Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 154, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 June 1912 — ADVICE TO EMBRYO POETS [ARTICLE]

ADVICE TO EMBRYO POETS

First Kfferto Should Not Bo Directed to Subject* That Would Tort Genius. < Far, far ia R from our wish or in* tention to hurt anybody's feelings, but wo do wish to state, very, very gently, 'that one of the most difficult tasks a real poet, experienced and skilled in the practice of his art, could undertake, would be to write an adequate and- Atting poem on the loss of the Titanic. For anyone else to attempt it la to invite inevitable failure, and failure of a kind that—well, of a kind that it would be unkind. In the drcumstanoes, to characterise. To be deeply and sincerely moved is one of -the requisites for writing noble verse about a tragic episode in human history, but it is far from being the only requisite, and, with all respect for their emotions and intentions, we would suggest that those who have only a desire to express what they feel In regard to this calamitous event should do it otherwise than In verse. At least they should not try to get the verse printed, for by so doing they place upon the winnowers of metrical offerings the always painful duty to be cruelly kind. Surely, surely, surely, a first effort to write poetry should not be on a subject that would test all the powers of a long-tested genius.