The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-07-21
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HaDTs 4
THE WRITING OF POETRY.

which they are pleased &c call poetry.
The daily newspaper Is the constant re-
cipient of effusions from gentle subscrib-
ers who, If they are not true poets. have
at least the full measure OF poetic van
ity. and who are hurt and often offended
II their hating rhymes are not treated
with the respect their authors think they
deserve.
And then. too, It would seem that there
are few versifers so bad that they can
not find a publisher, and constantly from
some press or another comes little vol
un1es attractively printed and bound with
daintily decorated covers, books OF poetry
in all but the essential thing-poetryi
There are, too, unfortunately, other pub
fishers who work upon the excessive
vanity OF your budding poet and re-
CARELESS OF whether his verses halt or
are lame, publish them for a considera-
ton, being careful TO rely for none of
their profits on the selling power OF the
books, and thus again is the public
afflicted with "a book Of verse;" though
the poet suffers.
It Is a queer feature OF so many OF
these books Of near-poetry that the
authors. not shy and retiring" as is
supposed 10 be attributes of your true
poet. manage to devote the frontispiec8
of their tones 10 a reproduction of their
portraits IN half-tone. That feature in
Itself is almost the trademark and
sign-manual Of the crippled muse.
There has come through the mail lit
tie volume. bound in red. with its title.
Waits OF Poems,' in gold leaf. and, ex-
pectantly turning the page, there shines
| forth on an expectant world the por-
trait of the author, He has. too, q
''foreword "-heaven save the mark
which Is most interesting and nlumina-
tive, as giving some little glimpse in the
springs that move budding genius. He
writes:
In this little volume are harvested the
ntst fruits or my muse cleaned az very
indefinite periods within the past six
| teen months, with the exception OF a
Few early poems Che has no doubt about
ther being poems FOR various-dealing
fortune decreed not that j should be a
enid or leisure and devote my DAYS
according 20 my choice I partake OF
| the painful uncertainty natural 20 an
unheralded Intruder into the sacred pre-
| clncts or Parnassus. as 10 the reception
| MS nrst Efforts may receive. and vet am
nevertheless hopeful! for them. and shall
| appreciate any Indulgence my friends and
me pgoiic may extend these youthful
| labOrs"
There is more of It. but enough has
| been quoted 10 show that even the COM
position OF correct English prose Is with
this poet matter OF "upainfuI uncer-
tainty." How could a man-one might
well ask-expect 20 be able to handle the
| delicate tools Of English verse when he
can write about ''the reception his first
| efforts may receive" and who changes
from the first person singular 70 the
third and back again. quite light-heart-
edly and unconscious OF any wrong all
! within enc short sentence
/ Now, the verse Is not bad. That is. It
is not vicious: there Is nothing immoral
in II, save that Il Is not quite moral TO
shuttle OF piece OF WORK less wen than
it should be done; but Il Is evident be-
fore one has glanced at more than two
OF the poems that the author not only
| possessed no knowledge OF the technique
| Of the poets art, but he suffers, also
| from the lack OF that essential quality,
the poets ear. Also, he has formed the
very bad habit Of using words. not be-
cause OF their sense, but because Of their
sound. and that often without any re-
gard TO their meaning. He has a poem
on May. Here is the second verse;
The friend that steals from ms side away
AS all do steal-is the lovely MAY:
| Fair queen q the months, o, why depart.
| And leave IN regret this mutual hearth
Why mutual heart and what IS 3
mutual heart. anyway
IN the next poem, full Of crudities and
errors. there is this verse:
As the poet has truly said.
The grave IS not lies goal;
For beyond that Eloony region
Else doth await the soul.
Now, what does Mr.. Grady mean?
ELSE doth await the soul" It is not
even prose: It is a mere stringing to-
gether of words, and it must be a Pc
culiar quality of mind that mistakes lack
Of sense for poetry.
So many OF these near-poets have
some one particular fault more glazing
than the others. and this one Of using
words entirely cut Of their meaning is a
hobby that he seems inclined to ride
10 death. He writes OF work being "un-
receptive to decay" times ephem'ral
laws ''to starve by way Of disposition. {"
whose accents down the brow of ages
float" Inspirations Of the youthful
pen" But these are enough examples of
this tendency. All through this collec-
ton OF verse. some OF which rhymes and
some does not. the reader will find ex-
travagances of expression; faulty meta
phor, ungrammatical expression; words
misused and absolute carelessness as 10
the meaning and import of phrases. The
author begins a poem called Lost"
with:
oh. for the woman my fathers knew
As If his fathers, though most OF Us
ordinarily have but one, only knew one
woman,
Here is a verse. for instance, for the
discovery of whose meaning a prize
might well be offered:
These fatal words are these, He failed;
Alasl Of man they should be said.
Whose obstacles should be assaileG
And crushed cen as the serpent's head.
Such books. we suppose will continue
to come at stated intervals from the
press, and. If they do no good. at least
It may be said for them that they can
do little harm. But wha@R pity It is!
So much wasted endeavor, so much dis
appointment and chagrin. And 1t is all
so well meant and so worse than useless.
|
The United States Mails.
From Life.
When does a crime become punishable?