The San Francisco call., 1897-04-25

Milton, Milton the majestic, made the
devil roar in his stately and stlted meas
ures till The hollow concave of all hell
resounded," but we have done with the
devil; We have done with bell, and we
have pretty nearly done with Milton.
Burns has more readers, ten to one, than
Milton, and Riley has more readers in his
own land, at least, than Burns. Why?
Heart. That is the answer in one word,
clean, pure, single, wholesome heart.
Will we ever have an American litera-
ture? Yes, We will have. We have it
already and Riley is at the head OF it;
not at all because of his dialect, but in
spite of it. Yet his dialect Is genuine,
true as that of Burns is true. The secret
of it all is the heart that is in it. Go to
the heart, go crosslots, through the
orchard over the fence, down the
lane, anyway or anyhow, only so
you get there. Go straight, quietly
and with as few brief, baby words
as YOU can use, right into the
heart. Make no noise, no show of your
self, or long learned words or high-sound-
ing Miltonese measure, and you will stay
in the heart when you get there, as Rilev
stays. This is to be the American litera-
ture, as against English literature of the
Milton, Byron. Macaulay school of
words, words, words" of ruins. wars,
devils, bells. The world is weary, weared
unto death with these old deeds and
creeds in lurid and lordly and gorgeous
garmentings OF sounding and resounding
words, words, words and words.
American science has swept aside space
and time; American science dashes on at
fifty, sixty miles an hour. American
literature, under the lead OF our littera-
teurs and learned men, born of back CEN
turies. still insists on lum bering along in
the old-fashioned English stagecoach at
the old rate of ten miles an hour, and
ofIentimes with relocated outr lder,
and he blowing horn! And our trained
critics insist on sitting in judgment on
American literature with the OLD, cold,
musty and iestic Millions and Macau-
lays as the only law and gospel.
Meantime Riley is being more widely
and heartily read than all three OF them
put together.
Why is the world turning 10 pictures
and turning so entirely away from the
stately writer's OF England? Because it is
abreast with the times. 1t wants ideas,
not words, words, wordsi II a picture
goes to the heart, tells the story at
glance, little matter how crude or rude,
the heart prefers square of picture to
column of words.
Ii Riley can stand you "knee deep in
June, with dozen little bits of dialect
or sawed-off Saxon words, why ne is SIM
ply in line with the time; the new man
and the true man. the master of the new
American literature, a man with an idea.
Great is Lowell, Longfellow, Whittier,
Whitman, Holmes-great, truly great,
and great poets all; but only great as the
going English poets are great, if we ex-
cept some work of the frst-named poet
A jewel that depends on its setting is
poor jewel. Poetry that leans on stately
words and war and rage and ruin is not
ali poetry. l have done many books, but
have despised big words and have not
written a word of war either in hell or out
of hell. l would starve first. French
literatureP War and intrigue, hate and
lust; and so, with scarce the exception,
she has not line of poetry, simply be-