The Year's Verse, Part II [pp. 101-106]

The Year's Verse.
The following "prefatory note" introduces Hymns pro Patria:1
I have no reason to believe that any of these
hymns have in them the germ of immortality. It is
more than enough for me that they will serve to show
my sympathy for my country, for those departments
of Christian and humanitarian work to which I have
devoted my life, and which I believe will fill the
earth with their triumphs.
Tlis note characterizes the hymns so
justly that it leaves little for the reviewer'to add to Mr. Rankin's own estimate.
They are perhaps none of them poetry
in any strict sense, but they have, - in
addition to good ethical perception, and
as honest and high-minded a tone as
possible, a touch of eloquence, caught
largely from the influence of Scripture
and other good standards of religious
literature. Thus:
Blow, bugler, blow up one note more,
Blow me the New Creation,
When he shall come who came before,
And bring wrong's reparation.
God be with you till we meet again,
By his counsels guide, uphold you;
With his sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again,
With the oil of joy anoint you;
Sacred ministries appoint you;
God be with you till we meet again.
The word of God to Leyden came,
Dutch town by Zuyder Zee:
Rise up, my children of no name,
My kings and priests to be.
* * * *.
The Pilgrims rose at this God's word,
And sailed the wintry seas;
With their own flesh nor blood conferred,
Nor thought of wealth or ease.
They left the towers of Leyden town,
They left the Zuyder Zee;
And where they cast their anchor down,
Rose Freedom's realm to be.
It is strange to turn from these hymns
to The Rose of Flame.2 The book is a
second edition, recently published, of a
last year's volume. It is not one that a
reviewer is glad to have had come into
his hands. That it is poetry, and poetry
of fervid things fitly said, he must in
any conscience say: but it is not poetry
that can be of good or of pleasure to
more than a very few. It does not ap peal to gross tastes and the vulgar curi osity that seeks to be shocked; but its
theme is reckless love, and while neither
life nor letters at present can omit that
theme entirely, it is one that should be
left to great handling. These verses
will find readers, and will probably be
kept alive; but they will not touch many
people very nearly. They are not evil
enough to be read by those who seek
what is questionable for its own sake;
they will repel the innocent and inexperienced; to those who have had or
seen experience that would make them
real, they would only be painful. But
to those actually under stress of temptation to exalt love above righteousness,
they might be a dangerous influence.
One of the best things Howells has
said is by the mouth of one of his characters, that much of our trouble comes
from giving divine honors to love, which
are due only to righteousness.
This is well said:
Where shall I look for help? Our gracious God
Pities all those who weep for sin ingrain,
And potent is the Kingly Victim's blood
To wash repented guilt and leave no stain.
But ah, what hope for me in Heaven above,
What consolation left beneath the sun,
In those black hours when-my lost soul laments
Because it left that one sweet sin undone.
but compare it even as mere literature
with what some one else has said:
I hold the loftier lot
To? ennoble, not escape,
Life's sorrows and love's pangs. I count a man,
1 Hymns pro Patria. By J. E. Rankin. New York: 2 The Rose of Flame, and other Poems of Love. By
John B. Alden. i889. Anne Reeve Aldrich. N. Y. Ai-terican News Co: i889
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[Jan.