The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-02

teuoeT 9n0 eppeAIn8 herItoBe " Thos
resa w. Beard. the haunting lines Of ths
"Adventurer' by odeil Shepard. the quiet.
spiritual glow OF courtyard Pigeons by
Caroline uiltinan. the arm. meditative
mood Of PAX Beata'' by Mary Rachel
Norris, the elcgiac beauty Of ITO Perse-
phone Returning by Edith Willis Linn
not indexed). the exquisite melody Of
Song by Ruth Guthrie Harding. the
delicate and attractive fancies Of Needle
travel" by Margaret Patton. and the in
comparable artince Of The New Platoon
list" by Cuthbert Wright.
No criticise the use of such words as
exquisite" rare" perfect" "incom-
parable" &C.. as applied to these poems
would he an u%ngrateful and ungra-
cious task. Mr.. B~raithwaite is con-
sumed by an enthusiasm for verse and
he Is doing zeal service In rescuing
some Of It from the limbo Of forget
fulness. Moreover, II Is a pardonable
human failing to be swept of our
critical feet by admlring enthusiasm.
What did the poet say? I'VE live by
admiration. faith and love-? And
surely we know how much more vi
talking and happy Is constructive and
admiring criticism than ic~onoclastic
complaint Of the strange and new. Yet
after all there remains the question
Of standards. Turning then to the
comparative merits Of the two new
poets included in the English anthol-
ogy and the nine new poets OF the
American. we find a wide gulf In the
standard Of achievement.
You can take each poem commended
by MIR. Braithwaite and find flaws to
mar the perfection. For instance, In
the Heritage" there are two instances
OF false accents Perhaps the finest
poem In the group Is Odell Shepard's
THE Adventurer" which appeared in
the BeIImdn, a paper more critical Of
the verse II publishes than any other
in the country. Pax Beata" Is a
good poem. az Ii the Song by Mar
garet Patton. but the New Platonist"
by Cuthbert Wright hardly deserves
It's adjective Incompatible" What Is
1t then to he a poet? What environ
ment. what conditions will foster
poetry? And again. why In America
not POLITICALLY productive? Walt Whit
man has thus far been our greatest
poet and yet who would set him be-
side Shelley or Keats or Coleridge? A
thinker and a philosopher he was.
and at intervals a great poet. but q
great poet marred.
Lord Dusany says:
OF all materials for labor. dreams are
hardest: and the sr.incer In ideas is the
chief Of workers. who out Of M h win
make a piece OF work that may stop a
child from crying or lead nations to higher
things. For what Is II to be a poet? II
is to see at a glance the glory OF the
world. to see beauty in all Its forms and
Manifestations 70 feel uEliness like a pain.
to resent the wrongs Of others as bitterly
as ones own. to know mankind as others
know single men. to know nature as
botanists know a flower. to he thought a
fool. TO hear at omcnt tho clear voice
OF God.
What condition then would breed
men that could do this? First. condi-
lions OF leisure. No great poet can
make poetry for a living. Spinoza
might polish lenses and write phil
osophy but a poet must he care free.
He must live in a beautiful environ
ment. England Is an older. better
ordered. more beautiful country than
ours and more men in England have
"A competency and are willing to live
modestly and think quietly. There Is
not 50 loud voiced a clamor for popu-
lar recognition. Standards are more
definite and glowing praise less easily
won. II We call John Smiths first
verse exquisite and Incompatible.
what is there left To say when Charles
Hanson Towne (who can and occa-
sionally does) really turns a true
little lyric? But beyond all this. the
English superiority in poetry Is partly
attributable To the fact that few Eng.
lish boys have been trained in the
English classics in the schoolroom.
They have read their Milton and Spen-
ser. their Ford and Decker and Tour
neur seated in the deep embrasure of
a great Gothic window looking out
over velvet lawns; they have Weakened
in the morning to the thrushes sing
ing over blooming lilacs. and sat al
noon listening to the dropping music
Of the wheeling sky lark. They have
seen beauty and reverence and love
spread over their favored land. No
wonder the ecstacy OF life Is keen
within them. Think how the young
Swinburne read the Elizabethans at
Eton and how the youth Of Ok
ford read their poets wandering
through college gardens and cathe-
dral closes. Lavish. d~isinterested. wide
spread beauty for beauty's sake. not
for pride OF ownership. Is the soil for
poets. Remember the things that the
young Rupert Brooke set down, be-
fore he went hence. to which ne had
given his heart:
These 1 have loved:
Whit. plates and cups, clean gieaming.
Hinged with blue lines; and feathery. faery
dust,
Wet roofs. beneath the lamp light: the
strong crust
OF friendly bread and many tasting food:
Rsineows; and the blue bitter smoke Of
wood:
And radiant ra!ndrops couehins In cool
flowers;
And flowers themselves. that sway through
sunny hours.
Dreaming Of moths that drink them under
the moon;
Then. the cool kindiiness Of sheets, that
smooth away trouble: and the rough male
kiss
OF blankets; grainy wood: live hair that Is
Shining and free: blue massing clouds.
the keen
rnpassioned beauty Of a great machine:
The henison Of hot water: furs to touch:
The good smell Of old clothes. and other
such
The comfortable smell OF friendly fingers.
Hairs fragrance, and the musty reek that
fingers
About dead leaves and last years ferns.