Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1899-06-16

have been left by the tide OF time
standing as landmarks In the history
OF art, as objects OF veneration and
enjoyment. but serving no longer as
working models except at their mod
ern imitator's own risk OF producing
works which. however admirable as
purely literary performances. must fall
to exhibit any of the vital signs OF ma
tive and necessary impulse And this
10 risk such as only dramatic genius
OF the highest kind could afford to dis
regard. Our own dramatic develop
ment il so abundantly rich tnat we
could afford to recognize more warm
ly than we do the merits OF a form
whose very raison d'etre would al
most seem to be to unconsciously sup
plement our own by setting In chief
prominence those dramatic constit-
uents which. in view OF our own ideal.
It was our business to practically dis
regard.
II was the privilege OF Greek art
alone Except In far between" and
Violated instances) to strike the unerr-
Ing balance between form aud matter
In this connection 1t will not be out
Of place to refer to one OF the pro-
foundest and most original Of modern
writers on Greek tragedy. Friedrich
Ni6txsche namely. who from his ma
tionality will not be suspected of any
undue Partially for the French muse
In general. or In particular for SO no.
tably un-German tragic type as that
of which Racine's productions are the
highest embodiment. II Is in one OF
his earlier books. "Menschliches, ALL
sumenschliches" (1S7S). that Nistzsche
speaks OF the strict restraint which |
the French dramatists imposed upon
themselves with respect to the unitles |
OF action. place and time. to style. to
form of verse and build OF sentence,
to choice Of words and thoughts. Is be-
ing no less important = schooling than
that Of counterpoint and fugue in the
Of modern music. He
recommends us only to read from time
to time voltaire's 'Mahomet" In or
der to become perfectly clear a to the
loss inflicted once for all xpon Euro
pean culture by the break with the ira
ditions of French tragedy.
VoltAire was the last of tho great
dramatists who. with all his many
sidedness and all his capacity for pow
srful tragic feeling. subjected himself
to tho influence Of Greek moderation.
In this book Nietxsche seems to me
to have clearly indicated one OF the
most significant aspects OF French
tragedy. ~ well as voltaires position
In the development OF II. Coming
after Corneills and Racine. voltaire
Ia most constructive essentials can
hardly be counted inferior to either,
though, II Judged on purely poetic
his inequality with them Ia
manifest. Still. II his verse lacks the
heroic and ethic fuilness OF the for
nsr's and the combined solidity and I
nollesse Of the latscr's. II has qualities
Il its own which make 1t . perfectly
adequate vehicle for the expression OF
hose genuinely tragic passions which.
a his best Efforts. he l. able to set in {
notion and conduct to their denoue-
nent with = master hand. /,
I am the more inclined TO lay |
tress upon this estimate Of voltaire's |
raSic productions fnasmuch a.. en- this Z
ids OF the channel. their claims are | I
carcely held to be serious. l noted re- .
entity In one Of our most widely read /
nd most frequently noted histories 3
French literature. for instance. that .
uch masterpiece of severe form and '
regnant passion AS voltairs's | |,