Followed by the greater poets,
-- consciously or unconsciously, -- it may prove to be
one of the surest signs of poetry. This phase of poetical work
needed to be emphasized in America, where poetry, with the exception of Poe's,
has been deficient in this very element. Whatever else one may say
of Emerson, Bryant, Whittier, or Longfellow, he must find that their poetry
as a whole is singularly lacking in melody. Moreover, the poet who was
the most dominant figure in American literature at the time
when Lanier was writing, prided himself on violating every law of form,
using rhythm, if at all, in a certain elementary or oriental sense.
"I tried to read a beautifully printed and scholarly volume
on the theory of poetry received by mail this morning from England,"
said Whitman, "but gave it up at last as a bad job." One may be
thoroughly just to Whitman and grant the worth of his work
in American literature, and yet see the value of Lanier's contention
that the study of the formal element in poetry will lead
to a much finer poetry than we have yet had in this country.
Other books will supplant the "Science of English Verse" as text-books,
and few may ever read it understandingly; but the author's name will
always be thought of in any discussion of the relations of music and poetry.
It is not only a scientific monograph, but a philosophical treatise
on a subject that will be discussed with increasing interest.
While Lanier thus stated his conception of the formal element in poetry,
he has, in many other places, given his ideas of the poet's character
and his work in the world.
Pages:
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318