The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 76, February, 1864: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and PoliticsVarious
General
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 76, February, 1864: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
American periodicals
It is the function of the critic to discriminate and divide, and we have
attempted to deal thus with the poems of Bryant; but some of the best of
his productions cannot be classified and arranged under any particular
head. They breathe the spirit of universal humanity, and speak a
language intelligible to every human heart. Among these are "The Evening
Wind," "The Conqueror's Grave," and "The Future Life." All of these are
exquisite alike in conception and execution. We suppose that most
persons have in regard to poetry certain fancies, whims, preferences,
founded on reasons too delicate to be revealed or too airy to be
expressed. As Mrs. Battles in a moment of confidence confessed to "Elia"
that hearts was her favorite suit, so we breathe in the ear of the
public an acknowledgment, that, of all Bryant's poems, "The Future Life"
is that which we read the most frequently, and with the deepest feeling.
We say read, but we have known it by heart for years. We will not affirm
that it is the best of his poems, but it is that which moves us most,
and which we feel most grateful to him for having written. The grace and
charm of this poem come from regions beyond the range of literary
criticism, and the heart shrinks from making a revelation of the
emotions which it awakens.
We have left ourselves but little room to speak of the new volume,
called "Thirty Poems," which lies before us. While nothing in it was
needed for the poet's well-established and enduring fame, it will be
welcomed by all his admirers as an accession to that stock of finished
poetry which the world will not let die. Here we find the same dignity
of sentiment, the same fine observation, the same grace of expression,
as in the productions of his youth and manhood. The tone of thought is
grave, earnest, sometimes pensive, but never querulous or desponding.
Declining years have not abated in him a jot of heart or hope. His is
the Indian-summer of the mind, made genial by soft airs and golden
sunshine, by green meadows and lingering flowers; and still far distant
is the time,--to borrow a noble image from this very volume,--
"When, upon the hill-side, all hardened into iron,
Howling, like a wolf, flies the famished northern blast."
All honor to the strong-hearted singer who, in the late autumn of life,
retains his love of Nature, his hatred of injustice and oppression, his
sympathy with humanity, his intellectual activity, his faith in
progress, his trust in God!
* * * * *
ANNESLEY HALL AND NEWSTEAD ABBEY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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