The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-03-10
THE MUSIC OF UUk CARDS
SWELLING INTO A CHORUS
Professor Jerome StoCkard Speaks Before the His
toricai and Literary Association on the
Poets OF North Carolina

by which IL might &c Published
10 not know in what shape Mr iIu
LEFT his literary papers. nor what i the
outlook for their preservation lie ,olt
not long before his death that il Nas
his Intention To .arranEr his work a. he
would have il exist HIS writings should
by all means t. collected ana put iu,o
permanent form. ] must seize thlS chauc.,
to say that IL was one OF tho rarcst priYi-
leges OF my life 10 know anA commune
with his fine spirit He lived right iu
Raleigh. came and went among us in
his unobtrusive way. but few % us have
ever risen TO the serene atmosphere
which he breathed
most ausaic.ous Indication in this
new condition OF affairs is the number
and surprising excellence OF poems from
unsupported yersifers II IA true Mr
Boner has his poems in the Century. but
so have Mr. l. G Van Nopptn and Mr
J. G Mcneil The State papers havs
published others quite as good by H..
Mckelway. Rev. Mr.. Cade Mr.. Gillian.
Miss Dickson and Mrs Townsend There
are more stil which escape me and
which are equally worthy OF mention nr
Mckelways s "a Little Child OF Bethle-
hem is charged with sincere feeling
Mr. Cadc's "Tithonus" reveals a sllil IN
versifcation and a purity OF diction that
argue we'll Mr. Williams Capitol at
! Washington is artistic handiwork. Miss
! Dickson writes frequently and always
\ fervently; and AIRS. Townsend has given
/ US one sonnet yitalized with true feel
1 ing. This list is very incomplete had
/ | known year ago that this talk would
! fall to me. l could have culled from our
! State press most satisfactory showing
These same papers that are fostering
4 this talent are working upon advanced
lines. Poetry does not yield dollars ana
/ cents its dividends are men and wo-
men; faith, hope, gladness. purity conso-
/ lation, brOtherly-love a more liberal
! patriotism and a braoder creed a larger
capacity for LIVING and a brighter out
look for dying Poetry is the language
Of the imagination. that forerunner OF
every notable achievement in human
! knowledge and human endeavor OF the
! earth, earthly, only step removed from
| the slug and OK is the man who will
| admit that there is nothing in this world
but can be touched or bartered or eateA.
The great So-cailed captains OF indust.y
whom men too often dcify are only camp
followers, gathering up the treasures
| Imagination has lavishly scattered as
she goes on to higher enterprises To
put it in homely figure they are like
fat porllers with eyes on the ground.
following the corn-laden wagon, picking
up the scattered grains and assimilating
them into lard and bacon. 1t is infinitely
more profitable to write one helpful line
that shall become the heritage Of tie
world than to amass untold treasures
only to be scrambled for and apportionrd
\ to a few ungrateful hors. The one act
is priceless addition to the wealth OF
mankind, and increases at a geometrcal
ratio for all time; the other is a gather
ing together from the many and redistri-
| buting to the few
II a people would build for permanence
they must build in song Crceds. gov
ernments, philosophers change-only the
songs abide. Why? Because they are
! the voice OF Truth and Beauty and these
are immortal. The finest sentiments and
the deepest emotions that stir the soul
must find expression In poetry-nothlne
else is adequate to their utterance. What
gave distinction to the Perclean, ths
Augustan and the Elizabethan Ages? The
poets Of those times the names OF the
! sovereigns more than dates
! Sappho and Pindar are still the nspira-
! tion for lyric poetry. Homer ard
Aeschylus for epic and tragic. Shakes
peare, Milton, and Tennyson will remain
unchanged, while the English government
/ proceeds in it's evolution. Sculpture and
painting are subject to the accidents or
/ time; poetry is as indestructible as hu-
man passion: for as long as the heart
shall be moved by hope and love and
suffering. 1t will seek to express itself
in fatally chosen words. and this Is
poetry
Emerson says "The high poetry which
shall thrill and agitate mankind. restore
youth and health, dssipatc the dreams
under which men reel and stagger and
! bring in the new thoughts, the sanity
and heroic aims Of nations, is deeper
hid and longer postponed than vas
America or Australia. or the finding o.
steam or Of the galyanic battery We
must not conclude against poetry from
the defects OF the poets They are IN
our experience, men OF every degree o.
skill,-some OF them only once or twice
receivers Of an inspiration and presently
/ falling back on a low life. The drop Of
ichor that tingles IN their veins has not
yet refined their blood, and cannot lift
the whole man TO the digestion and func-
tion OF ichor-that is, TO god-li ma
ture. Time will be when ichor will BE-
their blood. when what are now glimpses
and aspira tions will be the routine Of
the day. Yet even partial ascents to
/ poetry are forerunners. and announce tho
dawn. In the nire Of the sensual life
their religion. their poets their admira-
tion Of heroes and benefactors. even their
novel and newspaper, nay. their super
stitutions also are hosts OF ideals,-a
/ cordage of ropes that hold them up out
! of the slough. Poetry is inestimable as
a lonely faith. a lonely protest In tho
uproar of atheism"
HENRY JEROME sTOCKARD.