The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-10-10
THE LINGUISTIC tNART HfSI>
Tricks 10 Attract Attention b, ErcewtrI'
Phrases and FERNS.
E'vOn The F'oTu0

" il, IN the literary language that NJ
linguistic anarchist Is most frequently me-
with. and there he il a clearly defined typo
Failing to arrest attention by The qyali,
Of his thought or the charm OF his expression.
he forces himself upon our notice by shoe
ing our sense OF that which Is becoming an
normal In Ian guage. lie depends upon q du
linguistic moral sense in his readers for tn
acceptance of Whatever In novel and strikins
in language as permissible or ev-n artist.
Unfortunately his faith IL only too ofte'
justified by the result. That which a. Ars
seems n wanton piece OF revolving violence
comes to be endured. then accepted. aud ever
in the end regarded az admirable. As Base
hot remarks in his study OF the poetry NJ
Robert Browning, when I'VE put down a
healthy. instructive aversion. natur svenges
herself by creating an unhealthy. insane a.
traction
This healthy. instructive aversion ever
sensitive reader must frequently feel toward
the language in which Browning's poetry l.
written. toward those peculiarly Browning
esuuc features of style which have cont ribu'ed
so much TO the growth of the Browning cul'
Our objection is not that this poetry has style
that IL is individual. Its fault il tha, II hss
too much style. that il in too individual an
that II does not sufficiently take into sccoun'
the persons TO whom IL is addressed. Tho
NutnDT lays NtOftnt UdUur upon inc ianRl III e
for no other reason than that he has som"
private purpose to accomplish. This appear
In wilfully obscure. syntax. in. the unusiis
value and coIlocation OF words. sometime
humorous but not always appropriate,
80. But above all II appears in rhyme. To-
: here. besides the usual feeling !or Language
there ls a special language onVenii on ths'
may be violated, the convention Of rhyminr
These grotesuue rhymes. n they have h"en
cslled. are somet.mes approrriai 20 The sub
ject matter OF the poems IN Which they occur
but that their uSe Is not dependent upon any
such confederation IL evidenced. by snch
inarisn's Funeral" and many othcTa. wher"
they are altogether out Of place. They a-c
cheap sensational tricks, linguistic "ontor
reader cape and ADMIRE. Only one who hal
lost or who had never had any sensitiveness
to the order and the fitness of language could
ever become enamored OF such viciou-
creations.
Another obvious instance of the literary IN
whom disregard OF the traditions OF a nsuagc
is sometimes taken rs merely part Of o gen
erai disregard of all law and tradition. mi.
case. u has been shown with a iair degree
Of cert ainty that Whitman, was not wllfullv
inconsider ate OF law and order, that he Thought
he had before him the vision OF n lar gPr la
than has been revealed 10 most men. n cot
structive philosophy Of life which the dill Vsu'
T rnd the sy%pahthi All. % nay 81. c read IN ., Hi' , ys,,'
whereby 70 voice forth this philosophy Of ~"
Whitmsn has fallen into u serious -%conord'
eFT0T. It mus T1dUe Nnf III axe OF ffn'T'lk
attention upon his form much 10 The de'ri
ment OF his matter. For besides the stranGe
ness Of the thought. even the sympa'he'ir
reader is confronted by an added and n cou-
siderable impeachment in the outlandishnssso Of
the expression: only after the shock Of sU'-
prise has passed away. after the linguistic
misdemeanors have been forgiven and for
gotten. can the thought receive fun justice.
Numerous examples OF these stumbling
blocks will come readily 20 mind. We cannot
quote illustrations of his monsirous sen
tence structure, but in vooa buIary We have
eratus,. -civilizee. "discorrupt. ""cool-iresh
ing breeze, !" me melted word with sweat
Whitman also frequently uses trencl
and spanish words. whether In correct o.
he does this not because the French
words are elegant or are necessary 70
express q subtle meaning. nor even AZ -
sometimes said because he holds the 'heor'
that the American population Il heteroge,
neous and therefore american authors shOnid
Polish and all other outlandish words Nith
out restriction; he does II merely becau-e m,
use OF these foreign words II striking and
.nexreoted u W sl9 to our list such horn
Lstinisms and Gaitffsms as % meimpGJ
lomat" and others Of sheir kind, We ~csrtsluly
Justify the Statement that Whitman hac
little respect for the Ian g,age In which .he
wrote. His style Is not the resul: Of enc
scholars care or Of the nice Discriminate
Of the literary artist. ITO Is merely %Gunntn:
phrases or words are IN bad taste: but the
are worse than that. they are Intentional,
Obtrusive and offensive. The author dOesn'
respect the languag re and your right and nv
right In the language: TIE. says, Nirtnaill.
And whether .you want TO hear him or not,
he takes the lie OF the %lanxui &c,