Lowell, the Poet [pp. 271-278]

1887.3 Lowell, the Toet. 273
genius as well as the force of external cir- out an exaltation of heart and a quickening
cumstances, his original work as a poet ter- of the pulse. They affect one like noble
minated comparatively early in his career, music, appealing directly to the emotions
hut the results are not meagre in quantity and bringing tears to the eyes.
and in quality his finest lines belong to the It is doubtful whether any of Lowell's
very highest order of lyrics. critics have rated this quality of hi genius
The most salient characteristic of Low- at its true value, or realized how rare it is
elI's poetry has already been indicated its in modern poetry. The current taste of
spontaneity. In type he hears a close re- the day has seemed to crave something even
semblance to the primitive bards. His beyond the exquisite art of Tennyson, and
thought is not conceived in prose and trans- has enjoyed the exotic luxuriance of rhythm
lated into metre; it finds its original and and verbal artifice of Swinburne and
necessary expression in rhythmical form. his followers. It was probably a healthy reThere has been no toilsome elaboration, no action from this school of poetry that led to
fastidious emendation. His poems always the enthusiastic reception of ~Valt Whitman 5
have the spontaneity of improvisation, and "Leaves of Grass" in England. This
those conceived in his best moments a fervor appeared to he at the opposite extreme
as intense as that of the songs formerly sung from the hot-house products of the reigning
on the eve of battle. Instances n~ay be British muse, and in many respects it certaken at random. tainly was. But Whitman is not a spon
"Among the toil-worn poor my soul is seeking taneous poet, although his unconventional For one to bring the Maker's name to ligl~t, ity and uncouthness of form lead one at
To be the voice of that almighty speaking first sight so to pronounce hiin. He is a
Which every age demands to do it right. subtle thinker, intensely self-conscious, and
much more of an artist than a bard. His
"Proprieties our silken bands environ; brawniness is inborn, but the expression of
He who would be the tongue of this wide land
Must string his harp with chorIs of sturdy iron, it is often obviously premeditated. Little
And strike it with a toil-imbrowned hand." traces of pedantry, even, creep into his work,
"Give to C'esar what is ~~~ar's? Yes, but tell me as in the capricious use of French words
if you can, and phrases where the English affords perfect
Is this superscription C'esar's he~ upon our brother equivalents. I find in Lowell at all times
man? self-surrender, an abandonment to the imIs not here some other's image, dark and sullied pulse of the theme, and a lyrical fervor that
though it be,
In this fellow-soul that worships, struggles God- makes it seem impossible that the thought
ward, even as we?" could have existed without the music.
The productions of such a temperament
"Careless seems the great Avenger; history's pages are necessarily uneven in merit, and occa but record sionally exhibit technical flaws. Lines
One death-grapple in the darkness`twixt old sys- conceived in times of genuine inspiration
tems and the Word;
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on are of perennial beauty, but if the bard
tlie throne, - mistake his mood, or prolong his song after
Yet that scafibid sways the fature, and behind the the fine frenzy has subsided, the result is
dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch halting verses and sometimes absolute
above his own." prose. It is a great advantage if he can
afterwards " summon back the original
It is impossible to read some of the glow and mend." There would have been
strophes of the Commemoration Ode with- a further improven0ent, if I~owell could also,
VoL. X.-18.