Evening journal., 1899-11-28

THE DRIVER OF THE OK DESlG-
MATES IT AS ANOTHER oFFENsE
PERPETRATED UPON A HELP
LESS, UNsUsPEcT1NG PUBLIC
WHICH HAS BARELY RECOv-
Erred FROM THE EFFECTS OF
THE WOES OF THE MAN WITH
THE HOE"
Edwin Markham, who perpetrated
THE Man With the Hoe" and sent the
brother to the o." believing about an
astonished world; for which offense the
man with the club ought to whack him
with a dull, sickening and exterminat-
ling thud, has done it some more.
This time he has created The Lyric
Seer" Ed tells us that THE poet is
forever young And speaks the one i'm
mortal tongue" But he omits to give
a hint as to the language to which the
lill-educated rhymster is restricted. He
proceeds with his warble and AYERS that
ITO him the wonder never dies, For
youth is looking through his eyes" Not
lalone to Ed will the wonder never die!
Everybody else viii forever wonder
how Ed managed to get off his poetry.
Nor will any cease to wonder what he
means by:
pale listener at the heart OF things,
He hears the voices and the wings; He
hears the skylark overhead-Hears the
far footballs OF the dead"
It is no surprising matter, however,
| If he becomes pale when he listens at
the heart Of things and hears voices
and wings and far footballs Of some
thing deceased as we'll as skylarks.
What are all Of these cenfounded uR-
congenials making a racket in the heart
of things for, any way? Who wouldn't
get pale to hear it,
when the swift MUSES. seize their
child. Then God has gladness rich and
wild: For when the bard is caught and
hurled A splendor breaks across the
world" Gee whizl and the astron-
omers said it was meteors and
cometsi The MUSES. can't be so
awfully rapid, however, il several
OF them are necessary to mother
one bard! But think of God wild
with gladness because the swift Muses.
seized their pale and eavesdropping
brat God has gladness rich and wild"
is pushing poetic license TO the limit
lonly the author of "The Man With the
| Hoe" would dare.
/ II anything could raise a wild and
rich gladness in the heavens above and
upon the earth beneath it would be to
sec the avenging MUSES. as they
caught and hurled" our bard across
a 'stonshed world.
| The imagery, the symmetry the philos-
lophy of this perennial pale youth has
never been suspected Ed found out
heaps Of his traits and uses that folks
| will be delighted to know of, and he is
sure that the poet knows it ali. No
matter what IL is OF what it isn't, the
poet knows it; and he knows it just as
much when il isn't as when sc Is; and
knows where to find the proofs and
what they mean, even II they do net
exist an&don't mean anything II they
do exist. Just ponder:
His song distils a saving power
From foot-worn stone" etc. He Finds
In some beetle on the road A power to
llift the human load" Not necessarily
the white mans burden. OF course!
That would really be enough to pile
lontO one poor beetle; but this particu-
lar bug OF Eds must lift the whole
I; human load and tote il up the high
way! He Hears through the
roar of mortal things The Gods i'm
mortal whisperings; Sees the world
wonder, rise and fall, And knows that
Beauty made It all" Tut, TUT fie upon
our old-time ignorancei Now all the
world until Ed was seized and hurled
hereabouts, supposed that beauty is
but an attribute; while all the time it
is not only an entity, but creator
! and made it all The "all" is probably
the wOrld-wonder that goes up and
e down. Whatever can It be, do YOU
E suppose? Well / neveri He finds the
faithful witness hid In poppy-head and
Pyramid" We don't think that a wit.
ness that will make a sneak and hide
in poppycock or pyramid or any other
! old place has any great claim to a re.
= ward for faithfulness. Seems to m,
I that faithful witness wouldn't hide
- but would hold up his right hand. s,
help me and tell the truth, though h,
shamed the devil and made a scandal il
the neighborhood.
THE Golden Heaven or the Pit-H,
= shakes the music out of it," Oh. my
r Who wants 10 climb the golden stair
: after Ed has shaken all the music ou
e lof heaven? Or. what comfort at all H
10 be left in the Pit If Ed shakes al
: the music out Of it? What will HEAVIER
B be without its harps or hell withou
/ It's ilddles and hand organs and har
monicons and kazoos? What? The,
. Twill not be habitable or endurable. Bet
\ tier just get into the world-wonder an,
4 forever rise and falll
"All things yield up their souls 4
\ him From dateless dust to seraphim.
a Nothing-not even dateless dust-coul
/ be so dull as not to die laughing a
l Eds poesy and yield up It's soul 70 hir
az every line.
But great as he is. He feels the mc
tion Of the sphere. And builds his son
n In sacred fear
n After all, the world has more reaso
n 70 fear than he has when he takes n
his mechanical tools and prepares {
q lhuild n song
The Lyric Seer" could be built n
hut one carnenter-thc father OF IN
p man who is brother 10 the OK.
THE DRIVER OF THE OK.
"a
1 PROCEEDINGS IN BANKRUPTCY.