The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-06-27
WILMINGTON. n. c.
OBsERVANDA.

rs,omas Hood, an English poet oieo
:, 1sA5 aged Al. We have a gehu-
uar+a1itv for him since the fortles'
whom he was living, Tor he ID ohe "a
tho English poets and humorlsts whose
writings we read with singular ehJoS-
-. uben a lad, and remember no"
,a of his verses we learned IN mes
..ro+ime A year ago, When MS
h;r+hdav occurred, we wrote IN THESE
columns an article upon MILL
m celebrate his excellences as d poe'
in q modest and sincere way. Inc jill
aav mis- 1O1st birthday occurfeo'
.nd we are gratiied to see 1t men
4o,ad that it was to some extent op-
a-xzad Inv those who admire MS pure
,oafu, noems and have
u,;+b and admiration for the eAcellehI
man who was such a sufferer "hl4e ~
ing and one of the most gentle' sehi"A
~ mon IT is a pity that he, IKE 81
manv other authors OF orlsin"i -
aharm,pg gifts, should be among 'ne
a,uuo., forgotten poets. There nave
haan greater poets in the Vlcloli"A
reign than Hood, but there nave 49,
Few- if any. who had a more sei
Gift for poetry in it's depth' lh'ehsi's
- faay;ng. purity of poetic conception
and EXPRESSION. He has Written poe
90 wa showed a year ago., that ITCHY
~ RI he treasured, and are III eN-
worthy of the attention OF the
cultured minds Of the present. IN p"-
1870 vL0 ron1lV love
e;cu1a rly of tina class VINO rediS 49,
the heautiful, III simple, the sraceAo'
4ba me1odious. We do not again IA
large upon his profound humorous Ben
inc that attracted so much dIleihl1
,,ben he was a factor among HELL D
e. T. his noetry that will perpetuate Ills
~ aneage the attention OF those
xuho sock the beautiful n the pure
and will be "a joy forever 10 MANY De-
,cause they are "things OF oeauty' we
saw Yesterday a short ecltorlal oopioN
from The Springfield Republican on
Hood. from which we take an enJoyaoie
extract:
.<.uood was a fine and genuine poet
xuhose imaginative power ana graz -
avnression were unfortunately opscul-
~ NV +ha great mass Of comic rhymes
Tr which fortune compelled MN. ~
= 1vr;ysx as Fair Ines n l Remelioei
~ @,nnns the choicest things OF tnelr
/, LIND in the language, and not evei1
auar-1se can destroy the force anu pa,
tho. of the two famous poems III IN
ba reached the heart or hundAluS, 80
Rridge of Signs and the SONG y he
shirt Tom Hood, the JesteH' may To-
forgotten, or become a mylh llnt bos
Miller. but Thomas Hood tine poet N"'
"a: secure fame.
He mad so great a genius .
u-ic hat a we'll known work on Eng
,;.h literature by Professor oha"'
asavs that Hood must apsolulei' ~
.o,sidared as constituting an era III Lax
t,istorv of comic literature But rio
v.ssor Shaw had fine insight anu olo
- foil to observe that he had lar
more than this remarkable noo"H
Cor no said he "is also a great Original
noet of q serious and dramatic cast
ovid that very aptly describes the reai
o~oc+er of his best verse-hls strohs'
dramatic Dream Of Eugene Arahi'
tho ~Elm Tree" ."Plea of
Ea;ries." Two Swans" "Lycus the
captaur." The lyrics mentioned Wy
The Republican, with others omllleu'
are worthy of being 'housenolo "oiu''
Cor thew are replete with delicate IAN
cv exquisite charm and a very uncoih-
mon simplicity of diction that aoo u
he grace of the