Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-19
A LOVER OF LIFE
WAS ERNEST T'ae,
Poet, Playwright and paa.
Were Three Brilliant MaR IsoRp'
festations of One Choice
Spirit

from the shock Of Ernest t,9 "a
he was not old In years, snS osalA
still In the impassloned ursi.. s0unEsf
spirit lover of life to who,a y y
whenever 1t came might seen, -, usalt
ana objectionable insult. VI, san'aH
nrst break of sorrow at HE m u
some touch of his QUALITY aA-ns aa q
assuage and to tighten rriof oloes q
sombre and shackled as It was ~ - .p''ls
held always touch of the nos,.. 0'nsa
humor which was unconouarah,, 's'se !
haps no man who studied wifi ~" ~
long airy room at Central uish u "
get him, standing before tho a.. S'n lof
thrown back, and reclting with -. assa -
erence than usual wordswor,h,. "
And those whose hearts arc a..
dust 5 as sainma
Burn to the socket,
And then the roaring vo,co.
You Will live forever, everv -.
you. don't know why ha,..
spared so long. There must be ! ,.sa ~
take" ma'
Now the mistake is rectif,ed
The brief history of his life bo,a, :.
Key to the affections he aroussa y
was born In Warren, Pa, SO wear. - =
and his education, technically snss,,4S ss
did not progress beyond the door. =
preparatory academy. The onIv a..
he held was given him by the Boa,s !.
Education Of this city several vaar, !.
fore he became head of the Departn.s.
Of English in the ereat institutlor :,
Broad and Green streets. Reso,. /.
came to that school he had undsr,a..
the dominant passion of his lItar.,,
career, his love for the poet, Thom..
Chatterton.
He had gone from London TO R,,,,.,
and there, In the shadow of 81 Ma
Redcliffe, gained strength and inspiratlo,
for his work on the marvellous bov vho
committed suicide at the age OF IA Il
1894 Julia Marlowe produced his pay
"Chatterton,' later expanded to It's mi,
proportions as "The Bard of Mary Red.
cliffe." A year after the first production
Joseph Haworth put on "Rinaldop and
several years later Andrew Mack an.
peared in Lacy's one popular SUCCESS
THE Ragged Earl" The last NAMED
piece is still subject to revivals, but ths
others are remembered chiefly by thoss
to whom a subtle dramatic sense and
passion Of poetry make plays worth read.
ing. The Sonnets, collected and pub.
lished with the plays, are his chief claim
t. literary fame. Sidney Lee was high
in their praise, but at home they were
little known, and the first edition Of
them is virtually inaccessible.
The Teacher Who Taught Not
Yet it is not as poet and not as 5
teacher, in the narrow senses Of boh
words. that Ernest Lacy is to be umar
bered. His pupils, even in their green
and salad days, complained at tins dat
"he doesn't teach Shakespearens hA
certainly he did not. He spent Ed
moment on the vexed line about drinking
up eisel, because he fancied that Hafnles
emotions were bit more important than
the forgotten word which Hamlet used
His students left his classes With perhaps
no idea of the chronology Of Shakts
peare's plays, but they had had aschar
OF Shakespeare's greatness and had iseH
at least part of the secret Of creation
He was always willing to take lTc
of Shelley and, celebrating its theme
connecting it with common life, spend
the hour appointed for biography upon
that lyric alone. 4it
Vitalizing Literature
In the course of a year his studsnh
grew to know him intimately, knew nH
past history and his present enthusiasm
including the varieties OF es
perience with his boat" The Oseeha
on which he spent his summers until
modernism persuaded him
buy motorcar, was part and parcel q
his teaching. He could illustrate las
entire first act of "Othello" from IT. ana
his trick of "materializing" the genera
truths of poetry and of life was pe
influential. The young men,
their late teens, who heard him had 10
before understood that In their sepalsN
lives lay the entire secret OF the So'A
that the mystery of the poets was one
which they must solve, and that sss1
written word was written from then eH4
experiences. It is true that he dia y.
Ieach litara tIira He yttalized IT, saR4
Il from the devastators brushed lns ess.
away from books and made the pasean'
art pass before the eyes of his hsIeps's
He was far from being a sucosa''-
man and far from being great -
But the measure OF his genius dessi'sz
more than 1t received. His amnihoa
inspire men to write great things
never satisfied. Year after year .
struggled with the "oratoricai confess
If the school, he saw his work ffuzps, =
de cared not a whit for oratory. apa -
his pupils attained In tha' -
we're not sweet to him. His own 49, 49,
vas limited, and most OF Il "as
,efore the iron necessities OF '7 ,.4
ell on him. He fiercely protesIso 81
lis profession, and to those who gess =
promise OF being able to Write =
,ut two pieces of advice;
'Don't marry. Don't teach
Ernest Lacy. the dear 'Ernis p !.
ejoieed at his successive election )
,ost Of popular professor and e0nss
,t,...,s ft.,. ~. 1aushter OF ehiidfen