet:
1.-THE maker Of this verse. which shall endure
By splendor of its theme that cannot die."
u 10 trne that he has done something for
his fame by insepsrably connecting himself
with two. OF the great names In English
poetry. but he ts altogether too modest.
His genius has proven Q moro important
factor than he is willing to admit.
In turning from these sleeies to The
Princes Quest," we meet with q sdisap-
pointment. Whore the poet ssems to have
PM fossh his grettess Sffort. he charms %
tho least. This 10 the ono long poem Of the
volume. but, aside from the masterly use
of language displayed. there il little in IL
to 'cluim attention. Ills relief 10 turn
from this poem to the "Epigrams." Hero
Is Quatrain worthy of Keats:
II follow beauty Of her train am I; "-.
Beauty whose voice is earth and sea and air;
Who serveth, and her hands for ali things ply:
Who reigneth. and her throne is everywhere"
And the following must be quoted as lit
tie ont OF the poets usual vein:
His friends he loved. His fellest earthly foes
Cats-I believe he did but feign to hate
Ay hand will miss the iusnuated nose,
Mine eyes the tail tbatwagged contempt at fate ~
The volume atounds In poetic gems, but
only one other can now be quoted. Wat.
son has bsen looked upon as passionate
admirer of Wordsworth, and this is very
true. as much OF his poetry plainly proves.
But he has other masters. In tho lines
about to be quoted ws ses him following,
unconsciously. perhaps. that greatest mas
ter of lyric verse In the whole range of
English poetry.
'Thy voice from inmost dreamland calls;
The wastes of sleep thou makest fair:
Bright DER the ridge Of darkness falls
The cataract of thy hair.
1.-THE morn renews it golden birth;
Thou with the vanquished nj sht dost fade;
And leav'st the ponderable earth
Less real than thy shade"
The mutablity of;lissrature hrs overcome
The spirit of prophecy In the critic. Names
once great In the annals Of poetry are now
forgotten. while We revere and honor many
Others who were ignored By their own sae,
We smile whom We read tho criticisms Of
Dr.. JOHNSON. and accuse the eighteenth
century OF being wrapped in itself to The
exclusion OF all else. foraetful that some of
our own idols may msks Of NJ the laughing
stock OF tie century - come. What will
be the fate of this little volume Of vsrse %
the years advance, cannot easily be deter
mined. but, ~ we turn iss pages. We can
discern In ii certain qualities of Rsnius
which has been tho stay Of poets whose
works have survived the age In which they
were produced. We certainly look upon IL
as bud OF promise. the fulfllmsnt of
which We anxiously await wkils the poet
passes to the noontids of life.
*Poems: BY William Watson. New York,
Mcmillan l. Co.
DON'T FOOL YOUR WIFE.
Tho Patent Moral OF Plain, Unvar-