The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-10-18
DAsHED-oFF COMPOSITIONS.

|
view mildly rebukes the silly writer's
who boast of having "dashed off, their
precious lucubrations. 1t refers espe-
cially to Il young woman who had writ
ten Il novel in that easy fashion; but
more commonly it is the amateur poet
who cOnfesses, with 'the pride that
apes humility to having delivered
himself of his brilliant effusion lust as
it is offered, without alteration or
amendment, to the publisher or editor.
1t is of no use to tell such Il c;lndi-
date for publication that good work of
any kind is not done in that easy way
or to remind him, for example, that
Moore wrote his immortal "Lalla
| Rookh" at the rate sometimes of only
seven lines a week. Dickens and Bret
llarte were seemingly most fluent
writers, the former being amazingly
productive also, but their publishers
tell tales of manuscripts written and
rewritten many times before going to
the printer, and of proof-sheets coming
back from the author with so many
changes and corrections as to be almost
unlpHdable. Neither of these industri-
Gus writer's had the fatal facility of
dashing off anything; which is why
their work endures so long, saws the
Boston Pilot
Horace, whose Art of Poetry is as
true manual to-day as it was 1000
years ago, laid down the maxim: Con
denim that verse which many a day
and many IL blot have not improved
and polished ten times over by the ex-
actest rule" That is one reason, be-
cause he followed his own rules, why
we happen to know, twenty centuries
after, the finished verses of Horace or
the fact there ever was such Il man.
1t is no excuse for the dasl,er-oif to
say that he is not ambitious of being a
poet like Horace. He should be am
bilious to do the best work that lies in
his power, and there is no excuse, for
slovenliness in doing anything that is
worth doing at all, whether it be the
making of verses or the sewing on of
buttons.
Gray devoted seven years to the
writing of his Elegy in Il Country
Churchyard. and it was worth every
hour bestowed upon it. 1t was Il waste
Of time il lie had been looking for inn
mediate popularity, but if he aimed at
enduring fame, he succeeded when he
produced what is probably the perfect
short poem in the English language
A modest youth lately showed us
large sheaf of manuscripts, containing
perhaps two score lyrics, "dashed off,
as he said, in n few nights. He naively
added that he could write a dozen OF
them as easily as one, and just as good.
He undoubtedly spoke the solemn
truth.
There are a few, alas only a few,
daily newspapers in the country which,
in their editorial pages and also in
their common reports, aim at the prime
elements Of good writing, clearness,
strength. brevity. The New York Sun,
following the rigid rules of it's great
editor, Charles A. Dana, carries out his
principles with cOmmendable fidelity;
so that even the readers who most dis
like it's political and other views are
forced to admire it's excellent English
and it's independence Of the meretri-
cious adjuncts of big and colorcd head
lines. A young man who "dashed Off"
careless report to the manager of
| that Sanctum would be dashed off the
payroll before he had time to evolve
another.
In Il word. the old adage holds true
always: Easy writing is hard read
| ing" and the hardest of all reading is
that which has been dashed Off" For
tulmtely it seldom gets to any eyes be-
sides those Of the ingenious author
and the unfortunate editor.