New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-30
NATURE AND THE POET
THEIR RELATIONS IN ALI ACES



Ia the preparation OF this book which Is perhaps
'he ss1est of all in the study Of letters Brought
- " ia'e WIN nature writer cannot lie Let
MN deal with m m with the works OF man 10,
nm "nte history or philosophy. and he may de-
.e'Ne reader as to his real sentiments Let hin,
e'' WIN impersonal nature. and whether in
prose or verse. but above all in verso tho o.,i
'ude OF his very soul is on the surface of what
'e "i''es' EVERY line is a confession False love
80, i'is true. A manufactured enthusiasm
va oe"ay no reader One Of the most interest
ing Things in recent literature is the svif,poss
with which self-elected hierophants ~ ra,,-o
nave found their own level Ieavipc vx-h,.. -.
"eioot'ne and Thoreau exactly where thev founa
'"' ul'uis'uroed in their 'pre-eminence In
80, -1S ever peer useless to feign a virtue
"heh the poet had it not. Pope sings in vain
I uhe darksone pines that DER yon rocks recIipas
~. ~ msh. and murmur to the hollow wind
hills $1,000 'iie oe'"een the
The srots that echo to the tinkIinc rius
lie hated nature. and We would know ), thong,
Ne had never said word on the subject 70 on,
OF MS correspondents. In short profassor o.
save mas chosen a side OF poetical literature
NH - more eloquent perhaps than any other
'"e .''iiuetCes at work at its roots. and thus
las BOOK Is much more than a survey of stvle or
OF taste: 1t carries close to the sources .,
P0e'ry' TO its inner feeling to its essential in
sp"auoh' from the Greek epic to the lyrics OF
Tennyson and Matthew Arnold
W 90 not mean to asCribe too subordinate a
- - s'E'e-!n its highest sense it is insep-
- rom 'he hoblest elements OF poetry-but
developments Of style mean rnuch tbero 80
seVeiopnents Of the human soul which 49,,
''c 'ne thought is greater than the words
winch strive 10 express 1t. and the difference no
tween the old and the new in the Landscape OF
poetry Is the difference between two points Of
view The diction of poetry experiences Seem
i'siS Nast changes. yet remains more or less the
Nt4ra i pf,.-f
thets' the colors. the music and the medium of
1heocfltus and OF Landor against whom hv
the way. Professor Palgrave stin shows a Curl
GUS prejudice. ignoring his MANY beautifn,
touches Of landscape, and in fact not even men
@Aonng his nance. But there is a great euI,
fixed between. say.
The shadowy mountains and the resoundinr
OF the Had and that sea of Matthew Ar,o,1s
famous image
Retreating. to the breath
ana naked shingles OF the world
Ihat comparison is the more suggestive wb.,
,he Classical bent of the modern poets penius
Is remembered He. Of all Victorian noets -.
nave been expected to recapture the Horrer,.
io'e' ana ne did So far as was NJ all nossih,a
IN the concluding lines Of "Sohrab and Rus,u,,,
- me honeric landscape was one thing the
modern landscape is another and we 49, =
Changed the innumerable parsonisoo.i.
ing from ancient mythology for an entirely air
eie4' SCI elther religious purely fanciful and
Poet'CaL w mere paganism identified n ,bor-
sAha oeiues We identify One the faith .,
Achi!ies Is replaced by the faith Of Christsri,,,
- Is hafdIy necessary 10 point out the radical
eo"Pletehess OF the change which this develo,,
rient carries in its train
1et the change does not mean loss-unIass che
reaGeF taste in poetry is affected by eIar,a,.s
otheE IMAM poetic. II the modern Imagination
misses N the poets OF the Anthology that necur
lar Pni!os 1phlcal delight and refreshrnen, which
ma! De found In Wordsworth we have only IN
say 50 much the worse for the modern iroa,i,.
toh- IL Professor Palgrave shows ona th,ro
more than another II is that the ultimate charm
OF ali the landscape poets has been the charm %
oeau'y Here again We the irnperious nou,a- !
OF Nature 1t is not by virtue Of the lessons ,,,
o'~" from me. She seems to say u Tho rn.t
that your song is acceptable to mine ears. i, 60 I
because you reveal my beauty that Won, o~ |
worthy Of nay favor" After all II = -,
more - Wordsworths credit thar b -
criticism of lie out OF nat,ra H., =
is TO byrons tina; he found in its osso.i,
uonS an impetus toward the celebration %
'he g!orles and shames Of Greece The ors,
ana last GIT OF each poet has been To see Na,,,r
Tor what she is and 10 interore, her L.,
Illness 10 man. There is no question hero -,
merely sensuous loveliness nor Of a merely ,,,,