The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1914-01-09

came across; it gave me a decided
shock. But in nv boyhood Longtel-
low, Holmes, Lowell, Emerson and
Whittier lived near my home, and
grew up with their earlier poems
ringing in my ears, and selections
from Longfellow especially were in
the reading books at school. Scott 5
poems were then popular, and much
quoted in writing and speech, and
| long selections from them were in
the school books. The more | read
poetry, American and English, the
more the mystery of writing it grew
on me; how did they do it? AS |
grew older | cogitated much on that
Iproblem, and when later | was per-
sonally acquainted with some who not
only wrote good verses, but also true
poetry, | asked them how they did it?
One said why, it just comes" anoth-
er said Il can't help it." | was rather
intimate with both of these men, and
sometimes afterwards the first show
ed me some galley proofs" of lines
he had written, which he said first
came to him when in bed away from
home. and he scrubbed them on the
back of an envelope; | was meeting
him occasionally, and from time to
time he would show me more lines,
addition to the former ones; and coy
ering the next months it grew, with
several changes of metre and form of
verse; at last when it was published
book form he called my attention to
the question | had asked him as to
how he did it and said to me You
remember those first galley proofs
| showed you of those lines?" They
were the song of bird, and the metre
was peculiar, and the swing pleasant
to the ear; but this queer fact exist
ed that Song OF the Bird" was now
in the middle of the whole poem, and
then what is now the first part came
to me last" There you have it!
That poem of my friend had grad
ually grown each way, like seed po-
tato!
That he was real poet witness
the following:
Above the grandeur of the sunsets
Which delight this earthly cline,
And the brightest of the morning
Breaking DER the hills of .time,
is the richness of the radiance
OF the land beyond the sun,
Where the noble have their country |
When the work OF life is done;
With the deep mysterious problem
Ot their earthly life made plain;
All the bitter turned to sweetness,
All the losses turned to gain;
And the new LIES heavenly rapture
Far exceeding griefs of this;
Earths hard toiling all forgotten
In the restfulness of blissl
And the music of their welcome,
From angelic Tyres of gold
Shall full often be repeated,
Yet it shall never grow old;
Music grander than earths noblest,
Than all eloquence of words,
And the sweetest of carols
OF the gladdest of the birds
Longfellow Whittier, and several
college presidents. including Mark
Hopkins, declared those lines to be
pure poetry Yet when he first show
ed me that poem it consisted of one
'tanza OF twelve lines; and in the next
lalf dozen years it grew to its final
orm
Another friend of mine has been
or almost sixty years writing rhymes
IN all occasions and in all sorts of
places; he says in spite of any vo-
ltion of his will the lines will come
nto his mind and repeat themselves
,ver and over till he writes them
lown, when the agony, so to speak,
$ over, and it is next to an impossi- |
'lllty for him to study them, polish ,
nd rewrite them; on one occasion he !
vas on horseback going to the neigh ,
oring city Tor some important bust J
less, when some verses thus came to
is mind, and knowing they would
eX him for the next hours if he did
ot write them, he called on a friend {
sked tor sheet of paper, scrubbed G
hem off, and went on his way at !
eace; the friend afterwards confirm
d the story to me, when the i'm d"
ulse. or intlatus, is on him it is al q
loSt an agony till he writes it down, h
'hen it is like birth; and it is all b
ne whether it is doggeral or real
oetry; and that he does write the "
liter witness this fact. We both of b
made our first visit to Salt Lake $
June 1883. We had been brought o