Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-12-19


"A professor " English for some time.
which kept him from his ul innate
goal many years.
AS many az the leaves OF the trees
are the priests throughout this
country who fell under the magic OF
his teaching and who kn4" by heart
or Skeleton OF English Grammar.
Tears and laughter sunuscd the pre-,
cincts OF his classroom Cherished
memories hover around his brilliant
lectures. TO have been pupil of his
was Il liberal education. and hack OF
II all the sublime motif OF his re-
nouemcnt when in 1881 he was At
last ordained a priest.
Ordained ny Gibbons.
Holy orders were conferred on him
By the then Archbishop Gibbons
ESQ long bishop Of the Catholic diocese
in Richmond)-a the Cathedral OF
the Assumption in Baltimore. The
first Offering Of the Divine Victim
midnight mass OF Christmas In the
college chapel From this time on
until his death In November. 1909; the
influence for the Catholic faith at
ST Charles College.
Likewise from here the star OF his
n.que. was in it's ascendancy. When
the earthiy light MAS di;nmed and
no longer the familiar faces Of
friends. or natures wonderland were
discernible TO him. the inner spirit
ual light burned brighter. The dawn
stole over him az his sight failed
and death Was gorgeous sunrise 10
his soul.
his spiritual life and walk with the
poet in his realm Of imagery for Il
brict period. no attempt being made
10 follow at this time his volumes
as they appeared chronolog!cally. cx-
in print appeared, according TO NJ. $
Pine in 1854. and were printed pri-
vateiy. The nightingale seeks Sc
el9sion but in vain Tin; for o It's song r ,he
earth. Thus IT vas TO be with the
lyrics. quatrains and sonncts Of
Father Tabb.
Everywhere In nature We are re-
minded Of him. Go into the woods
in summer and We hear his tired
because
the strcam is slow.
And havoc many mile TO 90"
herr,nS my message from the noun
butterfly lowering over the chalice
OF some flower instantly We find
ourselves repeating his
Il .ifiess. stcnlcss floating flower.
From rainbow's scattered bower,
Like a bubble in the air
Blown by fairies. tell mc where
Seed or scion | may find
Bearing blossoms CT thy kind
He or she who cloisters in their
finds absolution from heart wcari-
ness as Father Tabb sings in the
Ring:
Hold the trinket near thine eye.
And il circles earth and sky:
| Place il further. and behold
But a fingers breadth OF gold.
| Thus our lives: beloved. lie
Hinged with loves fair boundary;
Place II further. and its sphere
or again the matchless little sym
phony Of song. called white 'Jcssa-
mine so cNQuisitcly wrought, an ero-
tic poem OF the purest OF human pas
sons.
Watch it climbing heavenward. seek
ing It's beloved. whose
"ricdging spirit pure
Was piuming fast for flight"
dawn should touch IT into bloom.
/, tells US that
"Lo. n palcr flower than mine
Had Olossomed In the gloom"
Sang of the Birds.
There is scarcely singer in the
feat hered choir Of nature that Father
For instance. look at this exquisite
little quatrain ITO Wood Robin:"
'Lo! where the blooming woodland
From wintry sIumbcrs long.
Thy heart bud of silence breaks
to ccstacy of song"
The divine pity Of the Erea,
Creator makes Holy Ground" where
the sparrow falls Sings the poet:
row lies
And lightly tread:
For the pity OF 4 Fathers eyes
Enshrines the dead"
Look at the imagery. the exquisite
metaphor in his "Phantoms:"
Are ye the ghosts of fallen leaves
flakes Of snow.
For which through naked trees. the
winds
Announcing go?
Or are We angels bearing home
The host unseen
of truant spirits, to--be clad
Again in Breen?"
Enter the realms of the sanctuary
with Father Tabb. Here we have
him pouring out the wealth OF his
of his faith. Here he strings a ro-
sory; pearls Of thought and chain
OF penitcnce and remuneration. One
stands appalled, where to choose from
this spiritual abundance, n poem that
will in II measure convey to those UNI
familiar with his verses the eievn-
t!on of thought that fills this phase
OF his work. Perhaps his lines on
the immaculate Conception" are the
most typical for beauty and lofty
idcalism:
"A. dew drop of the darkness born
Wherein no shadow lies:
The blossom Of q barren thorn,
Whereof no petal dies:
y rainbow. beauty. passion free
"herewith was yelled divinity"
WAS Wit and Humorist.
Turning from the sublime to the
human side OF the poet, we marvel
at his diversity OF thought, his fund
of humor and his iron!cal wit. He
did not spare himself in this par
ticular. and many of his letters to
his friends are full of humorous SAL
lies on some failing Of his own
Harry Thurston Peck. after his
ridiculous TRADE on Poe which ex-
cludcd that genius from the Hall Of
Fame. felt the raper thrusts OF
Father TaDb's irony. His champion
ship OF the great dreamer led him
to pen the famous lines
Unto the charnal House of Fame
The dead alone should go.
| But write not there the living mama