The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-02-22
BEHIND LowELL's BAcA-
3. L. Kiser Expresses Some Opinions That
Require Courage.

.. Il. kiser Expressea Some Opinions That
Require Courage.
kiser in Times Herald: Lowell was
probably the luckiest man Of letters
that ever lived. He succeeded in cast
Ing mysterious spell of some kind
over the critics of his day-or at least
over those who assumed to say the
last words by way of criticism-and
this same mysterious influence con-
tinues to rest upon the literary sY-
prelne court Of our own time. It would
seem that his name spells genius.
In recent summing up of the great
things of the nineteenth century the
New York Herald placed Lowell first
among American writer's. on account
of his "all-embracing powers or
something of that sort. and 1t is the
fashion generally to look upon him as
one too sacred to be doubted. People
who never saw one of Lowell's books
and who cannot repeat line that he
ever wrote PROSTATE themselves before
the tablet upon which his name is
written and accept the legend of his
oVerpowering greatness without ques-
ton.
IN recent article on American
Study circle, Professor Lewis Pattee
of the University Of Pennsylvania,
who is supposed to be an authority on
the subject, says Lowell established
the high water of American political
satire" and to prove it quotes. Among
other things the professor gives us the
Introduction to the Biglow Papers,
tubs:
Our Hosea was down to Boston last
week., and he see a cruetin sarjunt a.
struttin' round as popler as hen with
CHECKING, with 2 fellers a-drummin' and
itiin arter, him like all mater. The sar-
teeth cut. Wal I'll Hosea an he h Com !
home considierabal riled, and arter I'd
gone to bed | heern Him a-thrashing
round like a short-tailed Bull in hi-time
The old Woman SEES she to me, ses she,
Zeklc, SEES she, our Hosee's gut the chol,
lery or suthin an luther, SEES she, don't
you Bee skeered, SEES !. he's oney a-makin'
pottery SEES he's oilers on hand at that
ere business like Da and Martin, and
shurn enuf, cum mornin' Hosy he cum
and cote tails flynn, and sot rite Off to go
reed his varses to Parson Wilbur been he
haint aney crate shows O. book larnin'
parson wuz dreffie tickled with EN- as
hoop you will be. and saaid they wuz True
grit.
This" our sapient professor de-
clared, lis good fun" So it is, but II
Lowell had not written it, we suspect
that it would be set aside with those
as exhibitions of grotesque spelling
carried to tedious extremes" In all
the Biglow Papers there are about
dozen stanzas that are worth quoting
today, but we haven't room for them
here.
Professor Pattee does not believe,
however, that Lowell's greatness was
fully represented in the Biglow Pa
pers. I'm his poem The Unhappy Lot
10
shows himself the equal OF Wood as
wit and punster.' Then the erudite
critic proceeds to quote stanza Of
this delightful stuff which he assures
US Is full of "puns in every form, half
way, what is premeditated spontane-
of combinations often seemingly I'M
premeditated and spontaneously the
way, what Is premiditated spontane-
business? l-probably to show that his
judgment is not at fault. This is the
sample package we get from the won-
derful Mr.. Knott:
A poeket-full Of rocks 'twould take
To build house of freestone,
But then 1t is not hard to make
What nowadays is the stone;
The cunning painter in a trice
Your house outside petrifies
And people think 1t very gneiss
Without inquiring deeper;
My money never shall be thrown
Away on such deal of stone,
When stone OF deal are cheaper.
Wouldn't that convulse you? We
know Of a poet in Metropolis, ILL.,, who
can reel Off a yard of that kind Of stuff
every forty minutes, on an empty
stomach.
It may be supposed that Lowell Is ex-
allied because he was OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
nobody ever wrote political satires In
dialect before he did. But the very
critic who assures us that Lowell was
as tall tower among anthills admits
that he was preceded by Seba Smith,
who began In 1880 to write dialect let
ters to Portland (Me) paper, satiriz-
Ing the political affairs or the day.
Lowell followed Smith and Smith fol-
lowed others, who can be traced back
to the days Of Diogenes and Socrates
What is the secret Of Lowell's over
towering influence upon the "arbiters
of literature?" Was he a hypnotist,
and is hypnotisteosis catching? Or is
1t possible that a pull once fairly put in
operation perpetuates itself?
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