The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-11-28

Most gladly will l glory in my
infirmities for when | am
weak then am ! strong II. Cor
inthians. Xii, $40.
There is suggestion or cetlclsm
in these words or the apostle, from
which we instinctively recoil Why
should we glory In our innrmitiesF
What meaning is there In the paradox.
strength in weakness" Nietsche, that
prince of Intellectual rebels. could not
understand this, and frankly called
Christianity "a gospel OF Weakness. But
| protest that this Pauline doctrine is
not ascetic. much less weak We must
read beneath the letter, for the super
ficial meaning Is misleading
First. understand what Paul meant
by infirmities-not faults or weak
nesses for which We are personally re-
sponsible. but limitations laid upon us.
Obviously, no one rejoices in his SINS
In his limitations, however rhe Apostle
something worth while in the thorn In
the flesh. whatever that innrmlty was,
in the prosecutions 10 when ne was
subjected even In the thwarting or his
will In these things. being God Will.
he somehow was able 10 glory. IN our
text We shall find the doctrine or Inn
its. the value II limitation. 10 an eA =
animal ton of this doctrine let us give
ourselves -
Even as the eternal God reveals Him
self in the finite. the limited; even as
His boundless love is symboltZed In a
tender child, His strength made mani
fest in weakness so the spirit or man
is revealed through the limitations OF
the nesh-not in spite or those hmlta-
lions | say, but by virtue or them.
Limitation Ii Power.
Language is witness 10 this law
our thought gains II does not lose, by
being confined within the forms OF
speech Limitation Is power Max
Muller even held that there was no
thought without words. Even as the
lnk ~
vertebrate anonymous. as the biolos
lists say so the lowest forms or lter-
AZURE are amorphous, INDEFINITE the
highest, such as the drama, the epic
the sonnet, are most clearly dehned
most obedlent 10 some limitation. Let
us consider this at length.
one OF the most exquisite creations
In the world OF letters Is the sonnet.
It's very weakness. in the matter OF
quantity, is It's strength. Its limitation
to fourteen lines and certain other re-
strictions are doubtless arbitrary, the
nat OF the Italians who gave us the
sonnet form but In and because OF that
Limitation, not in spite or II. the SON
net has been made great Vehlcle Oh
thought Sonnet writer's have always
been fascinated by the literary eNaC
lions imposed upon them--in love with
the sonnet as such Gladly DO they
glory in their infirmities, so to speak
No chess player ever complains that
his knights and bishops have strictly
prescribed movements. The game -
great because OF those limitations. so
no sonnet lover finds fault with the
sonnets scanty plot OF ground as
Wordsworth phrases II.
Nuns fret not at their converts
narrow room,
And hermits are contented with
their cells,
And students with their pensive
citadels
Maids at the wheels, the weaver at
SIT blithe and happy. bees that
scar for bloom.
High as the highest peak or Fur
ness fells
VIII murmur by the hour In fox
glove bells
In truth. the prison into which we
Ourselves. no prison is. and hence.
to me.
In sundrv moods twas pastime To
be bound
Within the Sonnets sCanty plot or
Pleased IN some souls FOR such
there reeds must be-.
VINO have felt the weight or too
much liberty.
Should find brief solaCe there, as /
have found
James Russell Lowell throws light on
Wordsworth's love OF the sonnet Not
ing that Wordsworth was inclined 90
long windeduess 'proliNity' he po-
ljtely calls it-Lowell saws that the
poet conscious OF this tendency,
turned IN a KIM OF iUNNill'A w NiAt
sonnet because it's fern forced boun
daries upon him ard put HIM under
bonds 90 hold his pcace ~ the eud ot
the fourteenth live But the sonnet is
sonsthing m,se than a check upon
lproIixity ~ suggests. paradoNtcaUN.
the tmmeRsurah even as nttle
Wcrd. 'eS or NO. may contain Tor
% mar tive issues ~ life or death
Richard WPtSop Glider felt this when
h. dcscrib.,l The sonnet ~ the nearly
shell that murmurs 81 the far-on muir
muring sea aud again. whom he Init
mates that W }as the depth of ocean -
sea this beware who ven
turcth'
For. Ike djord. the narrow dodr
IL laid
Deer as MID ocean TO the sheer
mountain walls
Narrow limited and compressed. the
sonnet gets It's character from It's HUI
itattcnS illustrating for us the .prin-
elpls ~ strength In weakness Poesr
itself must 10 sweetly sandaied and
hound with garIands az her own
Nv art We see the sam" prinCipl" ~
wnrk THO medium represents y HIM
Itqttor witch mus be not ONLY respect %
Cd hut valued The wood carver. for
sVample. must not at'emp' 90 q" more
than wood will permit Cfrinltng OH
hons. the Ereatest OF the English cary