The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-12-21

lrouo ia-. i,.in4i iriout re
SEARCH odd M nniinf,'i p,"pnt q!
.,u., i,nts IA nch . profitable
na.i.nn l.n.w If IA, rnLirct within
.io rarrr ui ancient OF m"hcrn Ii;cla
ere liat oilers -ncl Il bruhdlr>- ii III
iar exercise ihan Poetry IN S,uil
.aToina. After wrestling with The
.ppic for several days, an forced to-.
tic conclusion that the liniiir~> area
D: the aforesaid field j. unly cxcrrd,d
~ its utter barrcpnc~, aud >tcrllity
And to write an essay on I'pctry IN
South Carolina is task -lmilar in
Kind to preparing !. thesis on the
growth Of Ncrctatlon in Tie desert Of
Sahara
Poetry III south Car"lna is con~pic-
pnu- Is it, absence. |, nrcd not be
Inferred that the palmctto STATE has
nothinr to offer at The shrine q! the
Euscs, for we haze had poets and
even now We have IL few vcr-llicr~, but
whcu you garner and examine the
great harvest OF rhyme which has
brcn nanucd down 70 us throngh the
centuries, we must confess if We
criticlSc Justly and sincerely, that
South Carolina is lamcntaby deficient
n imaginative composition. 1t is an
unpleasant truth, but fact ncvcrthc-
Tess
N1acauly has said that II. civilixa-
lion advances, poetry must nccc -sarily
decline, and there Is Il world Of couso-
Ietion in that for we practical con i'm
aginativc South Carnl,nians With
The learned and brilliant Macuuly
sustaining us, VIC may take the posi-
Lion that civilization in South Caro-.
Ina has always bccn Of such high
order, SO advanced on the scale OF the
centuries, that poetry paled in the
glare and dragged out IL witcd exist
oncc, without sympathy and without
appreciation. No doubt the critics
would laugh US to scorn for taking
such position, but wc are in dcSpcr-
ale straits and there is no alternative
left us but to play the role Of the five
persons told Of in Scripture, who were
invited to tho wedding feast "And
they all with one accord began to make
excuses We must do likewise.
Perhaps the only poets worthy of
The name, whom South Carolina has
produced, arc Henry Timrod and Paul
Hamilton Haync. And if one desires
to read life in which the bitter
largely dominated over the sweet;
where the wailipg discord Of sorrow
and disappointment sounds unccas-
ingly, one has only to read the bio
graphy Of these two unfortunate vic
tins Of genius unapprcciated. | refer
more especially &c Timrod than 20
HayIe. 1t is said Of the former that
hc died of starvation, but this state
mcnt has been repeatedly denied
Any way, he suffered as few men
have, and to one of his refined, sensi-
tive nature the agony was intensified.
Think Of Timrod taking ono of his
treasured volumes Of verse to the
baker and exchanging it for bread:
yet it is said this incident actually
occurred. This sounds unpleasant,
und it may be charged that am de-
parting from my subject, but do not
think 1T out OF place for me to intro
ducc some facts to show why there
mas been dcarth Of poetry in South
Carolina. The struggles of the un-
appreciated genius are always pitiful
and never fail to excite compassion
when it is too late to render assist
ance. We laud Timrod now and sing
his praises with loud acclaim, but we
let him die for the lack of wholesome
sustonance. Some years ago an effort
vas made to raise monument to his
memory, aud an enthusiastic admirer
wrote to Sydney Lanier for fitting
epitaph to inscribe on it. This is
what MIR. I4anicr wrote: "Hc asked
for bread and yc gavo him n stone"
That was sufficient; the story Of poor
Timrod's life was told ii that brief
sentence, and bitter, biting rcproach
breathed through every word. Tim
rod was q prolific writer, and some Of
his work gives evidence of undue haste
and lack Of careful preparation.
Hunted down at all times by the wolf
Of poverty, he could not afford to wait
FOR inspiration, but under the spur
and whip Of necessity his jaded imagi-
nation aud weary brain were taxed
increasingly. But occasionally Tim
rod sounds a deeper note and we are
charmed by certain incffablc sweet
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