The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-04-14

The following lecture was delivered
by Eugene Gcary before the Brooklyn
Gaelic League recently
In the poetic history of Ireland there
Is perhaps no name that stands out
more obscurcly from the gaze Of the
| Mangan. There will always be inter-
est in the work OF Swift. Goldsmith.
and Sheridan; the musical numbers Of
Thomas Moore will always find Il SYM
pathetic throb in the lrunian heart the
inpassioncd lyrics of Thomas Davis
| will thrill the souls OF lovers of lib
| erty the world over. but one of the
uuainteSt. most original poets ireland
ever produced is forgotten in Il yellow
| flood of sloppy fiction.
In the Household Book of Poetry"
compiled by the late Charles a. Dana.
| Mangan is represented by two poems
both translationS from the German. In
the Library of Poetry and Song" ed
| tied by another American scholar and
poet, William Cullen Bryant, there are
also two poems by Mangan. Both these
state that Mnngan was born in En-
glnnd!" OF such dreams are pOctical
| compilations made. However, in the
case of Mr.. Dana, when | called his
attention to the matter some years ago.
he felt sorry that he had not done Mnn-
gan ample justice. AT the time nc conf
piled his work he did not have sufil-
cient facts at hand, and Dana never
failed to do justice to an Irishman.
Mangan was an Irishman heart and
soul. His contributions were never
sent to the London literary ccntcr--hC
did not have, poor fellow. the CONNER
cial tinessc of our present day Irish
author. and more's the pity. Through
the entire course OF the twenty years
of his literary life his work never APP
pcarcd in any save a few obscure Dub
lin periodicals, but genius. like murder
| will always out, and only when the
poor victim is stretched under the sod
with q cheap hcastonc over him tho
Irish people wake up from half Il CEN
tury of torpor and want to hail him as
the national poet of Ireland. No sweet
cr touch ever awOkc the chords OF Ire
lands harp, no finer spirit ever pre-
sided over the music OF our native
| land
James Clarence Mangan was born ir
t'ishamblc street. Dublin. in 1909. II
will be remembered that 1t was in this
street that the famous composer. Han
del, first produced the Messiah" to
apprcciative audiences Notwithstand-
ing the fact that q legend appeared on
the door stating that Ladies and gem
tlcmen without shoes and stockings
cannot be seated in the stalls" which
was perfectly natural. Mangan's ia
thcr was Il grOcerym:in OF rambling
proclivities. John O'Daly, in the Poets
and Poetry of Munster" speaking OF
the elder Mangan's unprosperous ca
rcer. says that being of a restless dis
position, he promptly moved TO another
locality, having consigned the estab-
lishmcnt and his son to the care of 4
brother lazy"
It seems that Mangan went to schoo
in the ncighborhood of Derby square
and after he went through the very
limited curriculum he was apprenticed
to Il scrivener where for seven years
he ground out all manner of law doc
uments (thcy had no typcwriters in
those days. in the rather stringy. elias
tic vcrbiage of the legal fraternity.
Referring to this period he wrote:
Il was Obliged to work seven years
from 5 in the morning to IL at night
and during the remaining hours moth
ing but Il special providence has saved
me from suicide How he found time
to fall in love / don't know, but i
seems the inevitable happened, fol
some mysterious Frances came along
with the result that the young poet:
heart was very soon shattered on the
rocks of coquetry. SO much for the
sentimental part.
1t will always remain mystery how
Mangan acquired a knowledge of 81
many languages. That he had thor