The Ocala evening star., 1920-06-22
INFLUENCE OF LITERATURE
Essay by Miss Helen Veal, Gradual
ing Class 1920 Ocala
High School

To me, everyone is born a poet but
few have the gift of expression. There
are many feelings and attitudes which
we have but we do not possess the
talent to voice them in words az
some of our more fortunate fellow
men have, God has given us all feel
ings and emotions but to only a few
has he given the power of interpreting
them
The first great Importance of lit
erature is to provide an outlet for
our souls, and an expression for our
emotions. Joy and grief are the two
extremes of our mental attitudes.
If we are not sad we must be glad.
When everything is gloomy, and some
thing has just happened to make US
sad, or. some unhappy event of our
past life has come back to us, nothing
can do more to dispel the grief and
console US than to confide in friend.
On the other hand, when everything
is bright and CHEEKY, we feel so hap
py. Perhaps we have heard some
good news. Doesn't it make us bubble
over with joy all the more when we
tell others about it? In either case,
to read fitting passage in literature
is an expression of our attitude. Thus
expression relieves grief, while it
magnifes joy. That law is uncon-
sciously obeyed by all writer's. One
poem is song of joy, while another
is tale of woe, the relating of which
unburdens the soul of the poet. Thus
we who are unable to express our
feelings effectively find them ex-
pressed for US in literature.
When a writer has attained that
stage in which he can produce litera~
tIre that voices the sentiments and
puts into words the emotions that fill
the hearts of men, he is beloved by
all Lincoln accomplished this in his
Gettysburg address.
We find in all literature something
that is common with US, if we ap-
proach it from the heart side, looking
for the vital things that strike near
est our own life. Literature also pro-
vides means by which we might di-
vert our minds from the melancholic
and center it on the optimistic. Thus,
the boy who is tired of school, who
wants to run away from its gloomy
walls into bright sunshiny fields, finds
sympathy in Robinson Crusoe.
1t seems as if existence itself de-
pends on literature, for while litera-
turc reflects the history of nations it
plays a very important part in mould
ing the character of the nations. AS
the individual is Influenced by litera-
ture so is the nation. Literature and
history are so closely related and
bound together that no distinct line
car be drawn between their influence.
All men have ideals. Literature
holds before us a vision of the ideal.
Humanity is forever striving for
something higher-for perfection. 1t
is literature, poetry that keeps the
spark of our ideals burning. We may
never catch up with our ideal and it
is best that we should not because
our progress would be halted. Thus
progress, the seeking for better
things, is stimulated by literature.
The ideal is the guide of nations and
of individuals, and the poet is the
standard bearer.
There are two great things about
which literature is centered-n nature,
or the visible world, and personality,
or the invisible world within US. Both
are mysteries and they would be far