The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-26
LITERARY.
Outlook For Romance
Discouragging.
OUR PRODUCTION.
Time May Soften the Pro-
sale Outlines.

To the thoughtful observer, the never
ceasing multiplication of books and
literary productions cannot fail to pre-
sent certain elements of alarm. Despite
the healthy activity which is thus seen
to exist, ii must sometimes occur to
him that eventually-and that in the
near future at the present rate-all sub
iacts will have become more or less
trite and hackneyed and originality
will be made impossible.
There are only a certain number of
scenes. situations, emotions-large, it
Is true. but nevertheless limited-which
can be elaborated into literary form. Is
1t probable that all these will become
commonplace from too frequent use?
Again, the dominating industrial and
scientific tendencies of the age seem
calculated to dwarf the imaginative
and emotional faculties necessary for
producing unique and virile literature,
for literature is not a mere record of
events, nor of scientific experiments,
neither is it that which aims to sup
ply in classic polish and rhetorical me-
chanism what is lacking in real I'M
borrowed thought.
Without imagination and emotion,
therefore, there may be minute chroni-
Giles and elegant limitations, but no lit
erature. We may leave out Of con-
sideration histories and scientific works.
There will always be histories to write,
and, If present conditions continue, ex-
periments and discoveries to record;
besides. these become literature only
when they so far transcend their prov
ince as to introduce imaginative and
philosophlo elements
In poetry, at least, we must confess
that ages of cultivation have nearly
rendered barren its more restricted
fields. The sources of the epic have long
been entirely exhausted; and. in all
probability, the world will never pro-
duce another great epic. Epics are
born of the exuberant imagination and
in1petuous energy of youth. AS the
race reaches maturer years, it may still
exult in the glorious fancies of
its younger days, but it can
ones in the sober atmosphere of middle
ages.
AS Macaulay has pointed out, when
the light of certainty-of authentic his
tory-begins to break upon the SPLEEN
did phantoms of myth and epic, they
lose their apparent solidity and reality
and fade into mere memories.
1t is impossible to evolve from hard
facts what can only be woven from the
tenuous mist of legend.
Prolonged production has made
original love-poetry almost impossible.
No single theme, even that of love,
which is the largest OF ALL can sustain
centuries of continual poetic discussion
without becoming trite, hence love-
poetry is proverbially insipid. The
greatest writer's can now scarcely trust
themselves with this theme for fear
of drifting into the commonplace. Kip
ling and other strictly up o-date"
poets avoid it entirely Its extremely
threadbaar condition is evidenced by
the conduct OF men like Swipburne,
who despairing of finding any new ma
terial in its legitimate aspects, are
forced to handle its gross and sensual
elements for sake of originality.
Dldactic poetry, once so popular,is Ian
gushing for want Of an audience as
much as from want of fresh sources of
material. The spirit OF the age is OPP
posed to all that it chooses to call
''preachy."
A certain class still cling to the once
widely prevalent notion that every we'll
rounded poem must point a clear. solid
moral; and the rhymed couplets of Pope
are still read; but the larger voice of the
literary world declares that pure poetry
need have no direct moral teaching /;
that such teaching. if at all
pointed, has tendency to mar
rather than to adorn While fully real
izing the sublime moral mission of
the poet, the literary opinion of today
insists upon art for arts sake Ia
ken in the abstract, the sources of di-
dactic poetry are almost ineXhausti-
BILE; but, considering the taste and de-
mands of the age, it must be confessed
that this branch of composition is eX-
ceedingly Improbable. Pope's Essay
on man if written today, could not
find q publisher, nor would the publish
ers be to blame, for ten chances to one.
It would attract but little attention if
printed. Yet, as an 18th century pro-
IfroEs p
because when it was written and pub
lished. 1t was not only in harmony with
prevalent tastes, but was original in
conception and treatment
The outlook for fiction is less discour-
aging, for here the field is wide enough
Il to cover nearly the whole range OF HUI
"A man thought, yet certain branches Of
fiction also are beginning to show signs
of weakness The historical novel
must soon perish for lack of fresh ma
terial. unless new fields of history are
discovered. This form of fiction de-
ponds very largely for It's interest and
"a value upon the piquancy and original
ity with which it depicts some partic-
ular age, or the circumstances cluster
ing around some notable person OF
event in history
1t is therefore evident that as soon
as an age or event has been richly and
adequately set forth in the form of an
historical novel. that age or event is
made more or less useless as material
for future romance. The ground is
said to have been covered" The age
of chivalry, SO WILDLY pictured by Sir
Walter Scott, and once so abundant a
treasure house of prose romance, is nc
longer available for striking and sue
oessfulhction. olonialandrevolutiona
novels, from which Cooper. the pioneer
in this field, reaped so bountiful har-
vest are already on the wane: Indian
stories. instead of enriching their au-
thor as formerly, do we'll to obtain a
respectful hearing, and the warehouses
of booksellers are stacked and piled
with multitude of unsuccessful novels
dealing with the civil war;
Space will not permit of notice in de-
tail of the many themes of fiction that
once fresh and popular-are becoming
more or less hackneyed. One or two ex-
amples will suffice Stories Of the sea
II from the hands of strong writers
still find an attentive audience: but
when Cooper produced his Pilot it was
the first novel of the sea that had beer
written in our language 1t met with 6
success that no sea-story could hope tC
attain at the present day. Even our bes
marine writers are obliged to introduce
as a rule, modern vessels and ap-
pliances, for simple, old-fashioned sea
yarn on board of an old-fashioned sail
ing vessel would run q risk OF being
thought childish and insipid. Even love
that ancient song which the world neve
tires Of hearing, and which, like thu
chorus in Greek play, recurs an1ids
the dialogue of every novel, is begin
ming to demand new numbers and Vari