The Washington times., 1918-07-29
Was the Monkey the Original
Poet?
Poet?
Did Rhyme and Rhythm Come From the Baboon Sway
ing on the Bought

ing the Bought
what is written here viii irritate esthetic friends
the poets and know it But good thing to rtase
apoet; it is excellent to tease him.
Tease a monkey IN cocoanut tree and he WIN throw
Stir up the raging passions Of poet and he WIN throw
poems at your head
1--WE make some poets angry, it win make their brains
work quickly and good work may come out Of them The
best poetry has been written, as you know by angry men
We should have the Divine Comedy had not Dante been
driven out Of his native town.
The request for this editorial comes from reader IN
Chicago We quote his letter.
"John Morley says not to read poetry is to lead
'mutiated Ife,' and Goethe (or was it Schiner?)
says He who loves not true poetry is barbarian
'Why not write good editorial poetry?
Hoping you will soon, am, yours sincerely,
GAN ADMRERx"
We don't know whether we CAN write good edi-
toria on poetry" but shall try.
Morley and the German poet were partly right and
It is misfortune not to enjoy poetry, but it is not
eriy sign Of barbarsm to lack the musical sense that
the understanding of poetry requires.
mans life need not necessarily be ''mutlated' he
cares little for poetry
Very beautiful things have been written N verse-more
beautiful things still in prose.
There are men who cannot appreciate fine music The
power not in them There others that cannot appre
cate fine and among them have been some OF the
But even without poetry mans life may be very fun
and not at all ''mutilated"
Darwin got very tired of poetry because he had some
thing that he liked better, that filed his life completely
Napoleon didn't anything about rhymes rhythm
but his was not 'mutilated lii" " even he Char
harian."
S But POLITICALLY inclined or not every man should read
the work of the best poeof Shakespeare first Of ALL Of
Milton and Goethe and Keats and Shelley and Dante and
the other great poets of the world.
Even those that lack the musical necessary full
appreciation of poetry will be delighted and educated by the
beAuty Of thought and OF simlle.
We unreservedy advise our readers to cultivate the
poetical and musical understanding.
The young man or young woman In love Is poor
sample of that tribe Upess the violent spoutng Of poetry
q symptom of the disease.
We feel bound to say however that while many Of the
greatest minds have expressed their thought in verse; such
expression will diminish and the human in
Beauty of thought, expressed simply and directly in
prose- viii replace in time the less artificial and
cramped expression OF ideas through verse
Of all the writings of the world, the most supremey
beautiful the utterances of Chs-the Sermon the
Mount the marvellous appeals for gentle treatment of chill
dren
Could any more beautiful poetry be conceived than the
plain words of the Founder of Christianity? Could rhyme
rhythm have added anything to the power the beauty
Of those words?
Our friend who asks for an editorial on poetry would
Ike perhaps to haVe~s speculate on pqetys beginning
It is the fahio1 to to the bottom of thngor to
think that going to the bottom.
Poetry, at one time, took the place of writing
It is easy remember poetry hard to remember prose
Homer could not read write His works recited
by heart from generation to another before they were
ever written down.
they had been written in prose- they would have been
lost.
One explanation Of poetry is that it laborsavng
device, intended to make memoy easy.
For instance to this day millions of men, including the
writer when in doubt as to the number of days in month";
recite to themselves:
Thirty days hath September,
, April June and November"
Etc,
It is ricuousy easy to remember that rhyme-not so
easy to remember without help of catchy rhyme that
Apr September and November each has thirty davs