The times., 1898-02-13
poets OF the Middle west.

VINO nlAe l1ldut lliSiI iSpotAltAA ~ NtAsS~
time, one is led 10 a somewhat uneX-
pected conclusion. The poets OF this
generation are to be found in the Mid
die West In spite of all the fun that
has been poked at Chicago, the metro
polls of that region; in spite of tra-
tiitions connected with the Hoosier, the
fiatboat man, and the porkpacker; in
spite Of the disdain of New York and
Boston critics for this region without
mountains, without thrilling historical
traditions. without seacoast. the spirit
of American poetry seems to have
pitched her tent not in New York or
Boston or in the South, whence the best
short stories Of this generation have
come, but somewhere in the region ly-
ing just south of the Great Lakes, and
to the east of the Mississippi She is
an elusive and migratory spirit, and
may tomorrow be found in the Yosem-
ite, the Northwest, or the sun-bathed
South. but just at present her attention
is given 10 the broad, low-lying tract
OF prairie land, known to Eastern crit
les as the Middle West.
OF all American poets who have
written in the last decade, Eugene
Field and James Whitcomb Riley un-
doubtedly stand first. Field is identi-
fed with Chicago; Riley with Indian
apolis. John hay. when he was a poet
by profession, dealt with Pike county,
No. and though he finds the verse
which he wrote II that time 10 be in
conveniently immortal. the fact re-
mains thar Il is likely 10 i've for some
time yet Hamlm Garland belongs 10
this section. Cy Warman. whose verse
now and then appears IN current mag
szines, halls from this same region
Paul Laurence Dunbar is an Ohio man.
Howcils. who was a poet before he
was a novelist, and whose prose in his
earlier works. had decidedly poetical
puahty. lived in Ohio tili he was sent
abroad as consul To Venice. James
Lane Allen, whose prose is. perhaps,
the most exquisitely. poetical we have,
comes from the blue grass region OF
Kentucky, 20 the southwark, and Mary
Hartwell Catherwood, who is also a
poet in prose, spent much Of her early
life in Illinois. There are a number OF
other people who might be mentioned
In this connection, but there is certain
" no such cluster OF poets and poetical
prose authors in any other section of
the country as may be found in Illinois,
Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. This
grouping cannot be regarded as due to
any particularly literary town, as was
the case in Boston during the days
Of Emerson, Hawthorne, Longfellow,
Lowell and their brilliant coterie. The
influences surrounding the lives of
these various authors are widely diff
1erent, and there is no one city which
can claim to be the literary center of
the region. But the fact remains that
for the last twenty years the poetry of
American literature has been drawn al
most entirely from the three or four
States lying between the Great Lakes
on the north and the Allegheny Noun
tains on the south and east, and the
great natural highway Of the Missis-
sippi on the west.
What is the reason Of this? Why
should this particular region have pro
duced distinctively American poetry.
as il has rather than New York Penn
sylvania, the South or the West? What
are the influences which might bring
about this result?
In the first place. the Middle West
is comparatively a new country. The
fathers and mothers Of the people who
now inhabit the rolling prairie lands of
1litAlO4S anu lilAldIld were DlOIActES, WIN
all the simplicity. heartiness and near
ness to nature Of people who draw their
living from the soil. Children grew
up in these farming communities.
working, studying and playing in init
mate communion with the woods. the
fields and the wild creatures. What
ever may be the influences of a city In
the direction of general culture-and
they are very great and very fine
the poet of wide sympathies and deep
thought is likely to be a Countryman,
or at least a villager Moreover in
g new country the young author finds
more sympathy and appreciation than
in a city. IL he is a literary coxcomb
he remains town Versifier; but II he Is
a real poet his own instincts keep him
from being harmed by injudicious
praise. while he is not discouraged be
yond all hope by the criticisms of
those whom he recognizes as better
educated. more cultured and more re-
fined than he
The Middle West. moreover. is in the
path of travel. Through IL pilgrims
passed to the land of gold IN 's9. up
and down the Mississippi the great
tide of traffic flowed before railroads
became so common. The driftwood
of all this human flood surging back
and forth through Chicago on the
north and Cincinnati and St. Louis on
the south. helped to widen the knowl-
edge and deepen the experience Of the
people on the farms and in the small
towns. The States OF Illinois, Indiana
and Ohio partook of the warm and
generous life of the South, the right
eousnesS of the Puritan and the COM
Portable conservatism of Pennsylvania
and Dutch New York. II was very
mixed population which settled these
three States, and history has shown
that varied elements, not too dissimi-
lar for amalgamation, are the best
material for thought and action in the
next generation. In the lowlands OF
Scotland, Huguenot, Highlander, Scot
and Englishman Were mingled, and the
result is unique literature and practical
ability. Although history is never ex-
actly repeated. something like this has
taken place in the Middle West, and
the result in literature appears to be
an incipient school of American poetry
The particular characteristics of
these writers are a distinctiyely Amer
lean and democratic quality. and
sensitiYeness to the sights and sounds
of nature which is shown in no such
way by the earlier poets, Lanier, who
came from the highlands of Georgia,
has something of the latter quality. but
he fails when he attempts to depict
human emotion, especially the emo
ton of the common people Lowell
had also a sensitive ear and quick
eve for the aspects OF nature, but
when he treated of the common man
he made a burlesque, and a burlesque
of the New Englander, without touch
ing any other type of the country
Longfellow was a mixture of English
and German sentiment, and Holmes
60 oil u iC ChraWIlU h,1ro1