Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-12-04

ALFRED MOVES SUSTALNS
GREAT POETIC TRADITIONS
He Is TO His Otcn Time What Chaucer and Spenser in
Their Day and What Tennyson " as in His
BY FELIX T.. SCHELLING



its acceptance. its aspirations and its
hopes, gloriticd as n herald is dpckcd
out in brave uniform but none the less
n true voice of his time. In that nu-
gust line came Dryden and even Mil
ton. rebel in part though he was. and
later Pope, and, in his time. Words
worth and TCnnyson. and. in our
America. I.ongfellOw, to mention no
more. OF course, there have been many
lesser men who. each in his way. has
helped to carry on the poetry of the
center, if | may so call it. the poetry
which is essentially the expression Of
the spirit of its own age without being
in any wise impaired in fhc sincerity
with which it expresses likewise the
man who writes it, If I may venture
on tritp old figure, this great stream
of literature. which has come down
TO us from the tunnels and tricklings
of early ages. bears much stately and
accepted commerce on its steady cur
rent. much that floats securely amid
stream. Poets who are in the great
tradition of English letters escape the
rapids of tho rebels. the shadows of
inCptitudc. the backwatcrS of imita-
tion and the hOgs and morasscs of &C.
CcntriCity, whore nothing floats. TO
lcav" figures. such as are in the line
Of an orderly evolution. they are not
freaks: they do, not startIc. surprise or
scandali2c; as Taino said of Tcnny-
son, "ThCy will pcrvcrt nobody" They
are safe and orthodox. each with an
orthodoxy Of his time which, we should
be careful to remember. is not the
orthodoxy necessarily of all time.
cannot fccl that it is the function of
nrt at all times to stun and amaze.
The certainty and restfulncss of Jane
Austen is worth all the novels of ter
ror of her age baled into one huge
packet. And it comes almost as balm
and an allcviation in these days of
topsy turvydom to read poet who
believes unaffrctCdlv in God and finds
it unnecessary to punCtuate that belief
with n big bass drum.
MYTH all Mr. NOyCS' felicity and
w variety of theme. his adequacy, the
SnnNnCSS and Justice of his attitude to-
ward life and the elevated quality of his
sentiments. scarcely anything is more
striking than tho technical excellence Of
his art. In this day Of iazz music. fu-
turr pcrfcctSt art and SpinPlCSS verso.
it is boon to have this skillful and
cOnsummatc viEdicator in practice Of
the time honorcd grac"s and beauties Of
poetry which Mr.. Noycs insists on
treating aS an art in words. Like every
true artist, he has extended tradition
Will" observing it and he fully deserves
all tho praise that he has received for
his originality and invcntivCncss in new
stau2as. his novel experiments (such
as rhymes on the first word. single
word rcfrainS and tho likc). and fire.
Quontly novel and clever use of repc-
titiOn and refrain. Above all this
charming metrist has preserved the
melody of our beautiful English tongue.
giving it again and again new effects
and charmngly novel cadcnccs. If it
is pleasant to turn from the cacophony
of much Of our free verse and other to
the music Of Mr.. .NoyCs, it is no less
a delight to come out of the gloom, the
black significance and cnigmatic depths
of some of our contemporary poets into
the sunshine which iliumcs the spark
ling world Of Mr.. NOycS' wholesome
fancy. Come. let us put our question
ings away and believe that there are
fairies in thc forests and the gladcs of
old England at the least. that there are
things of beauty in this world of ours
and that God is not remote in his
heavens. sitting austcro, but is mani
fest in JOY and goodness in the hearts
of men.
POEMS. Ry Alfred Noycs.
No,Ime III. New York: Frederick a.
Stokes CO.