The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-02

Southern POetry's Banner Wear.
1t Is not admitted in the highest lit
erary circles that REUBEN j. HOLMES,
the poet laureate of Salisbury, N. C.,
has come up to his own standard in a
recent rhapsody entitled Capri" That
the verses are of rare merit and con-
tain tho result of many noble and lofty
thoughts is everywhere conceded, but
all Southern lovers Of really high class
minstrelsy maintain that Carolina poetry
reached its zenith in 1908, and has since
declined upon a lower scale, 1t was in
1908 that our Appalachian troubadOur rose
up and smote his Tyre to this effect:
" just a month ago In the Piedmont section,
Where things are beautiful and not 80 slow.
HAD the pleasure of meeting Miss MARIoNEAUK.
And from the pleasant smile which she possessed
was well satisfied that she was equivalent to
the best"
To say that this note of more than
human beauty touched every heart in
Rowan county and enraptured all feel
ing persons within W. hundred miles is
to state the case with imbecile made
quacy. Those who still recall the almost
uncomfortable ecstasy in which they
throbbed and painted for weeks after
ward are not ready to admit that Capri
is a thriller Of anything like equal power.
II is generally conceded that the latter
marks a distinct lapse from the fervor
and the inspiration of three years ago.
Nor have they forgotten another out
burst Of peculiar and compelling beauty
which fixed a new and brilliant jewel
in the crown Of 1903. Elegy this time:
Il was personally acquainted with Sister MURPHY
And II Trinity record you'n search
No greater worker among male or female
Can be found In the A. Nj. e. Church.
" She never did fail TO do her duty to her COP
And 70 her church OF which she love;
But to day where is dear Sister MURPHvf
With the blood washed host above!
" Sister MURPHY is happy now In the kingdom,
She is singing with the redeemed;
Look At her before the majestic throne \
Drinking from the placid stream''
But this was not all the South had
to offer in that immortal year, for 1903
brought to light the most colossal fig
ure in the modern choir-the figure Of
LOUIS MICHEL Of Baltimore. In him we
find a master Of melody and rhythm,
Of music, passion and ~exaltation. In him
we also find more than all this; We find
the prophet and the priest of poetry.
He is the very prince of versatility, for
while he is able to twitter, coo and cater
waul with the finest adopts in those
lines, he can sound the clarion till the
hillsides faint, and he carries thunder
always on his person. 1t was in this
more heroic and uplifting mood that,
about three years ago, he wound the horn
with these results:
"A giant both In form and subtle mind
Stands Idolized brave THEODORE RooskvELr
Before the world. No one can ever find
leader who his mission prompter felt,
No subtler mind than his could brightly end
A fearful coal strike In a crisis great:
No truer patriot could prompter send
His feet 10 Beirut in the days OF fate.
NO Drawer man has ever kept his pledge
As RoosEvELT-spite glazing rldiculc-
lOI NuOA y " y uNW WV Ahah WNNhS
OF two republics under golden rule.
" For struggling manhood ever feeling kind,
And ever true TO nations cultured law,
Intensely good. yet he was never blind
To our interests and New Panama"
America will perhaps never produce
a poet so thoroughly equipped for sue
cess in every field. Wonders Of his kind
do not usually occur more than once in
a century, and eve at that rate only in
scattered and far distant spots. We feel,
therefore, that never" is the word for
the occasion, and shall continue to regard
MICHEL as hors de oncOurs-something
phenomenal, not to say unearthly. OF
REUBEN J. HOLMES, however, We may
think as Of a fellow creature from whose
melting harp we have q right to expect
further and, il such a thing were pos
| sible, still more ravishing delights. II is
| difficult TO believe that he or any other
| mortal person will ever soar above the
dizzy level Of the ode to Miss MARION
: FAUX and the obituary tribute TO Sister
| MURPHY. but he will sing again and sing
with more than ordinary sweetness.
| There is but one SHAKESPEARE, but
every age and every generation has its
MANRIco or its BLoNDEL, and that is
| more than We, perhaps, deserve.
Four Thousand Dollars for Chaplains.
The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday