Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-13
POETRY OF TRAVEL
ADDRESS OF MIR. SPoFFoRD AT
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Literary Program Also Carried Out by
Potomac Literary Club Last
Evening.

Of Congress delivered an address last even
ing on 1.-The Poetry of Travel before the
Potomac Literary Club at the Public L.
brary. After the address, which con-
sumed about an hour. there was brief
musical and literary program.
whether the love of travel is natural
instinct in man." said Mr.. Spofford. has
been disputed by some writer's. Yet the
civilized races have in all ages shown a
strong tendency to roam over the earth 8
surface. What means the long roll OF
discoveries, VINO have braved the dangers
of unknown seas and baroarous tribes, In
exploring strange lands and bringing new
worlds To the knowledge of the Old? The
wide range and popular pursuit Of journeys
into fore. gn countries is evlnced by count
less volumes in all languages OF the liter
ature OF travel.
What we mean by the poetry of travel
is the two-fold impress upon the mind OF
natural beauty and sublimity and the ex-
preston OF that impress In description.
The intellectual pleasure We feel in vivid
and ina ginattve expression is something
above ana beyond the limitations of verse.
Many of the most poetic things in all 1T
erature are in prCse. We should be Inisled
by mistaken terms into distressing the
Imagination. Many conceive Of this racul-
~ as something imaginary i. e., unreal
whereas true imagination is that which
invests whatever we behold with what Is
in the highest sense real. Ina ination is
the full perception of what Is grand. noble
or beautiful, whether in nature litera
ture, art, architecture. Let us take
another definition from John RuSkin,
agination, says he. is that faculty
which takes possession with the heart of
what is by the eye Coler!dge says
that poetry is not the proper antithesis to
prose, but to science, while prose is OPP
posed to metre
Not every one is fitted TO travel wheth-
er d nome or abroad. Querulous and dis
cOntented people should stay al home and
learn to mend their te:nTcrs before ventur-
ing abroad i'll search of beauty.
In visiting Great Britain. from which so
many millions of American derive their
origin, you are struck by the air OF ancient
comeliness and high cultiva ton that pre-
walls. Here, You say, is country that was
finished off some ages ago. You ride
through a long of verdure, where many ele
ments combine to illustrate the poetry of
travel Green valleys. sprinkled all over
with matched cottages covered with ivy
green, broad meadows. gay with scarlet
peoples and purple flowers, flock sof white
sheep, feeding in the rich clover, noble old
oaks and elms, and beeches covered with
outrageous foliage, hay stacks and hop
fields. and endless hedges of hawt horne;
gray church towers, from which you often
hear the music of Ginning bells-an these
seen IN the softened color of the evening
sun, make up the abiding memory of a
journey through County Kent, fifty called
the garden of England"
Educational Value Of Travel.
I'VE were sometimes reminded that EN-
erson declared, Travelling is FOOLS para
disc He also said, Travel is synonymous
with all mems ideas of advantage and su-
periority. And Emersons three tours
abroad proved him superior to his own
early aphorism, paradoXical as it was. OF
course, no one is fit to travel abroad who
has not learned much at home. They will
bring home little wisdom who carry moth
ing OUT
Hazlitt's brilliant essay, ION Going
Journey, was quoted from, and the charms
of good country inn were cited, where
the independence and novelty combine with
the good cheer of the table to warm the
cookies of the heart OF course there is an
other side to the picture; have we not all
travelled in regions WHERE though God had
sent all the meats, the devil sent most of the
cooks?
Mark Twain said that travel is fatal to
prejudice, and DiSraei declared that travel
teaches liberation Those who travel live
more than one life,' says an observant trav-
eler."
Travel in America was depicted as full OF
romantic interest. There are many scenes
of beauty near us In Maryland and Vir-
ginia," said the speaker. I'm few hours
journey one may enjoy the prospect from
Pen Mar or Blue Ridge summit. of the love-
ly Cumberland valley, prolonged from Har-
per's Ferry southwark into the Shenandoah
valley in Virginia. Beyond lie the twin
Peaks of Otter, and that sublime and unique
Natural Bridge of Virginia; while farther
south the multitudinous mountains Of west
srn North Carolina lift their forest-clad
submits to the sky" The wild scenery of
Colorado and of the Canadian Rocky noun
tains, with their six hundred miles of snow
clad submits, were glanced at and the
wondrouS scenery of mountains and glaciers
in Alaska were celebrated
The address closed with brief account
of the effect upon the beholder of the Grand
Canyon of Colorado river, in Arizona
DIR. .. A. Duncan, a member of the club,
and friend OF the late John Hay, gave
the latter's Jim Bl1Idsoe" and in response
to an encore. after acknowledging he was
over seventy-hve, recited an original poem
apologizing to DR.. Osler for existing SO
long beyond the time limit set up by the
famous physician.
Miss Mary c. Bennett, the president OF
club, recited by request, an original poem
entitled Fifty Years Ago"
Miss Virginia w. Keller gave the Prince
Arthur scene from Shakespeare's king
john" in costume. Her portrayal of the
tragic prince was wonderful in It's rare
discretion and displayed remarkable talent
for an amateur.
The program closed with a dramatic
reading. las the Moon Rose" by Miss Clio
rinda Trueworthy. who graciously respond
ed to encore