The herald., 1896-08-09
joaquin Miuer's Poetry


There is no doubt that Miller is
somewhat underyaRled If not neglect
ed poetical genius. The main cause Tor
our national indifference to him is de-
clared to be because British critics have
been so united and vocherous in tnelr
praise of him; but this is UNJUST no
doubt though there may be a trace OF
truth in it, The real cause of the rather
low estimate put on Miller, the country
over is the grotesque makeup ana tne
strange life of the man, together Win
the wild and extravagant style OF some
earlier poems. In other Words. tney
who have not critically read the poet OF
the Sierras and have aEso been preju-
diced against him because of something
ridiculous in his garb and general atti-
tude. have never done justice to MS
genius.
JOAQUIN Miller is a crank of cranks
and it is hard to get over this. He may
be sincere, but he has often been only
silly in his treatmer. of practical things.
Nothing could have been more ridicu-
lous. for instance, that his mawkish
treatment of Evans and Sontag, the
outlaws, when he sought them out in
their hiding places in the mountains
and came back and wrote columns OF
miserable gush over them. 1t was
wretched performance and betrayed an
utter lack of all feeling of justice or
practical sense
Besides all IL ese personal weaknesses,
and misfortune as to his garb. his i'm
mediate environments and his fauits
and affectations of style, the whole
literary atmosphere OF the region has
been unfavorable to perfect healthful-
ness of effort and a true estimate of
worth Literature has gone on by jerks
rather than we'll assured natural
growths. The critics have been unfair
and the reading public often capricious.
1t is not strange, therefore, that the
unkempt hermit poet should have Jared
rather badly in his treatment by the
great outside world.
In THE Isles of the Amazons,' the
"Songs of Sun Lands" and the later
Songs of the Soul" there are passages
so fine and strong that one dwells upon
them in profound admiration.
He stands on enchanted ground who
can write such lines as these:
20, heavens. the eloquent song of the ST.
Asleep lay the sun in the vines on the sod.
And asleep in the sun lay the green-girdied
islands .
AS rocked to their rest in the cradle of
Cod
Or these:
"And oh. the voices have heard!
Such visions when the morning grows
A brothers soul in some sweet bird,
sisters spirit in rose.
The following lines are exceedingly
ambitious and rather daring, and yet
show great power:
Come to my sunland; come with me
To the land | love- where the sun and sea
Are wed forever. where palm and pine
Are filled with singers: where tree and vine
Are voiced with prophets! O come, and
you
Shall sing a song, with the seas that swirl
And kiss their hands to the cold white. girl:
To the maiden moon in the mantle of blue"
And listen now to his Song of the
Twilight:
II love you. love you. maid of night.
Your perfumed breath, your dreamful
eyes,
Your holy silences, your sighs
OF matchless longing: your delight
When night says, Hang on yon moons
Your russet gown. and rest till morn.
"Now perfumed Night sad-faced and far,
Walks up the world in sombre brown.
Now suddenly a loosened star
Lets all her golden hair fall down
And night is dead Days coffin-lid
With cords of gold shot through the pail
Here too, is something very simple and
forcible from his StanZaS on Burns:
I'm men whom men condemn as i'll
] find so much of goodness still;
In men whom men pronounce divine
find so much of sin and blot.
] hesitate to draw line
Between the two. where God has not"
But the deepest and most touching
lines we have ever culled from all the
Faithful Dead:
Life knows no dead so beautiful
AS is the white cold coffind past;
This / may love nor be betrayed:
The dead are faithful to the last.
am not spouseless--I have we'd
A memory-a life that's dead"
BLIND LEADERS OF THE BnIND.
The romance of Blind Lawyer, by
James NJ. Cooke, NJ. D.. author of
Hypnotsm, etc Cloth. Lee & Shep-
ard, Boston.
This is a natural. easy and exceeding
ly readable story of a blind boy, Robert
Netherland, born in a little village in
Alabama in the war days. He was
adopted by a Well-to-do family who had
no children of their own and as well ed
ucated as was practicable. Very early
the youth gave evidence of very re-
markable development of the sense of
touch, smell and sound and he was
thus enabled to make marvellous prog
ress in learning. His career is sketch
ed, the main events being strung upon
a thread of easy narrative that has but
little plot-the incidents being mainly
used to illustrate and emphasize the
hero's great capabilities. 1t is a vol
ume of curious and pathetic interest
DR.. Cooke, the author, is himself blind
and the narrative is substantially the
story of his own life, which is a very re-
.markable one. He was born in Knox
vile. Tenn, in 1863 Very early his
sense of touch and smell grew to- be so
sure that he became employed as a to-
bacco expert and found profitable en-
ployment for years a buyer. He went
through college mainly upon his earn
ings in this business and later practiced
massage. Soon after he began the study
of medicine and graduated from the
medical schools of Boston university
and Harvard. He is now a successful
physician in Boston and writer of eX-
cellent reputation in several lines his
work on hypnotism being the best
known.
The volume has a greatly added inter-
est when the reader thus feels that it is
recital of personal experience
We have received the following paper
covered books:
Mckinley and Hobart, F. Tennyson
Nicely; short biogra phical sketch by
Byron Andrews. Dr. Nikola, by Booth
by Appleton & Co.; No. 1917 of Town and
Country Library series. The Old. Old
Story, by Rosa Nouchette Corey, i
B. Lippincott Company; this is No 1874
of Selected Novels
A JOURNEY IN OTHER WORLDS.
BY John Jacob Astor. Appleton g. Co
The regular issues of the two first in
this list, need no word from me, except
the bare announcement. at this time
OF the work of Mr.. Astor later mention
will be made, and such review as the
venture appears to demand
THE FATEFUL HAND, A ROMANCE
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