The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-04

serious poem there may occur, without
any artificislity, sentences OF a construo-
ton and imagery of a kind which would
be impossible in prose. Mr.. Brandes holds
that the only way in which the best poetry
can be said to correspond with what Words
worth termed the very language Of men
il in its expressions resembling those which
some few OF the most highly cultivated
would Use on the rarest occasions. In
daily converse language wanders unre-
STRANGELY; in public speech il in restrained
by imperative connection and continuity OF
thought: in artistic prose the carefully
elaborated sentence progresses naturally
through all It's twists and turnings; in verse
the form cannot be too exquisite or too COM
pact
Coleridge naturally figures in the chapter
allotted to "Naturalistio Romanticism.
"Christabel," the fragment which was TO
mark a new era in English poetry. was
planned a. the first Of a series Of poetioal
romanoes the remainder OF which never
came into being. II IL here recognized as
| the first English poem permeated by the
genuine Romantic spirit. The new cadences,
the new themes, the new style OF versiica-
ton. the general novelty, made a powerful
impression on contemporary poets. The
irregular and yet melodious metre appealed
so strongly to Scott that he employed 1t
in his first romantic poem, The Lay OF the
Last Minstrel In our authors judgment
the chief merit Of "Christabel," apart from
its full toned, sweet melody. lies In the
peculiar power with which the nature of
the wicked fairy Is exhibited to us, the
---- -- -ll-l IL A.,A klaN
present with such force in English literature
before. As for Coleridge's one other poem
Of considerable length, THE Ancient Mar
iner.- this il placed high above most OF the
kindred productions Of GermanRomanticism.
In spite of all its Romantic Righteousness 1t
breathes OF the sea, the real, natural sea,
whose changing moods and whose terribly
ing. menancing immensely IL describes.
The fresh breeze, the seething foam, the
horrible fog and the hot, copper colored
evening sky, with its blood red sun-aIt
| these elements are Natures own; and the
misery of the men tossing helplessly on the
| ocean, the starvation. the burning thirst
that drives them to suck the blood from
! their own arms. the psllid c~ountenances,
the terrible death rattle, the horrible putre-
f~action-all these elements are realities,
represented with English realistic force. '
1t is also acknowledged that the few poems
which Coleridge wrote in the course Of a
comparatively long life are distinguished
by the exquisite righteousness OF their
language. As our author puts 1t, their
harmonies are not only delicate and in
sinuating. like Shelley's, but c~ontrapuntaly
constructed and rich; they have a peculiar,
ponderous sweetness; each line has the
- - III. - I--- - kzn.. In
poems such az Love and LEVITT which
are the two sweetest, and in an Oriental
fantasy like 'Kubla Khan which was in
spired by a dream, We hear Coleridge flute
and pipe and sing with all the changing
cadences Of the most dainty Philomel
voice. So great a master Of musical
verse "a ~Swinburne has said that In the
matter Of harmonies Shelley ia, compared
with Coleridge, what a lark Is compared
with a nightingale. On the other hand
C~oleridge's poetry is here pronounced as
unplastic as it ia melodious and as I'M
! impassioned as it is mellifiuous. 1t is of
the fantastic Romantic order; that is to
say, il neither expresses strong, personally
experienced emotions. nor reproduces what
the author has observed in the surrounding
world.
Meats IL Stu01eU uuQeT the "a ptlOu Ol
IAN Embracing Sensuousness.' The au-
thor Of Hyperion" is here depicted as the
youngest Of the young race of giants who
were 20 overthrow the antecedent Titans,
of whom Wordsworth and Scott were
chief. He il one of the many examples
Of singularly delicate and efine organ
isms, appearing in the most unlikely out
ward surroundings and developing al
most unsided by circumstances He was
the son OF a London livery stable keeper.
and was bred an apothecary. Few Of the
| elder literary celebrities knew him by
sight. Nevertheless, his poetry is to-day
-eighty-five years after his death--recog-
nized as the most fragrant flower Of English
naturalism. In him and, for that matter,
in Moore also, ~naturalism takes the form
of Corgeous aensuousness and is the literary
| expression Of the perceptions of beings
whose sensitiveness to impressions OF the
beauty of the external world makes that
OF the average human being seem blunt
and dull. A just distinction is here drawn,
however. because the consciousness OF
| Moore's poetry, which reveals itself artisti-
| cally in a warm, bright coloring, is con-
fined to TIE erotic domain and even there
il OF a light and playful character. Keats's,
on the other hand, il full blooded, serious
sensuousness. by no means essentially
! erotio, but all embracing, and in this its
! OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES il credited with being
one Of the most admirable developments Of
, English naturalism. Keats, moreover, was
more of .he artist than any Of his English
brother poets. He troubled himself less
! about principles than any of them. His
poetry has no groundwork Of patriotism
like Scott's and Mooreis, and bears no
message Of liberty. like Shelley's and
Byron's; it is pure art, owing it's origin TO
| nothing but the power OF imagination.
IL was one Of Keats's ~tavorite sayings
that the poet should a no principles,
no morality, no sell. Why1 Because the
true poet enjoys both light and shade;
has a. much delight in conceiving an Iago
as an ImogeE. Our author points out,
however, that Keats's p~oetical indifference
to theories and principles was i'm itself a
| theory and a principle-the philosophy.
namely, which has its foundation in poetic
worship OF nature. To the consistent
pantheistic poet all forms, all shapes. all
expressions Of life on earth which engage
A.. sua finO ara anua1Iu nrania.ta