The times., 1899-04-29
American Poetry of the Future.

| American Poetry of the Future.
| 1t is always interesting 10 speculate on
| future developments of literary genius, and
| in no field is speculation more fascinating
than in that of poetry. The poetry of
race is its pure thought and emotion in a
state of capitalization. When emotional,
ii approaches the lyric form; when a rec
ord of thought II is usually not lyrical, and
often, curiously enough. in the form of the
drama. Sometimes it is utterly impossible
to do more than guess at the character OF
the poetry of the immediate future; some
times predictions may be made with reas
enable certainty.
In the first place, il is TO be observed
that whenever a new school of poetry has
appeared, the critics have always declared
at first that 1t was not poetry at all. In
spite of their verdict, it has found readers,
has taken hold of the minds Of the people.
and has finally been accepted. So. when
one finds verse OF type very different
from the classic of the generation just
past. which is read with delight by the in
telligent people of country, II is likely,
no matter what the critics say, TO be the
coming type
What are the literary tendencies of the
present time in America? To determine
this it is necessary TO review briefly
the literary history of the past. In
the first half OF the present CEN
tury there was almost no distinctive
ly American verse. Whittier was in
digenous 10 the soil, but provincial: Poe.
while indubitably a genius, might have
written in England. Longfellow belonged
to the German school, and his verse set
the fashion for most of the minor poets
who came after him. 1t was not a very
good fashion. being perilously near the
jingle, and verging on the commonplace.
Lowell wrote verse. but rarely poetry.
Bret Harte is not a poet; he is a satirist
and story-teller in rhyme. Holmes wrote
two or three exquisite lyrics, but he would
have written them the same, word for
word, If he had been an Engiishman. The
English influence predominated, and cur
rhymesters generally sang about the lark
and the rosy-tipped daisy, regardless of
the fact that they never saw a literal
lark and that the American ox-eye daisy
had no place in American poetry, as a
rule.
There were two exceptions to this rule;
Whittier, already mentioned. and Emer-
son, whose wood notes are redolent OF the
fragrance of our forests and full of inti-
mate knowledge of our wood people. When
Emerson chose he could make perfect
word-music; but he was a philosopher,
and not poet Still his few poems are
gems in their way-true products of the
soil-and, like everything else he did. half
a century or more before their time for
appreciation. These may be taken as an
indication of what the American poetry of
the future is to be when at its best.
After the golden age before the war came
a desert period OF stagnation, when every
one wrote novels and stories and few
produced verse. The one poet OF that time
was Sidney Lanier. and his work Is Amer
lean in every line. Unlike most Southern
verse. II contains few classical ailusions,
and Is thoroughly unconventional in form,
while perfect in rhythm and choice of
words. HIS Marshes of Glynn. his Sym
phouy." and some OF his lyrics are perfect.
Then came duOlutf VI
followed by the appearance of Field and
Riley. the one writing few BEAUTIFUL
lyrics Of a type not before produced, the
other introducing dialect verse and con-
tiuuiug the succession in the line OF ma
ture poetry. And here comes in a signifi-
cant thing The nature poems OF Emerson,
OF I.anier, and of Riley are all marked by
extreme irregularity OF form. There is
nothing like this in English verse. II has
been developed on American soil. We
have known untamed nature as the En-
elish poet, in his well-cuiiyated land,
never could. and the result is rhythm
which suggests the irregular but exquisite
music OF brook and wind. Ii is wayward.
unruled, ever-varying; it is the true
song of nature That is TO be one char
acteristic of the American school. If We
are TO have one.
Another thing which should be noted in
the poetry of today is the disappearance
of classical and historical illusions. The
true poet sings OF men and things as he
sees them, not as he has read OF them,
and there is no nation under the sun which
has 60 magnificent a treasure OF unused
poetic material as have we. Now we are
beginning to realize this, and to discard
Helicon. and the Forum. and the lark
and the oak tree, for our own half-told 4