The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-02-17

of the present generation. Moreover
he has the unusual distinction Of hav.
ing been able to earn his own living
for several years entirely by writing
poetry. In 1915 he became professor
of English literature at Princeton
"Just as his presence served to dis.
pei false awe Of poetry, so did his
personality convince his students that
an enthusiasm for poetry, hard, mus.
cles, masculine initiative and intel.
lectual sanity might co-exist. When
he read Kipling's ballads with rich
cockney accent he caused chuckles Of
interested appreciation. At the end
of the term, when he read some Of his
own verse, the Princeton undergradu-
ate felt as he had never felt before
the captivating swing of ballad and
the tender Tilt of the lyric"
When his first poems were brought
to the attention of the American pub.
lie in the days before the "new poetry
movement" was properly begun, II
was quite the thing to like Mr.. Moves
Now, as a certain critic has said, il
one could be popular as a critic, one
must decry him as Victorian. How.
ever. he can do certain things that
other poets Of today can not do 50 well
or at least have not done. And it Is
the melancholy truth that he is as
popular for the things he does poorly
as for the things he does well.
His ideas do not conflict in any way
with those to which men and women
trained in the school of the past gen
Grafton are accustomed. His emotions
are always decorous. His tunes jingle
happily. His colors are pretty.
The poorest of his poems are those
that are argumentative. But then,
poets seldom make good poems when
they argue.
Mr.. Noyes is, however, that very
rare poet, the maker of fine ballads.
He has the story teller's gift, the
pleasant fancy, the sense of dramatic
incident, the light quick touch. and the
facility with rhyme and rhythm, which
90 into the making of good ballads.
One of his most delightful, rollicking.
singing ballads is the "Forty Singing
Seamen." 1t is poem of dual ma
ture, for it is never very far from
reality, never very far from world
that is purely imaginary. The sailors,
after drinking the grog of the ghosts,
have preposterous visions, but they
have visions in very real and human
way. The sailors talk seems to have
the right flavor Drake, an English
Epic, is one of his best known pieces
of work. In all English verse it is
hard to find a rhymed description Of
warfare equal to this in realism and
dramatic intensity.
Mr.. Noyes has written but few SON
nets, This one printed in the EN-
chanted Island and Other Poems" is
the best. The sextet is particularly
memorable.
IA health, a singing health, unto the
king
OF all our hearts today! But what
proud song
Should follow on the thought, nor do
him wrong?
Except the sea were harp. each mirth-
full string ,..
The lovely lightning of the nights of
Spring,
And Dawn, the lonely listener, glad
and grave
With colors of the sea-shell and the
wave 5.'
In Frightening eye and cheek, there
50 is none to sing?
Drink to him, as men upon an Alpine
peak
Brim one immortal cup of crimson
wine, e
And into it drop one pure cold crust
OF snow, SO, -..A AS. -. y
Then hold it up, too rapturously to
speak
And drink-to the mountains, live on
glittering line,
Surging away into the sunset glow"
Mr.. Noyes himself has said, II ac-
knowledge my greatest debt to Mr..
Kipling." He was speaking Of the
influences which had nodded his poetic
thought. He had taken more Of the
inward spirit of Kipling's work than
its rough medium, more of the ring
ing hopefulness, and joy of life than
of it's sordid exterior. However, the
spirit of the two men is the same.
The plea for simplicity, childlike
reverence, and heroic loyalty to those
ideals we discover to be our own is the
keynote of Noyes' philosophy and his
to our own chaotic and CROP
ing age. The place we live in is not
the world machine of science and bus
mess or is it an economic arena of
crude human passion. It is a place
where men struggle but not solely
against one another. It is place
where men may be efficient but not
for the sake Of efficiency. It is on the
contrary a region of wonder and ro-
where every man is embarked
on a great adventure, joyful adven-
ture, the end - mystery, but the
manful voyage of which is the only
thing worth while. So, Mr.. Noyes
goes Kipling one better. He adds
ideal. This is shown so
splendidly in "A Knight of the Ocean
Sea-"
CUBA -.
Miss Mamie Nelson called on Mrs.
Ralph McCready Friday.
Mr.. and Mrs. Ludwig Nelson and
Mamie and Leila were VAL
ley City visitors Thursday.
Miss Ellen Johnson of Valley Citv