The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-09
THE POETRY OF INDIANA
REPRESENTATIVE COLLECTION OF
THE VERSE OF THE CENTURY.
Useful Anthology the
Growth and Drift OF Poetic
TheuEht-NotabIe Songs.

The public now and then hears illusions
20 the Indiana School OF Painters. NO
one has asserted that there is an Indiana
school of poets. presumably because as
a class, the Indiana poets do not greatly
differ from those of any other State. IN
divfduals among them show distinctive
qualities and rise far above the common
level. To the majority of their fellow-verse
writer's they are as the lark TO the humble
native sparrow, but the sparrow has.
nevertheless, o song which, limited IN
range though ii be, has its share of sweet
ness and cannot be spared. But II In
diana poets do not constitute a special
schoo of literary art they are distin-
guished by their numbers. In his recent
volume treating Of the growth of literature
Ia the State, Mr. Meredith Nicholson al
ludes to the poets as AN Indiana Choir"
1t is a large choir. Many have been moved
% express themselves in song. Mr.. Nichol-
son. in describing the environment of the
early Hoosiers, explains whence this in
SEPARATION came. Perhaps now the talent
OF verse making is a matter OF inheritance,
or perhaps Of atmosphere. At all events.
IL is a requent gift. There was a time
in Indiana" says Mr.. Nicholson, when 1t
was difficult to forecast who would next
turn poet, suggesting the Tractarian
period in England, of which Birrell writes
that so prolific were the pamphleteers at
the high tide of the movement that a tract
might at any time be served upon one like
a sherin's process. at Indianapolis the
end seemed TO have been reached when a
retired banker. who had never been sus-
pected, began TO inveigle friends into his
office on the p~retense Of business, but really
TO read them his own verses. Charles Den
mis-. a local journalist, declared that there
had appeared in the community a peculiar
crooking Of the right elbow and a furtive
sliding Of the hand into the left inside
pocket, which was an unfailing preliminary
10 the reading OF a poem"
WORTH PRESERVING.
A great many Of these occasional poems
found their way into the newspapers. and
some of them were worth preserving longer
than the transient life Of a periodical per-
mits. Some who put their thoughts more
frequently into verse at last gathered their
scattered poems into volumes, while others
caring less for permanence, never collected
their productions. The happy thought oc-
CURED to Mr.. Benjamin S. Parker and
Enos B. Heiney Of gathering together these
literary waits AID Strays, and out Of the
mass formed by them and the more formal
output, making 4 collection which should
be representative Of the work of the verse
writers of Indiana during the first hundred
years OF it's history as Territory and
State. To this work they have devoted
themselves with much enthusiasm. and
the result is a handsome volume from the
-roru 80 CfIv-or Drr1off p 10 hoorfnn
the title, "Poets and Poetry of Indiana"
When William 7. Coggeshall compiled
his poets and Poetry of the West" in
1864 he included notices of ninety-seven
men and ffty-fve women. Twenty-three
OF the total he attributes to Indiana by
reason OF residence, and thirteen of the
number were natives OF the State. The
editors Of this later volume include speci-
mems of the work OF 40 writers, the great
CT number Of whom now reside in the
State, and more than half of whom were
horn within its borders. In their preface
they announce their belief that the selec-
tons generally will be found to possess
those vital qualities Of force, suggestive
ness and beauty which are the essentials
of true poetry. At the same time, they
acknowledge that the design Of the volume
has not permitted an adherence to a Sc
verely critical standard. This last is true,
of course, OF most representative antholo-
giles, and disarms criticism. even when
cause presents itself. In this case, hav-
ing IN view the broad purpose of the COM
pliers. it must be said that they have
for the most part used good judgment in
making their selections. Some fault might
be found at the inclusion Of John Hay,
Joaquin Miller. job James Piatt and one
or two others-men born in the State, ii
is true. but having no connection with it
since their infancy. Objection might be
made to certain verse of hating feet and
mawkish sentiment, or to the Identifying
OF some specimens of dialect which are q
far-off imitation of a good master. 1t is
singular, by the way, how many writers
cf so-calIed dialect verse miss entirely the
first principles of the use of dialect and
substitute for the speech they are trying
TO initiate a peculiarly ingenious and afro
c.ous variety of bad spelling.
HIGHLY CREDITABLE VERSE.
But it would be ungracious to call at
tention to minor defects in q volume where
so much is good. For it is beyond question
that a large proportion of the verse in
this book is Of an admirable literary and
poetic quality. There are some poems
among the rest that may be classed as
great, and the general average is more
than merely respectable. If the book
served no other purpose it would be well
come because il makes easily accessible
such poems as VIII II. Thompson's High
Tide at Gettysburg" Forceythe Wilson'S
THE Old Sergeant"-Willson's name is in
correctly spelled with one 'T' whenever II
appears in the volume and Dan" L.
Paine's pathetieally sweet "Da Capo'-
.tShe sat at the old piano.
Her fingers. thin and pale,
Ran over the yellow keyboard
The chords of the minor scale"
Yet apart from the more noted poems are
many which il has been worth while TO
rescue from the obscurity OF newspaper and
magazine files. There, for instance, is Mrs.
Catherwood's sylvan song. My Secret
'If you knew my secret you would not be-
lieve IT:
If you knew my secret you would laugh
at me.
Once | was a tree! How my life did leave
IL.
That I cannot tell at aII:-but once !
vas a treei'
There is Herman Raves Calling the