The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-02-17

IHeRG l'es ssAss Aac'esv e,'E.sx.
sno pss,nress uaE usLovEo eves.
-wHo HATH HOT BEEH' 4 roETr
II y. trus that our posts s's born saa-soe
made.
Does Il follow that writing Of vera Is trade
That calls for more skill a. to- meters and
rhymes
Than may b expectsd Of posts. bstimssi
who ID It that cleaves this tremendous sbyss.
Placin: q, poets on that 3d. ''sss nas'rs -
And, svayiag his rod Ger the saspsntsrs' claa.
On iess than perfection puts absolute Saa,FA
While, greater and lesser, each poet he leaves
To such need Of success - bis merit achieves!
o ne on such efforts To classify men!
Give each one chance With bis vctcs q his
Fill up your abyss let them cross ana reerosA
And play the game out unto DroAt q loss.
Are poets. then. born. Yes, BY thousands, each
day,
And alfhave . right to chance IN the play.
poet is born in the heart and the brain
OF each little babe, child Of pleasure and pain;
In each nascent soul possibilities lie,
That may be unfolded as passing years ~.
rhe delicate fancies, the bright play Of life,
The souls deep emotions its call to the strife,
It's view Of all beauty and truth it may see
Mark the subjective part Of tho poet to be.
A sense of proportions. Of rythm and rhymes.
A power OF expression well fit for the times,
A form and measure. through which to sst
The thoughts and the feelings Of exquisite
worth, =
And a carpenters skill to fit things to a
Mark the objective part of the poet to be.
o the many dumb poets, who never express
Thu thought and the feeling their beings
O the many verse writer's. who clatter along,
As empty Is voids, through the form of song!
o how We grow up to be base and profans,
To be narrow and selfish and shallow and
Till tho subjective part Of the poet in us
Not much can present that's worth while to
discuss!
And how many there are, who, with subjective
fire.
Can fnd no expression for lack Of Tyre;
Or, having a Tyre. refuse to take pains
To put their fine things into metrical strains!
o would that trumpet might sound in their
ears.
And call them as poets and prophets and seers,
To stir up themselves, and set down in fair
rhymes
The messages meet for these critical times.
"A. M s.
THE little plunge We took into the River
OF Rhine has stirred its waters more than We
could have dreamed We seem unable to get
back to shore, meanwhile being carried down
stream where the waters are deeper, the
stream broader and the current swifter. But
shall We cry for help? Not U.s. For how can
colyumist sink! A gas filled bag deties even
the law of gravity. And sometimes this col
yum Is 20 full Of gas that were it not for the
block Of granite which holds it down twould
blow the date line into the limbo Of forgotten
things. And as for gravity-well, do you al
ways maintain yours while inhaling colyun
gas!
But let's get back to A. N. S.. who inquiries
via MT Lowell, who hath not been a poet!"
Us, for one. We can recall the day, not 10
favorite rimes, not to mention such atrocities
as like and right" Tho beginning Of knowl-
edge Of what constitutes perfect Hmes being
m. o. l. recently acquired by u perhaps We
place an enlarged valuation upon it. For in.
stance, In our youthful intolerance, were some
one to rime forth" and worth" In a poem
offered to Us, the chief merit Of which lay in
the fact that it was In the form Of song"
we shouldn't print 1t: because, ten to one
the writer would be unaware that the rime> was
permissible and would later attempt to use
impossible Iimes.
All Of which implies NO criticism Of such
usage by>A. M. s. He has had something So
rious to say and has said It we'll. As We have
tried to- say, only those who understand poetic
license may take it. II the embryo poet does
not first learn to know the perfect Fime how
may he distinguish between the imperfect ono
and the .. c. poetic license? Light verse con-
tanning objective" and subjective" Tor SIM
ilarly> accented wofdsl in the same riming
scheme ~ above would never get by.
SO, when We presume to air our limited
knowledge OF verse construction II 10 BY way
Of being helpful to those who know less ahout
1t than We do. To A. M. 8. and others Who
really know how to write poetry there IL moth
ing to DO said. They know what Pope meant
when he wrote:
Thus Pegasus. 4 nearer way to take.
May boldly devtate from the common troahs
FEB. II.
Az T.