St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-08-04
GOSPEL OF POETRY
Address by Judge W. P. Stafford
Before WOman's CIub-NO Sue
cess Without A Passion.

The club house was crowded to
the doors for the August meeting of
the ST. Johnsbury Woman's club on
Monday afternoon. Mrs. Hovey, the
president, welcomed the many old
friends, and guests of tn eclub who
included representatives of the Lyn-
don Union club. She spoke of the
meeting of the Lyndon Union club
at the home of e. A. Darling to
which the St. Johnsbury club was
invited and which proved most de-
lightfu1 After the. reports of the
June and July meetings, the chair
man of the travel and current events
committee, Mrs. A. Brooks presented
as the speaker of the afternoon,
Judge Wendell P. Stafford Of Wash
ington, former resident whom it is
always a pleasure for st. Johnsbury
people to hear. His subject was
''The Gospel of Poetry" or "The
Poetry of Life,'' and his delightful
talk was a most auspicious beginning
of the program for the year. He
said in part:
Nothing deserves the name of po-
etry unless it induces certain mood
of exaltation Matthew Arnold call
ed poetry a criticism of life, but is
it not rather an Interpretation? 1t
must exalt life Poetry has a gos-
pei, because the world has no inter
est so deep as to promote and cher
ish whatever makes life itself more
interesting and attractive. That is
the goal of all training and culture.
Did anyone ever really succeed
without first being smitten with
sort of passion for his task? And
that is only saying that to him it
has appeared highly poetic. The men
who are filling the eye of the world
today are only acting out their boy
ish dreams Show me a task so COM
monplace or humble that it may not
be transfigured by the glamor of
imagination. All the sentiments that
give human life dignity and charm
are, at heart, poetic. Hospitality is
a poetic view of the relation be-
tween host and guest. So patriot
ism, heroism and religion are forms
of poetry in life and conduct. The
Christian story is the supreme poem
of the race
There was once such thing as
poetry of behavior. We might do
well to consider whether, in our civic
business, and especially in the ad-
ministration of justice in the courts,
we have not unwisely neglected
those forms and ceremonies that
suggest the power and majesty OF
the law.
The poets have made life fluent.
They have enabled us to think bet
ter of ourselves. 1t is remarkable
that we have at present no great
singer of current national themes.
Yet we need not be discouraged.
America has had poets worthy to
stand in the worlds pantheon-Bry-
ant, Longfellow, Holmes, Poe, Ian
ier, Emerson, Whittier, Lowell,
Whitman-and a country that can
point to singers like these need not
despair of her future.
At the executive board meeting it
was voted, at the request of Mrs.
Caroline L.. Taylor, chairman of the
social science committee that Mrs.
Minnie Tolman serve as chairman for
the rest of the year. Appropriations
of $40 to the travel and current
events committee, $40 to the home
economics committee, $50 to the ed
ucation committee and $50 to the
civics committee were voted by the
board. One new member was admit
ted at this time, Mrs. Jennie K. Her
bert. Mrs. Robert E. French, chair
man of the special summer commit
tee, announced that on August IL,
the club would entertain the children
and grand children of members at
the club house.