Evening star., 1925-06-15

What does it matter if there was
more poetry than truth in Longfel-
lows famous ballad, THE Wreck Of
the Hesperus?" Records disclose that
while the schooner Hesperus was
damaged in a storm on the New Eng
land coast, 1t was the William Badger
that was among the lost vessels and
furnished the dramatic incidents that
impressed the poet.
A staff contributor of the Providence
Journal calls attention to the fact that
the Hesperus story was mot Long
fellows only performance in rough
hewing history" and that "a familiar
parallel is his powerful version Of
Paul Revere's ride" The writer adds,
however, that the famous author is so
far from being unique among poets in
this respect that his historical fail
ings may be regarded as partial proof
of his genius"
WHO are those strange beings who
are constantly discovering flaws in the
works Of great men?" asks the Jour
nal. "One never meets them. They
labor in dark places, on fatuous er-
rands; and their sole earthly reward
Is the glee that arises within their
iconoclastic hearts when once again
they trip up genius with the SNUG
documentary proof. When they die.
they must go to a particularly humid
corner Of the neither kingdom, there
to remain until they have written
book that has no mistakes in 1t; and,
as books and men and mistakes go in
this and that world, 1t follows that we.
who are kinder and better people. will
never meet them in Heaven.
What does 1t really matter whether
or not the Hesperus was wrecked or
merely lost a bowsprit? 1t seems a
pity to intrude unimportant facts into
works of independent merit. 1t is
really plea Santer to suppose that the
poor old Hesperus went all to pot"
X X
mo matter how this may injure
Longfellow's reputation as a report
err" declares the Middletown, n. Y,
Times-Press, I'VE confess to certain
unhallowed Joy in the fact that the
Hesperus staggered safely into port
with nothing worse the matter with
her, perhaps, than a ripped jib. Even
in youth the tears that we shed over
this distressing disaster (which never
happened) were considerably augment
ed by hearing the poem recited in
sing-song fashion by overnight little
girls with pigtails down their backs.
The metrical pattern Of the poem
readily lends itself to a mechanical
rendering which the aforesaid bright
little girls never muffed, If memory
serves correctly, and 1t Is small Won
der that strong men have been moved
to tears by 1t.
mo other poem has given rise to
more genuine sorrow, with the possi-
BILE exception of 'Curfew Shall Not
Ring Tonight The late Amy Lowell
raised considerable of a storm in lit
erary circles in Main Street by declar-
| ing unequivocally that Longfellow was
fair translator, but no poet. The
| Times-Press feels that it can with no
degree of safety take any sides in this
literary controversy. But it does not
hesitate to say that Henry w. was a
mighty poor reporter"
| The Savannah Press cites other In
| stances of a parallel nature in literary
history. "It will be remembered" re-
marks the Press, that Byron, who
wrote the beautiful story of Chilon,
lived to take 1t all back. He got his
history mixed. and all the stirring
things he wrote about Bonivard. He
| Invested the prison of Chilon with
terror, it is true, but he twisted his
facts. One of the guide books at
| Chilon declares that the poet invests
this spot with much of the interest
which attaches to it, but it is an error
| to identify Bonivard. the victim OF the
| tyranny Of the Duke Of Savoy, with
Byron's prisoner of Chilon."
The judgment that Longfellow was
a very bad reporter" Is indorsed by
the Louisville Times, which continues:
HE has come in for this kind OF
dissection more than once. There was
10y among these delivers into mac
curacy when 1t was shown that The
| Skeleton in Armor' was that of an
unarmored Indian and that the ruin
about which 1t had been written was
not q relic Of the Norsemen but a
mill built by an American colonist. =
sThe Times also cites the caAe OF the