Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1896-06-05
EIGHT IRE GRADUATED,
Continued from first paee.)

EIGHT ARE GRhDUATED.
Continued from first page.)
cay. The inspiration of great
political events, the rising Of a
nation to power, makes a people feel
their individuality, rouses their patriot
ism, and impels them to commemorate
their deeds in words. In such u time
genius is rarely wanting.
A crisis in a nations history NAV not
always produce a brilliant literary
epoch, but IN the other hand, such a
period cannot exist without such an
inspiration. Literature is a criticism
of life" "Man is the product of his
age" Had Shakespeare lived 1T the
end of the nineteenth century, is it
probable that he would have written
his wonderful dramas which are the
admiration of the world? No. 1t is
more likely that he would be doing
just as other men are doing now
writing society novels. He was a man
of his age, his age produced him, he
could not have been separate from his
age. Were Homer living now would
he compose the Iliad? Could we have
in the present day the impassioned ora
tory of Demosthenes? Far from it.
Though there may be other factors
in moulding the spirit of the times.
such as the influence of foreign litera-
ture and the prevailing philosophical
and religious thought, there is none
other so potent as political life. In the
early days of literature, poets sang of
their peoples achievements in war,
their triumphs and conquests; butthat
period is over. In modern times the
world is too old and practical for that.
but the inspiration is felt now as then.
even more deeply, for it is said that
true liberty, like true glory, cannot
exist without the advancement of
literature.
The first effect of such events is to
produce a powerful, impassioned poet
ry: later mems minds turn to philoso-
ply, and to a moro polished rhetoric,
then the course is downward through
artificiality to complete literary decay.
For an example, we naturally turn first
to ancient Greece, because there civil
ization first reached a high develop
ment, a culture which, perhaps. has
never since been equaled. There. if
anywhere. we should expect to find an
illustration of this law of literary pro-
gress. In their struggle for liberty
against the Persians, in the battles of
Marathon and Salamis, the Greeks first
felt their individuality, their power as
Il nation, and when, for u time, they
turned from the arts of war to the arts
of peace, Hellenic literature reached
it's golden age-tle age of Pericles.
Then lived Aeschylus, Sophacles, and
Euripides, who have been models for
tragedians of all times since: then lived
Aristophanes, the master of comedy.
and Socrates, the philosopher. Later,
philosophy attained it's climax with
Plato and Aristotle, while literature
began to decline, and by the time of
the capture of the nation by the
Romans, the glory of Greece was a
memory. In the illustration of this
law, then, as in all things else, Greece
is a model. The Romans were largely
imitators of Grecian culture, hence
with them philosophy came first in
stead of poetry. After Rome had been
mistress of the world, after the civil
strife of a hundred years, when the
nation reached the height of it's power
under Augustus, then came the highest
period of its literary history, which
again is known by the name of the
ruler-the Augustan age. Virgil and
Horace ftourished then, as we'll as
OASCAOs AlSSS anu Guo OUler lroaC
Roman orators and historians. With
the growth of luxury and the corrup-
tion of society, literature suffered a
rapid decadence and was gone lone
before the fall of the empire.
The French refer to the age of Louis
NV as the golden period i'm the his
tory of their letters, for, during it were
written the works of Racine and Cor
nellie, Bassuet and Pascal. 1t was
under Louis NV also that the nation
first attained its political eminence.
The times were expanded by his world
wide ambition.
The classic period of Germany which
is dignified by the names of Goethe and
Schiller, is even more remarkable in
its contrast to what had gone before.
1t, too, was a direct effect of the i'm
pulse of national affairs, for it had its
bi. tn in the glory of Frederick the
Great.
During the last part of the sixteenth
century there vas u general revival of
learning, but it needed the stimulus of
the great national movement which.
made England rise to the full height
of its POLITICAL power, to produce
"those melodious bursts that fill the
spacious times of great Elizabeth, with
sounds that echo still"
In that splendid galaxy of poets
which adorns the Elizabethan age. the
names which shine brightest are those
of Shakespeare, Marlowe and Spencer.
Never before, and perhaps never since,
has there been such a splendid out
burst of literary genius in England,
unless it was that of a hundred years
ago. Then was the time of that deep
social movement which began and Gull
minated in France but which was felt
throughout the world. The times were
Observation-Disclosures was felt
the impulse for liberty; everywhere the
old social orders we're being overturned:
and q little later Napoleon awed the
world. The struggles of this period
again awakened the national enthusi-
asm and the new spirit found its voice
in the genius of Wordsworth, Shelley