Evening journal., 1914-02-28
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
A Tribute to An almost
Forgotten Poet
BY Holland.

In the long life of Colonel Edward
J. Allen, of Pittsburgh, full Of ad-
ventures as il was in his early years,
he met many men who became pronli-
nent as soldiers in the Civil War,
as authors and as men of great af-
fairs. Colonel Allen, when only
twenty-one years OF age. was The
leader of the party which blazed a
path from the Missouri river to the
Pacific and he was one of those who
under the sponsorship of Captain
George Brinton Mcclellan built diI-
ficult highway in the heart of what
is now the State of Washington. AS
colonel of a Pennsylvania regiment
he participated in many battles and
was at last previously wounded at
Gettysburg. Now in his eighty-fourth
year he is the only surviving colonel
of any of the regiments which went
from Pennsylvania 70 the front in
Civil War days.
Colonel Allen was one Of the for
tunate men who had personal and in
innate acquaintance with that man
of rare poetic genius. Richard Realf
Il became intimate with Realf," said
Colonel Allen, "and in that in
timacy l discovered the qualities of
most lovable man. He had the
genuine poetic attitude. / wish he
were more widely known and better
appreciated, for his poems have fire
and depth. / suppose in our hurry
we miss the worth and dellcacy Of
many fine souls. have learned thas
poems go by vogue to a great extent
Few remember now General Lytle's
poem, which begins: L am dying,
Egypt, dying which was written lust
before he was killed in battle.
"Realf told me once that he knew
General Lytle and was a comrade in
arms with him. How well I remem-
Der Realf's guilelessness. His face
was full of radiance and enthusiasm
Illuminated his cOuntenance.
"Reaif was OF Engliill birth ana
parentage, and he came to this coun-
try while a lad. I knew but little of
his early life. He became one OF the
associates of John Brown, whom
Realf regarded as a sort of inspired
prophet. But he was NOT with John
Brown at the Harper's Ferry raid.
When the Civil War began, Realf
enlisted, and he was a soldier both
in action and in spirit. but, curious
iy enough, the war did not inspire
any of the poets IN that way except
Mrs. Howe. when she wrote The
Battle Hymn of the Republic Whit
tier, Longfellow and James Russell
Lowell.
Il found Realf a companion of
such vivid and rare appreciation that
his impressions, peculiar quality of
voice and his rapt interest in his sub
ject come before me clearly now. He
was most companionable guest, but
a very sensitive man. Many an eve
ming before taking up the burden OF
his leader writing--he wrote edito-
rials for the Pittsburgh Commercial.
whose successor is the Gazette
Times--he used 10 talk over with mo
the incidents of his life. n
1T was one which had been full of
tumult, great hopes, sorrows, agony
and some spiritual exaltation. An
after-dinner talk with him at my
home was a great pleasure to me.
Poor fellow, his was not the kind
of temperament that could endure
the burdens of life. was in San
Francisco when I learned OF his
death. wish could have been with
him in the last hour, for the touch Of
friends hand and the encouraging
words from a kindly spirit might
have meant much to him. His last
poem was the epitome of desola-
ton in word, Nh Nisi Bonum Dc
Mortuis Est It ended thus: Plant
daisies at his head and at his feet.
Others had done this when / went
TO his grave, and I, too, planted mine
there"