The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-12-02
LETTERS TO EDITOR
About Sidney Lanier


 To those of us who worship at the shrine of genius and who have at heart the recognition and appreciation espe- cally in the south of Sidney Lanier, as man of supreme genius-it Is very gratifying to know that Alabama Is to honor his memory by presenting to the army of the Italians through the Ameri- can Poets association, an ambulance inscribed with his name, and which is soon to be sent upon Its errand of mercy; and the Birmingham newspa- pers are to be commended for applauding and proclaiming this fact to the world, but will you permit me to challenge the statement that sidney Lanier is an Ala bama poet"
 Only a few days since a woman of accomplishments and literary attainment said to me that she had often heard that , claim made for Sidney Lanier; but 1t would indeed be interesting to know just when he became An Alabama poet" save in the sense that true genius is
 universal in it's appeal and wisdom, and belongs to humanity; and could Sidney Lanier himself speak, I do not believe that he would wish to be thus designated. not that. he loved Alabama less, but Georgia more;' and in a deeper sense than that it is the place of his nativity, should Sidney Lanier be called a Geor- gia poet; there were the hallowed as- sociations of his childhood, it was there 1 he was educated, grew to young manhood
 and spent some of his mature years. 1 The association of childhood, unless strangely perverted must, and will find a counterpart in our after existence and ! in deep loving, poetic nature, like
 Sidney Lanier's, this would be especially 1 emphasized, so it is not surprising that he has immortalized many Georgia scenes; 1 the Hills of Habersham" and the "Val- leys of IIall," the Terminal Sea" and "The Marshes of Glynn'' at Brunswick, Georgia.
 Living in a rich agricultural district of Georgia, he got his inspiration for Corn" his first long poem (and ono of the most beautiful he ever wrote), for he was a sincere lover of nature, and found beauty in the waving corn and the clover; in the mocking bird, the robin and the dove; in the hickory, the dog wood, and the live oak In the murmur- ing leaves, and the chattering streams; In the old red hills, and the Terminal Sea-" in the clouds, sunrise and sunset, and even in the marshes which burst into bloom for this worshiper!
 l "Oh, what is abroad in the marshes and the terminal sea,
 l Somehow my soul seems suddenly free | From the weighing of fate and the sad discussion of sin,
 By the length and the breadth and the l sweep of the marshes of Glynn. By so many roots as the marsh grass l sends in the sod
 will heartily lay me a-ho1d on the greatness of God:
 Oh like to the greatness of God is the greatness within
 | The range of the marshes-the liberal 1 marshes of Glynn."
 1 Perhaps at this time the following biographical facts. of Sidney Laniers | life may be of interest to some of your readers.
 He was born at Macon, Ga, Febru-
 ary 3, 1S42; his father Robert S. Lanier 1 a lawyer of Macon, came of family noted for their love and cultivation of the fine arts. From the time of Queen ] Elizabeth to the Restoration, several of l his paternal ancestors were connected with the English court as musical com- posers and as painters. The poets mother, Mary Anderson, a Virginian of Scotch descent, likewise sprang from a family distinguished for their love of | oratory, music and poetry. With such an ancestry it is not surprising to learn that Sidney Lanier's earliest passion was for music, and that in boyhood he could, although untutored, play on all most every kind of instrument. He pre- ferred the violin. in playing which he l sometimes sank into deep trance, but | in deference to his fathers view. gave it up for the flute, and according to competent critics, he became, possibly, the finest flute player In the world.
 At first. strange to say he consid- cred music unworthy of ones sole at tention, but later came to rank 1t as his fullest expression of worship. At IA Sidney entered the sophomore class at tOglethorpe college, near Macon, Ga, and with years intermission gradu-
 ated with first honor in 1860, when just IS. To Prof. James Woodrow, after ward president of the South Carolina college, Lanier declared that he owed the strongest and most valuable stim- ulus of his youth. On graduating he was given tutorship in his alma mater
 a position that he held until the out break of the Civil war. The lecture room was now exchanged for the bat
 tlefield; in April, 1861, he entered the Confederate army, as private in the
 Macon volunteers of the Second Geor i gia battalion, an organization among
 the first to reach Norfolk, and that still
 keeps up It's corporate existence The
 leisure time of his first year's servica
 Sidney spent in the study of music an,
 the modern languages. He was enga ged
 in several battles in Virginia. but aft.
 erward was transferred to the sigma,
 service. with headquarters at Peter,
 burg Here he had access to a smal
 library of which he made scdulous uss
 In 1863, his company was mounted an5
 served Tn Virginia and North Carolina nf