The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-17

tributes.
But If you would read q paper Of
much length and rare force. and see
treated by one particularly able
and accomplished and who understood
Byron and appreciated his grand and
genius. turn to Taine's two
volumes-his great work. the History
of English Literature" translated and
first published in 1872. 1t Is by n OF
the chiefest and most admira-
bly, endowed writer's Of the last
century, , who has written at
least two works of consummate excel
enc and unsurpassed interest
Taine. devotes no less than forty-one
of the large pages OF his most unique
and magnificent critical work to Lord
Byron. 1t in t~wenty-nine years since
we read the volumes. but we recall
with unrepressed pleasure impressions
they made. and even to now the fasci-
nation fingers like the scent OF the
roses" Taine opens by characterizing
Byron as 1.-The greatest and most Eng
Iish of artists" and says h is so great
and so English that from him alone We
shall learn more truths of his country
and Of his z than from all the rest
together. His ideas were banned during
his life: it has been attempted to depre-
ciate his genius since his death: To this
day QS7O) English critics are unjust to
him. ut is les. so now in spite Of SWIM
burne and some followers in u~nder-val-
uing like S~aintsbury and others. Anne
discusses him at much 'length-his style.
his pictures of sad and extreme emo
tons. his inferiority and superiority to
Goethe, his dramatic gifts, his pictures
Of sensuous beauty n happiness. his
n~aturalness and variety Of style, and
so on. He calls him this unhappy
great man"
We turn now for a few moments to q
distinguished, loving English critic of
great independence and who is much
read. w. E. Henley, himself a poet. He
reads and judges for himself, and is in
different to the clamor of the pack who
pursue the dead poet. In 1890, or about
that time, Mr.. Henley published a short
pdpSI ol OyIOh. Plolli IL VIC SohS Aiiio'
He is the most romantic figure in the
literature of the century. (nineteenth)
and his romance is Of hat splendid n
daring cast which the people of Britain
IAN aristocracy materialized and null,
q. middle class purblind and hideous, a
lower class crude and br~utal'-prefers
to regard with suspicion and disfavor.'
He goes on to show how Byron offended
his public but we lack space to quote.
Farther on he writes: meanwhile,
however, the genius and the personality
Of Byron had come to be vital influences
been recognized as the most human and
the least insular raised on English
ground since Shakespeare. In Russia.
he had created Pushkin and Lennon
toff: in Germany he had awakened
Heine. inspired Schuman. and beer sa-
himself He urn to Spain, Italy and
France and shows "how he inspired and
influenced the most important writer's"
And yet naught but a little FREELY"
Again Mr.. Henley writes Byron
was not interested in words" Gas Is the
prevailing feature now among present
day writers). and phrases but in the
greater truths of destiny and emotion.
His empire was over the imagination
and the passions" One more view.
Matthew Arnold holds a most unique
place in British criticism. None of the
n1mQr01lS UritarS hoS n mora nrnonrJnn
ed recognition as to the first rank.
What did Arnold say. and he has been
dead but a decade or so: He said in
Byron there is a splendid and imper-
a excellence which covers all his
offences n outweights all his defects;
the excellence of sincerity and
strength" He said that when the year
1900 is turned. and the nation comes to
recount her poetic glories in the century
which had just ended. the first names
with her will be. wordsworth and By
ron. We do not share in that view. We
would write Byron and Tennyson. We
have only space to say now hi expur.
gated editiono of Byron should be made
a royal octave of selections" as have
been made in the case Of Wordsworth
and Matthew Arnold. Some of Byron's
verse should be avoided. One-third of
Don Juan" should not be read. 1t is
unfit and unc1ean. And yet that poem
is probably the greatest triumph of his
Superlative genius. Some other day
weeks perhapS-we may write On
some of his best writings.