Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-07-24
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRIcH.
His Perfect Light Touch and the Art
In His Grave Poems.

In Mis- Grave Poems.
1t is notable fact that while the
name of Thomas Bailey Aldrich stands
In the popular mind for the light touch
IN verse-a touch that few In our time
have been able TO equal in delicacy
and attractiveness-the greater part OF
his verse ranges from the serious to
the tragic. The subjects In majority
Of cases are not those which the casual
reader might expect from the author Of
many Of his we'll known songs and emf
sodcs
Aldrich's light touch seems to us
most nearly perfect where the subject
is apparently most personal. as i'm the
indispensable lyric. Forever and "a
Day"
little know or care
IL the blackbird on the bough
Is filling all the air
With his soft crescendo now
For she has gone away
And when she went she took
The springtiine i'm her look
The peachbow on her cheek
The laughter from the brook
The blue from out the May
And what she calls week
Is forever and day!
It's little that { mind
How the blossoms. pink or white,
Al every touch OF wind
Fall a-trembling with delight
For In the leafy lane
Beneath the garden boughs
And through the silent house
One thing alone seek
Until she come again
The May Is not the May
And what, she calls week
Is forever and day!
Such lyric as this would seem to
be as sure of keeping Its place I'm Eng
fish literature as any poem OF its class
that the centuries have sanctioned.
The art in his grave poems is really
In keeping with that OF his lighter
verse. But the reader is s.re that the
careful Workmanship Is MOI the result
OF mere artifice; that it comes from a
sense OF beauty and the poets pure de-
sire for perfection. There is no filing
for the sake OF filing. but conscien-
tious seeking fer the right phrase. He
confessed once to search OF days for
what he thought the absolutely right
adjective TO describe the cry OF the sea
gull, hitting at last upon the word
"petulant," and this persIstency was
characteristic.
Often lie struck the note of high pa-
triotism, and many are his poems that
deal with the mysteries OF life and
death. He wrote fit and beautiful
threnodies. and in his verse one comes
constantly upon startling hints and
suggestions concerning nature. human
fate and the spirit world, as In .'Ren-
contre." Identity" II vex Me Not
With Brooding on the Years." "a
Mood" and "Apparitions," poems which
have new poiguancy in the light of
his departure.
APPARITIONS.
Al noon OF night and at the nights pale end
Such things have CHANGED to me
AS one. by day. would scarcely tell a
friend
For fear OF mockery
Shadows. you say. mirages OF the brainl
1 know not. faith. not I.
Is IL more strange the dead should walk
Than that the quick should die?
Aldrlch ought to have lived longer
and continued TO write for many years
TO come for he was In little danger of
falling In taste and rigid self criticism.
But, after all, his life had n remarka-
Bile completeness. His boyish attain
ment Of fame mnde him not less but
more careful In his art from the begin
uing. There never was n time when
be did not hold high the standard of
art and not less for himself than for
others. With increasing years his
touch grew more assured and his imag-
ination deeper
Neither In his genial prose writing
nor In his verse was fully reflected tho
wit which made personal intercourse
with him rare privilege. For private
conversation was reserved the treas
ure or his whimsical and never fall
Ing humor. Doubtless many OF his
sallies VIII be jotted down by friends
and preserved by his biographer. but
the manner OF his appealing persifiage
and Illuminating witticisms can never
be reproduced.
Nor can be told yet the story OF his
chief happiness-of that life OF insep-
arabic affection which helped to make
his career one OF the most fortunate
In the annals OF Northumberland