The Washington herald., 1916-10-30
THE IMAGINATION.
BY JOHN ID. BARRY.


Some years ago 1 made the acquaint-
ance Of a young Russian who had come
to the United States after several years
of study at one Of the great universities.
He had settled down in New York and
had taught school In his early associa-
ton with other school teachers he was
ticularly by the kind OF fiction. He had
been brought up in the school Of Rus
sian realism and the inaccurately
imagined romances praised by the school
teachers impressed him as being child
ish and silly. You people in America
seem to be inclined to look down on Rus
sia," he said. You often speak as II
we were a semi-barbarous country. But
our standards Of literary art are much
higher than yours. We don't believe in
weakening the imagination by feeding It
with sentimental unrealities. We think
tnat life itself furnishes the best stories
and that the best motives lie In character
ization. What a debauchery a great deal
Of cheap fiction that is read in this coun-
try must be for young people. How IT
must distort the Imagination which Is 50
important for them in the management Of
their lives
l was very much impressed by that
comment. II seemed to me that II was
true and that It touched on a most i'm
portant subject But how lite is done in
our school to train the imagination. In
fact, the very word is misleading. Peo-
pie speak Of the imagination as II It were
wild thing, the more to be admired
according to the degree Of its wildness.
"Oh, have such a wonderful imagina-
I Of he Vel
plots" Words OF this kind are often
said to writers by those who are not
themselves writer's They apparently
think that they possess an equipment for
writing which, II put to use, would be
valuable. 1t might be valuable for SEN
ton stories. the kind of writing that
does not deserve the name OF literature
and that is generally regarded with more
or less contempt even by those who find
II entertaining.
Obviously, a wild imagination is not
a good sign. II may be even dangerous.
II uncontrolled. If allowed to take its
course from year to year. it may lead
to the Unbslancing OF the mind. On the
other hand, an active imagination may
be a great possession. If properly direct
ed, which means disciplined into a close
relation with reality. One often hears
a parent boast OF the imagination shown
by child Highly imaginative children
are favorites both In life and in litera-
ture. The things they say are Unques-
ltIonably amusin- and occasionally start
| ling. sometimes associated with alert and
searching observation. As a rule, how
ever it is the wildness in the imagiDa-
tion Of children that is admired. its least
interesting feature. showing utter lack OF
discipline. There are parents wise enough
TO see danger here. Experience teaches
them that among children great imagi-
nation may he related TO unhealthy
nerves, a tendency to feverish excite
ment and to disturbances Of the whole
system.
OF all living people the most imagina-
tive are lunatics The things they can
think of are sometimes most impressive
Through their insanity there often runs
a kind OF sanity, plainly related TO
genius. But no one would say that they
showed a healthy functoning. The bust
ness OF the doctors is to draw them back
TO realities. In some instances their de-
rangement is que to an unhealthy yield
ing to the Imagination, to an abandon
ment that gradually drives reality out Of
the mind and puts fantasy in its place.
lima GinatiOu, being one Of the higher
qualities. is one OF the more sensitive
qualities. related to accuracy of feeling
and # observation. Its relation 10 genius
then is plain. For genius is Tho Kind Of
mind thar deal with perC, nu"n~ ana
calculations so fine as TO be- hardly trace
able. Indeed, Il may he said that genius
is form OF accuracy. It perceives har-
monies and rhythrns denied to the con-
sCiOusncss Of most OF US and yet capable
Of being interpreted in terms that we can
understand. To itself genius may be a.
great mystery as II is to those outside
And We ought to remember that there are
kinds OF genius that are not usually
classed under this word. For example,
there are those tine natures born with
the sense of right relations in life, en-
abIing them to lead lives Of eXtTaOrdI-
nary adaptabiuty to surrounding CondI-
tons Sometimes they are very humble
people, included among those who are
generally regarded as failures Christ
was a pre-eminCut example Of this kind
of genius. In the material life OF today
there are many examples. those who, by
what seems like an instinct. deply i'm
sginatiye know how to utilize the forces
Of the world. It Was this idea that led
some one recently 10 call the business
OrCanizers Of today our greatest poets.
1t is the poets that are usually sc-
Cpptcd as the leaders OF the world in i'm
agination. Are they accurate? Often
they are not on the surface. But il IS in
their Interpretation Of the meaning he
meath the surface that their accuracy
lies For this reason the more Eifted Of
them are sometimes called seers. They
lift the wells that obscure the eyes Of
the world in general
The time is coming when cur schools
will pay close attention TO the ina EinatioU.
They will try TO develop it systematic
ally in the direction OF accuracy. But
before this work can be undertaken the
teachers will have to be taught. They
are themselves sadly in need OF help.
For the teacher with an accurate imagi
nation is rare. In fact, accuracy OF
ina gination in any department OF work
means one OF the qualities that 90 with
supreme efficiency.