Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1882 — HOLMES ON LONGFELLOW. [ARTICLE]

HOLMES ON LONGFELLOW.

Wbaß At®cr»t Sajks of Ufa' Brother I’oeh- The .secret of Bia Popularity. F »iiKeSi#« ** He worked in that simple and natural way which characterizes the master. But it is one thing to be simple through poverty , of intellect, and another thing to be simple by repression of *ll redundancy and aver statement; one thing to be natural through ignorance of all rules, and another to have made a second nature out of the sovereign rules of ait. In respect of this simplicity and naturalness his style is in strong contrast to that of many writers of our time. There is no straining for effect, there is no torturing of rhythm for novel patterns, no wearisome iteration of petted words, no inelegant clipping syllables to meet the exigencies of a verse, no affected archaism, rarely any liberty taken witli language, unless it may be in the form of a few wm ds in the translation of Dante. 1 I will pot accept from these remarks the singular and original form which he gave to his poem of “Hiawatha,” a poem with a curious iasiory in many respects. Suddenly and i popular in this country, greauy ndimred by many foreign critic.-, imitated with jierfect ease by any ciei j - , schoolboy, serving as a model tor metrical advertisements, made ftm of, sneered at, admired, abused, but atmiiy raw a picture full of pleasing fancies and melodious cadences. The very names are jewels which toe most fastidious muse might be proud to wear. Coming from the realm of the Androscoggin and of Moosetukinaguntnk, how could ue have found two such delicious names as Hiawatha and Minnehaha/ The eight-syllable trochaic verse of Hiawatha, like the eightsyllable iambic verse of “Tbe' of tae Lake” and others of Scott’s poems, nusafatal facility, which I have elsewtiere endeavored to explain on physiological principle. The recital of each line uses up the air of one natural expiration, so that we read, as we naturally do, 18 or 20 lines in a minute without disturbing the normal rythm of breathing, which is also 18 or 20 breaths to the minute. The standing objection to this is, that it makes the octosyllabic verse too easy writing and too shipshod reading. Yet in this most frequently criticised piece of versework, the poet has shown a subtle sense of th® requirements of his simple story of a priniative race,~in choosing tne most fluid of measures that lets the thought run through it in easy sing-song, such as oral tradition would be sure to find on the lips of the story-tellers of the wigwam. Although Longfellow was not fond of metrical contortions and acrobatic achievements, he well knew the effects of skillful variations in the forms of verse and well-managed refrains or repetitions. In one of his earlier poems (“Pleasant it was when woods were green”) the dropping e syllable from the last line is an agreeable surprise to the ear, expecting only the common monotony of scrupulously balanced lines. In “Excelsior,” the repetition of the aspiring exclamation which gives its name to the poem lifts every stanza a step higher than the one which preceded it. In “The Old Clock on the Stair,” rhe solemn words “Forever, never-never, forever,” give wonderful effectiveness to that most impressive poem. All his art, all his learning, ail his melody cannot account for his extraordinary popularity, not only among his own countrymen xnd those who in other lands speak the language in which he wrote, but in other lamb where he could only be read through the ground glass of a translation. It was in his choice of subjects that one source of the public favor with-which his writings, motx especially his poems, were received obviously lay. A poem to be widely popular must deal with thoughts and emotions that belong to common, not exceptional, character, com ditions, interests. The most popular of all books are those that meet the spiritual needs of mankind most powerfully, such works aa “The Imitation of Christ” and “Pilgrim’s Progress.” I suppose if the great multitude of readers were to render a decision as to which of Longfellow’s poems they most valued, the “Psalm of Life” would commune the largest number. This is a brief homily enforcing the great truths of duty and of our relation to the eternal and invisible. Next in order would very probably come “Excelsior,” a poem that springs upward like a flame and carries the soul up with it in its aspiration for the unattainable ideal If this sounds hke a trumpet call to the fiery energies of youth, not less does the still, small voice of that most sweet and tender poem, -‘Resignation,” appeal to the sensibilities of those who have lived long enough to have known the bitterness of such a bereavement as that out of which grew ths poem. Or take a poem before '‘referred to “The Old Clock on the Stair,” and in it we find the history of innumerable households told in relating the history of one and the solemn burden of the song repeats itself to thousands of listening readers as if the beat of the pendulum were throbbing at the head of every staircase. Such poems as these—and there are many more of not unlike character—are the foundation of that universal acceptance his writings obtain among all classes. But for these appeals to universal sentiment, his readers would have been confined to a comparatively small circle of educated and refined readers. There are thousands and tens of thousands who are familiar with what we might call his household poems, who have never read “The Spanish Student,” “The Golden Legend,’ “Hiawatha,” or even “Evangelina” Again, ask the first schoolboy you meet which of Longfellow’s poems he likes best, and he will be very likely to answer, “Paul Revere’* Ride.” When he is a few years older he might perhaps say, “The Building of the Ship,” that admirably constructed poem, beginning with the literal description, pas*, ing into the higher region of sentiment by the most natural of transitions, and ending with the noble climax, “Thou too sail on, thou ship of state,” which has become the classical expression of patriotic emotion.