New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-13
BY EDGAR LEE MASTERS.

BY EDGAR LEE MASTERS.
TN SPEAKING OF poetry choose to dis
regard questions OF prosody and Of form,
in order TO concentrate attention upon
the quality of appeal to the emotions and
the intellect Matters of meter and rhythm
and Of rhyme are the flesh which the spirit
makes for its own embodiment. And any form
which is not so made is the product OF artistry
and ingenuity The difference between these
two externalities is the difference between flesh
and raiment.
What we know OF sound, of harmony and OF
music raises more than a suspicion that there
Is vibratory power which circles the cosmic
domain and flows through the life currents OF
living things, and is communicable from them
10 each other; and in the case Of men is COM
municable 10 musical instruments and through
the medium Of speech and written signs.
The cobra sways rhythmicay to the flute
of the snake charmer. Cattle and beasts of
the field stand awed or scamper terrified at
the sound OF musical instruments. Barbaric
races make drums and rattles with which to
beat the time that is sensed by their intelli-
gence. and for the purpose of commanding the
repetition Of psychical states, either Of worship
or OF war.
THE EMOTION OF MAN IS THE
SOURCE OF POETRY.
There is a force which sweeps through all
life which is Of the essence OF music. The
Greeks symbozed it in the myths OF Apollo
and Amphion; and when Mr.. Vachel Lindsay
wrote the Congo" he came nearer to the
( he
one with whose work I am acquainted. Vessels
OF poetry are replenished only from that
stream OF human experience where men have
gone to be healed, or baptized. or by whose
waters they have sat them down and wept
The scale can be run from Curvature OF the
Spine" by Mr.. Riley, to George Meredith's
Modern Love" from simplicity OF feeling and
expression to the utmost subtlety OF dvina-
ton. through which hidden intimacies OF the
soul are revealed, without changing the ele-
mental thing which is Of the substance OF art
What little community does not have its
traditions. its stories of great and brave men,
Of good and bad both men and women, which
taste Of the salt Of human life and are under
standable and appealing the world around? 1t
is this quality which makes the Had forever
young and the Icelandc Sagas as fresh as
story Of a neghbor about people we knew, and
Shakespeares characters Of close interest, and
even the Divine Comedy" when rightly aP-
preached, a thrilling recital OF souls hatred
and love and triumph objectivized in char
acters and in view of life
BEFORE THERE CAN BE POETRY
THERE MUST BE EXPERIENCE.
For the truth is that literature must come
out of the soil Like Anteus, it is strong when
its feet are planted on the earth and weak
when it is held aloft. Even the Upanishads
and the Hindu hymns are the blossoms OF the
souls experience, nurtured from the roots in
the soil of human life. And all poetry, which
on first impression seems to have refined it
self away from the inspiration of human con-
tact. will on second consideration, show itself
20 have no other origin save that OF human
contact.
Ii is given to some men at various ages OF
life TO rise to that power of self-consciousness
through which the essential nature of the hu
man heart is understood, together with its
fundamental secrets. Whoever knows how TO
Law his hands upon the soul so that the soul
turns and acknowledges its identity is
poet. In this fundamental sense Lincoln
was poet and one of the greatest.
No literature contains more moving words
than those of the Gettysburg Grafton and GER
tain portions of Lincoln's inaugural addresses.
They inspired the American people by that
touch of beauty and wisdom which makes the
human race feel that i is indeed of one flesh.
Like music. they fell upon the souls OF men
with the same quality, and made one soul OF
millions. AS 70 their form, what better in
stance can be given Of the passion OF the man
creating the medium as its power unerringly
laid hold upon the authentic word3
POETRY is MUSIC AND VISION AND
SPEECH.
look upon poetry as the greatest OF the arts,
not only because it does all that the plastic
arts can do for the external and the inner
eye, and all that music can do for the inner
ear, but because in addition to these equiva-
Tents, words are capable of conveying thought
which cannot be conveyed by form or by
sound; and because, even though this element
of superiority be accidental, and not OF the
essence of things, the written word is more
accessible and capable of greater dissemina-
ton than the products Of the other arts.
So much do ] value poetry that feel that
Il Is the one thing needful in our life in
America. 20 the end that the republic shall be
a matter not only of constitution and pro-
tession OF free institutions, but republic in