The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-09-03
LITER AZURE AND DEMOCpnx

Literature. then. is not ~antlder.
cratic, merely because it does a.,
recognize the democracy. Its ra,t.
are uni deep into the past. II lies.
by law and tradition. by all those. ~
straints and impulses Which tn,
People has been taught By den.-ngs
10 despise. The chain which hors.
the present to the worlds 81 Nose.
and Homer is .unhroken in a Sl..#.
link. The material Of literature ,..
change with the lapsing years
form and purpose are unalter4b.
Now and again, a writer, greatly L r
ing, has neglected the laws OF -
craft. and never has his lic-ns,
taped punishment. And b. 4
irony, he who sacrifices his Cous..en..
for a large circulation. who. Tx. L..
politician, puts his faith in the 81
Of numbers, is speedily whelmea M
oblivion. You will search histor> ~
vain for any contradiction Of thus un..
Eersal principle. No form OF govern.
ment, no popular b~oastfulness..
ever impaired the native aristocr.
Of letters. When the Athenian I'm
pIre crurnbled to pieces at the to4.h
Of radical socialism. ~Aristophaa.,
sang its dirge Of death in the lofU-st
strains Of poetry.
or all the countries in the por3t
none has proved itself more senuIurI,
democratic IN tempe If not in e'e-
stitution, than the United States -
America. Here, if anywhere. 49,,
might expect to find a litcr.l..t
shaped or Influenced by the VI ~
the People. Yet the literature. ~ It,
United States differs neither III a.,
sign nor in form from hi I.u2 5s4
literature which was its origin. The
men OF letters who have worked unt
thought on the other side Of tn. Al
lantic have mad little attempt to eco
ate g new system for themsca is.
They have obeyed the voice OF tra-
dltlOn as patiently as their English
colleagues. They have abiurcd f.
cense with the loyal respect OF artists.
and they are not separated by drt,a-
cratic extravaganza from the Hlte
stream Of literary achievement. toe
showed so fine an observance of the
Jaws OF art, hat he has been as qli.k
an inspiration to France as to TIA
land. If ThOreau's material Nrr>
fresh to experience. it was treated
with the beauty and reverence OF an
cient days. Even the respectanI,
anarch Of Boston. Emerson himself.
respected his craft too highly exc. +,
outrage the least of its conventions.
Parkman is an historian as ibbon il
an historian, and he must be meas
ured by the old standards. II,u-
tnorne ana James and lowell arr n
the straight line of descent FROM
Fielding, our prose Homer. one *
pertinent and one experiment alons
has been made in democratic poetry.
and tina experiment. if it has encour-
aged parody, has not tempted imiti-
tlOn Walt Whitman stands apart.
an awful warning to those who would
break the laws Of literature. He
came before the world a strange. in
cnoate monster, a savage with a half
aNAcuiate voice. one who might per
chance nave been a poet had he not
DRIED up the wells Of poetry in his
treast. Already he is forgotten. with
all his tricks of polyglot Familiarity
ana Yankee journalism. Now and
again he may be mentioned as tho
drunken helot OF literature; the best
ana the Least characteristic Of his
works will be cited in antholocies.
and another generation will recognize
mat ne was tolerablet only when H..
~oandoned his antics and did his Ut ;
most to CONFORM to the rules Of his
craft. Yet he lived not in vain. for
ne proved, even to the doubter, that
mere IS no music without melody, and
mat poetry cannot be fashioned in
contempt OF sound and sense .-.;nha
Morley.