Henderson gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1911-19??, 1911-05-11
One Point of View a le Liter
airy Person.
Contributed

aIy TefSOn.
Contributed
Not all persons who claim to pos
sess Greek letter badge, and boast
of college yell attachment, are lit
erary.
1t is not the one who reads the
greatest number of books, who is
literary. One may read ten thou
sand books and lack every element
that gives quality tOa literary mind,
while another may read barely a
hundred books and be, in truth, Il
literary person.
The reader Of the ten thousand
books may, perhaps, only be IN
quest of entertainment tn be gotten
out of a recital of events, either his
tOrical, scientific or romantic, simply
because he or she cannot get the OK
perience out Of life. The only appre-
citation he may have in the tale OF
adventure is that of the plot, and
the same appreciation would exist i'll
the actual experience or observation
of the adventure.
The pleasure lie gets from the sci
entific discussions in POe'a Tales, or
Sherlock Holmes, he would ret in
seeing the actual enactment of the
events as they transpire. The un-
DERIVING sentiment he fails to grasp.
He passes from acquaintance to
friendship, from friendship to love,
from love to hope, then he is dashed
down to despair, then to remOrse,
and finally to triumph.
But it is only the happenings OF
each that he realizes. He cannot
translate or interpret the feelings; he
cannot feel the pangs or the joys;
/ he merely knows and, in review, tells
/ his friends, "the hero came and saw
and conquered" and with him the
/ tale is ended. You could strip the
story of it's soul and leave the skele
| ton. and his delight in it is all the
more increased.
| This is not IA literary appreciation
but the possession of it is but a
literary pianOla-using punctured It's
sue for his copy. He turns his crank
shuts his book, and the characteris
tics of masterpiece become mere
bits OF paper and plot, when the
copy is played out.
There are people who can tell in a
moment who wrote this and who
wrote that book, and their knowl
edge of authorship, especially ot
modern authorship, appears mar
vellous This is all very well tC
know, it is true, and it is part of 4
literary training, but such II person
is not necessarily a literary person
He might read Swift's writings fol
years and never unravel the allu
sions to events and famous persons
might never dream, unless he saw il
in the fOOt-nOtes, that Swift was
making fun of religious form or po
litical strife. He might read novels
such AS The Honorable Peter Ster
ling" and others, and never realize
their application to everyday life
and that they were but crusades, il
! literary form, against the evils O
great cities and corporate greed
''This heroine was such a darling,
chat hero was SO handsome anC
taking" and didn't they have 8
hard time in their cOurtship?' anC
didn't her parents act mean?"
! The great mind of the writer, look
ing into the depths of human life
with its ills and joys, and seeking tc
cut a path for his readers to follow
in a triumph over abuses, scarcely
saw the tender damsel as she was
strained to the strong heart of the
hero.
He was only trying to make it pal
atable, in order that one might
more readily grasp his meaning, and
yet some are so blind.
Then, too, a person who limits
himself to novels cannot call himself
u literary person. Scientific works
such as Darwin's; historical works
such as Gibbons; McCaulay's, Pres
colts and Others, one should seek tC
know and appreciate.
We should read those books that
make us stronger and drawer fol
every day living-stOries of hsroism
culture and accomplishment, drink
ing deep OF the wells that build man
hood, womanhOOd, character.
Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime
The greatest work of literature il
the Bible. Here we have not only
perfect English, but thoughts OF the
greatest men who have ever lived
poetry and prose, such as the
Psalms, Job, the writings OF st
Paul and the wonderful sayings o
Jesus Christ, and yet only the deeI
thinkers can truly enjoy. To the or
dinary mind it is a dry, dull book
The real literary person, then, il
the one who reads appreciatively thu
thoughts, experiences, lives, senti
ments and dreams OF his fellows
both present and past, thus adding
to his own life experience and char
acter.
Mrs. Sydney P. Cooper, Of this city
has been named by General Julial
s. Carr as sponsor for North Carroll
ma at the reunion of Confederat
Veterans at Little Rock, Ark, thi
month, and Miss Julia P. Cooper
also of this city, has been chosel
maid-of-honOr. Both are cultured
and charming young women, ant
the hOnors that come to them ar
most WOrthilV bestowed After tn