New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-03-18

of their flow. their perfect rhythm. the alt-
Grafton and the frequency of liquids. In these four
lines less than nine syllables begin with 3D."
and there eighteen liquid sounds. besides an
abundance Of vowels All these things. In spite OF
the faulty rhyme of the first two lines-so faulty
that 1t is no rhyme at all-gve to the poem lyric
sweetness which is rare in the English language
But as soon turn to the meaning find
apparent confusion. A tree top would seem to be
about the last position in which even mailman.
to say nothing OF a sensible person. would think
of placing a cradle To hang cradle on tree top,
in order to make the wind do the work of rocking
It, sounds singuarly like an invention of the White
knight famous in recent English literature.
Moreover, the person represented in the poem
as speaking realizes this, and at moment
soothes the baby with the promise of comfort in
its remarkable position and at the next threatens
imminent and sure destruction.
So puzzlng these problems that some crit
les have maintained that two speakers are to be
supposed. On this theory the speaker of the first
two lines is a fatuous person, who sees only the
momentary comfort of the situation, which is,
without doubt for brief space, exhilarating
1t is then the second speaker who, in the last
two lines, gives the warning of the certain dam
ger of the lofty but insecure eminence. This whole
theory, however may be dismissed on simple in
ternal evidence. Whatever else it is. the poem is
compact whole. It's character is the same through
out There is differentiation between the begin
ming and the end of it, and the supposed speaker of
the first lines is also the speaker of the last.
we shall find the true solution when we apply
our usual method and look for the fgurative sense
of the poem. And forced to this course as
soon as we pause In contemplation long enough
to be confronted with the absurdity of placing
cradle in a tree top The poet makes the effort in
these lines to warn against the dangers of at
tempted pre-eminence in any direction such the
character the moral or intellectual fibre of the
subject is not able to bear.
How often do we see terrible examples of this,
There few human misfortunes that greater.
Those who have kept themselves in lowly places,
obscured from the public eye in their simple happ-
ness, be obscure also in their grefs Not
those who are. in the words of our poet ION the
tree top" There Is no obscurity, no secrecy, no
privacy for them The world is gazing at them.
The world saw their prosperity. indeed but 1t also
their fall Worse than this, if their fall is not
absolute. if they suffer only from the apprehension
pathetic friend is beside them to share and tighten
the ney haN 0 on % thew he a no
pathy but their sadness Is the further embittered
toward them is envy~an envy cruelty ironical when
we understand how little the world knows what it
seems st to those Who are forced to the Objects Of
Of of a' sserng ' retnue 0 to be the
q plan s sht a'os 3
"s obe to ths p
s ne spa Sa ot
be ~ King ana S genera IN ndeea For him who !.
born great or for him who achieves greatness, 1t
may be well, but what Of the wretch who , has
only qualifications for his high place is that MS
father was a king? What of such one whose
cope with the conditions which come out of the
past like devourinS monsters against him. VINO
sees his Land shaken. his power a shadow storm
control and guide unable even to stand against
the forces Of confusion and terror? And what OF
forced into 1t, perhaps. through fault of his
own whose plans fail whose battles are. defeats,
who is forced to feel himself but a shaking prop
to his country. whose standard goes down before
the foe? Such men are at the top of the tree.
babies swayed by the wind of fortune for little
perhaps but bound to fall when the bough bends.
as il must bend at last.
And our poet has given us these first two
lines half gentle. half sadly ironicai: When the
wind blows the era oLs viii rock We d plight b1 be
language lang eO TO raise The Wind meaning TO ae
for time. and the poor impotent creature who has
gentle swaying and is ued into a brief repose.
But the bough must soon bend. and then Will
come the fall and the ruin Inc Weakling Is lost
ground at the foot OF the tree, even among its
lower branches ne might have lived. he might
own way. but the top of the tree was not for him.
Nor does he fall alSne IT., Down will come baby
with him. and even the bougb that held them
crashes with their fall. The State. the people, the
run Of the Weak Reads that set above them se
Friends. have considered before grand
precepts bearing the wellbeing of the Individual
Nor were these things unimportant. since the good
of all society is the good of the individuals who
greater things-tnings which concern directly the
State and the world. If the weak one, the ba by is
e oo W Rf cose bone c ana When be %
right 10 have high and noble aims. for the good OF