New-York tribune., 1903-11-14

Barnes & Co.
Richard Henry Sto6dard man OF letters
whose vocation was unmistakable. The son OF
a New-England sailor early lost at sea. the boy
was brought up ia bitter poverty. and had no
education 10 speak Of in the strict sense OF the
word Yet that most precious training ne haN
which comes from insaUable reading-the happy
fertilizing Of an eager mind ordained by nature
10 assimiate 10 peculiarly high advantage such
chance riches. The youth was toiler in the
roar and dirt OF an iron foundry when he hrst
struggled into authorship himself and from
that moment TO the end OF persistently indus-
trious life he was a loyal and loving Slave OF
she Pen. In the course OF these pleasant recol-
lections-carefully set down in their autnor
years OF innrmity by faithful frleno-he ha9
told Us that his brilliant wife was thoush' u
have more Of the quality Of genius than ne
who certainly had more talent than she IL
was a Just distinction. A penetrating ana re-
sourceful talent he had; and some Of his verse
(Which he truly declared TO be the best OF ms
work. has a grace and beauty and a delicate
finish that gives him place. not among the great
indeed. but high above the mass Of minor poets.
Fsy this verse he viii be remembered HIS prose
was GOOD and useful: his editorial work was
tastef1,l-but neither bore the mark Of the in
born gift that distinguished his poetry
II was in the later forties Of the last century
that the young Stoddard took up the literary
life in the New-York which was then com
paratfvely small town. He soon made friends
among all who kept the lamp Of literature alight
here. They were not many, and the light flick
cred sadly. Poe was the most notable figure,
and Afr Stoddard's "reminiscences of that un-
happy and exssperating genius are in line with
other testimony Would that that mournful
ghost could rest! stoddard calls him "a curious
compound OF the charlatan and the courtIy
gentleman" and the incidents Of their ac-
ouaintance recorded by him seem to Justify the
Characterization. OF Hawthorne he gives US
winning portrait In the great New-Englander
the courtliness was mingled with an unselhsh
Kindness and a thoughtfulness that go to the
heart Of the reader. as they went TO that Of the
.render tuvenal" who in his days OF unim-
por1ance sought the romancer's advice and help
Hawthorne was a stately parsonage at that
time--'T see him I saw him then," says
stoddard. "a strong, broad shouldered man. with
dark iron gray hair grave but kindly face
and the most wonderful eyes in the world
searching as lightning and unfathomable as
might"
Another friend Of that early time was George
u. Boxer, a man whose brains and whose work
were III appreciated by his contemporaries, and
are almost forgotten now. Yet to mention but
one Of his Dramas who that knows both would
exchange for his Francesca" that Of Mr..
Stephen Phillips? But there was little log roll
ing In the time and place Of the American
Some OF the poets letters to his friend quoted
IN this volume are full Of interest for the liter
ary student. Read Chaucer for strength" he
wrote to the ambitious youth; read Spenser
for ease and sweetness; read Milton for sub
Unity and thought; read Shakespeare for all
these things and for something else which is his
alone. Get out Of your age as far as you can"
hald or,in
cerning the relations Of prose and poetry:
You ask IL thought is not better expressed in
prose Read Shakespeare, the greatest thinker
among men, in a French translation and you
viii know. Then you ask if poetical thought
may not be expressed in prose. ! answer yes,
when statue CT picture may be expressed in
prose. You may describe picture in prose, or
you may describe poem in prose, but you can
not write one. Poetry. painting. sculpture and
music are different forms for expressing the
family of ideas. each art gathering around
adapted 70 its purposes. What is more disgust
ing than 'poetical prose"2 II produces the
same effect upon me as wax figure in the
place OF a statue. You feel in reading II that
the form is wrong, and it is in vain that you
told that the words are the common ele-
ments OF both Besides. you viii always find
that the writer introduces some kind of q ca
dence by which he in measure initiates the
natural rhythm Of genuine poetry. With me
the cheat never answers: feel the whole thing
20 be a sham and despise il as such. No true
poet would write ~poetical prose"
All OF which is true enough but too sweeping
as various unpreneditated strains OF poeticai
prose in Boxers beloved English litera ture do
nusically testify. The lover of Thackeray will
recall some Of them
OF this great man. Stoddard. who met him
here, had reverent II slight recollections He
tells that there was something in the novel
lists reading which no one caught 1T defied
analysis and evades memory. His voice. as 1
recall it, was at once low and deep, with
peculiar and indescriba bic cadence: his elo-
quence was matchless in its simplicity. His at
titUde was impressive and tranquil the only
movement Of his hands being when he wiped
his glasses as he turned over the leaves Of his
manuscript. He read poetry exquisitely." OF
his brief talk with the Englishman. Stoddard
remembered most vividly the formers enthusi-
asn over Dumas For himself said Thackeray
he was never weary Of reading Les Trois
MouseUetaires.'
There is a touching warmth of feeling in all
the old mans references TO that fine fellow
true poet and good conrade Of his youth and
his prime. Bsyard Taylor. Poetry made them
friends They courted the Muse together in the
attic evenings Of their hard working DAYS and
forgot their toll in sheer delight in the things of
mind. Both are gone into the lano Of shades:
but they remain alive for US in these pages in
their niInble brains their young enthusiasm,
their merry unworl6liness and their brotherly
affection