The Washington herald., 1907-09-22

a few months ago that the current maya
zine verse is OF just as good a quality
as was the magazine verse Of the era
when he and his contemporaries were
making their regulations And not so
very long before that Mr. Alfred Austin,
who writes pale pink-eyed songs for the
King of England. at starvation wages.
opined that more genuine poetry was not
produced because there was no active
demand for a. The discussion which the
/ laureled one started is stin lingering.
Some authorities think that the poetry
of the period is baug-up. Al poetry. but
that the public IS Indifferent. others be-
lieve that the public is anxious 10 well
! come the perfect word that sings It
self but also believe like the Ambas-
sador) that there are no longer any real
all-wOol Observation-Disclosures bards guar
auteed not 20 fade, stretch, squeak or
shy AZ trains 20 DO the uttering. There
are very few inclined TO be so lenient
toward both the poets and the public
as are Mr. Howels and the present
writer.
Il Is my sincere conviction that there
/ Is a lot OF lost motion about this poetry
writing business, however. I think there
is undoubtedly large portion Of the
public which would welcome the founda-
ton Of a poetical schoor-that would de-
vote itself not TO the production OF new
verses. but 10 the preparation Of the
standard classics IN pellee form-those
classics which every one knows he should
read, and talks about as II he were IA
miliar with but which few people have
/ ever had the time ana patience 20 wade
through. This IS a busy age CThe re-
mark does not seem original. somehow
I The average man-twhere has one heard
/ that phrase before ?(-works so hard that
/ he has no time or nervous energy left
/ over for anything extended ia the way OF
poetry. II the average man" (siC) could
( get the whole essence OF an epic shot into
/ his system IN a hypodermic injection he
/ would not object 20 It. II IS not that he
objects 20 poetry any more than he does
+ 70 q lot Of other things; it IS not that he
/ is the Philistine which your professional
|esthetes pretend. he simply does not have
/ time 20 spend lolfng around PaTnassuS
II took Dante years and Teams. TO
cover heaven and he'll IN this busy
age (s.cl "the average man" (sic) is
not willing 20 take the time 10 follow
( him. But il the whole gist Of the In
/ ferno' were expressed in q single Quat-
rain-something after this fashion
Mister Dante went 70 Hsdes,
Saw a heap II fearful things
Searching gents and hroing ladies;
Hen never go again, by jngs.
+ IL would be welcomed by the average
J 81. r.4 fa- let
What the A. NJ Of this B. A wants is
/ real goods delivered in compact pack
ages. II will be noticed that there is an
/ air Of soiemnlty about the original In
/ ferno" which has been effeCtually clawed
I out OF the new version. The poet Of the
/ new school should endeayor TO improve
upon the old models in tone rs well rs fl
! terseness. As Mrs. Wilcox has remarked.
The echoes bound 10 a joyful sound. +"
/ but have d constitutional objection to
voicing care The average man" {sic)
/ desires 10 be cheered and not saddened
t by the poetry he reads
/ Suppose we swat something genuinely
! occult with the club OF this new art and
see what happens. Try Emerson s
/ "Sphinx"-
/ What's al this mystery about the Sphinx
That's worried So many ilustrious men?
! No doubt the very same thoughts she thinks
Are thunk every day by some obscure hen
| Is there not an air OF mystery about
that? Can you tell what II means? One
/ OF the great charms Of the highest
( poetry is artistic reticence There is a
/ popular belief TO the effect that Brown
/ ing is hard 70 understand. The idea has
spread so that very few people are
willing TO try to understand him The
poets Of the new school should take
Browning. boil out the mineral-mental de-
post. and prepare it for the average
man" (sic) IN tabloid form; "the average
man" could take the tablets in his soup
at the quick-lunch counter and still es-
cape that full feeling after reading
/ The philOsophiC speculatiOns of all the
/ lyrical wine-bibbers from Anacreon and
Omar Khayyam on down might be sug-
/ gested. If not expressed. in one Quatrain
as follows:
Now, If ! were centipeie,
And had legs by the score,
/ When I get drunk. would I stagger less
! Or would staCgeT more:
/
| There is a school Of modern optimism.
which not only makes a point Of it TO
/ be we'll pleased with the universe in gen
! eral. but proceeds 10 detailed enthusiasm
| concerning nearly every physical and
nervous experience Of manknd-tbey are
so afraid, are these poets, that the uni
verse win think they do not approve of
| it. and will feel bad about the matter.
that they must hasten to reassure it.
/ Two or three thousand Of them might be
| Jumped together:
We see not why mans soul or body need
BE otherwise than good
Since every day brings in another creed,
| Another breakfast food
! Or. as Walt Whitman. from whom so
many Of them take their cue. might have
| expressed the same idea:
have had prepared cats for breakfast
like prepared oats
The Rudy Man
Glories in his digestion
/ Just now
I approve Of the universe,
And Of nv digestion.
Ny stomach is in toon with the infinite.
One does not feel that "Thanatopsis"
and Gray's "Elegy'' are particularly joviaI
/ poems. They might be robbed Of some
thing OF their gloom. and the central
thought OF bother a thought near