The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-05
JOHN HAY, THE POET.
BY MRS. SUSAN c. JENKINS.

While the whole country is mourn
ing the polished ambassador, the sue
cessful diplomat, the accomplished
statesman, be it ours to present a soft
er phase of his many sided character
that of the poet, in which he comes
closer to the throbbing heart of hui
mainly.
Mr.. HAY is perhaps best known to
the public through his pike County
Ballads" yet these apparently early eff
forts are the least meritorious of his
productions Local coloring and pro-
vincialisms will always find sympa
thetic readers, but an authors perma-
nent reputation must rest on a more
substantial basis. This writer can
stand the test of different measure
ment. Gauged by the standard of
rich poetic fancy, chaste English and
elevated thought his poems will rank
second to few in American literature.
In a brief newspaper article only the
most prominent of Mr.. Hays charac-
teristics can be mentioned. Among
them we find an almost faultless
rhyme and unfaltering poetic feet, and
a rhythm-that subtle grace which
blends rhyme and metre into mar
monious whole-so nearly perfect that
one rarely notes an unmusical bar He
is happy, too, in the use of ALTERATION.
'I.anguid lilies" waving woodlands,
SLEEPY Summer sounds" fall tripping
ly from his pen while IN the lines,
Dim in the dead days tender gloom"
THE tender grace of a day that is
dead"
one is haunted by the mysterious
Witchery of the twilight hour.
Mr. Hays poems are marked by
considerable variety in subject, treat
ment and structure. Now, he is as roll
licking as q boy, anon. as gentle as
woman, and again, he rises TO the
grandeur of vigorous manhood. Some
times he is the poet of Nature and IN
his rapt communion with her visible
forms" he discloses magnificent vistas
of word painting. In a voyage
.Northward' from Key West in the
troublous days of "a, we inhale the
fragrant airs of that enchanting cline.
catching meanwhile glimpSes of the
luxurious palms and cocoas from the
land of Ponce de Leon and his tabled
Fountain of Youth Again, in The
Prairie" we have the gorgeous apo
calypso of green and gold glorles'
afiame with purple and crimson pan
ners at the mellow season when bank
rupt Summer weaves tapestry for
Autumn's royal feet" Many of his eff
fusions glow with the fire of the true
and divine Eros, notably In The Fire
light" a noble tribute to his wife after
a decade of welded bliss-yet others,
kindle the sacrificial flame on the altar
of patriotism Every hero is endued
with a passionate love of country-the
naughty Spaniard, the volatile French
man, the aesthetic Italian, alike with
the liberty-loving American.
Erstwhile it might have been en-
barrassing to concede that some of the
brightest Jewels in Mr.. Hays coronet
are founded on the Civil War, from an
angle of observation North of Mason
and Dixon's line. His grand, inspiring
verse the very paean OF victory, en-
balms no names cannonized in Con-
federate chronicles, yet genuine poesy
is of no age, or cline, or section, SO we
bow in reverence before genius when
has enshrined the names of our quon-
dam enemies in immortal song.
In some of his sacred poems Mr. Hay
occasionally offends I'll against modern
criticism by lapsing unto morallzlng'
though his lessons are generally TOO
prettily. put to be, labelled platltudes'
More commonplaceness than appears
might be condoned for the sake OF
their rich oriental or classic imagery,
their religious fervor and their deVo-
tional spirit. Let us thank God for
DuDllC man WHO, III NliCSC dNJH -
scoffing scepticism, is not ashamed to
voice his faith in the things that are
unseen and eternal
Mr.. Hay, as q graduate of Brown
was loyal to the best tradl-
tons of that honored seat of learning.
This is evident from the spirit OF Gull
ture and the spirit of optimism that
animates his pages That in recent
wears he was "disobedient to the
heavenly vision" which must have
wooed him to yet loftier flights
above the Aonian Mount, must be
ascribed to the more unequivocal call
of Providence to a sphere in which ne
could more acceptably serve his day
and generation.
New Bern. n G..