| Show L 2 JuC Ju- Ju j C n y X t i Communications cat ons i m Om CL r POETRY AS A TEACHER OF MO- MO Matthew Arnold once defined religion as ethics lit up by emotion Can we mutates mu mu- tates fatis apply the same definition to poetry and say ay that it is prose plus metre metre metre me me- tre lit up by emotion Some definition it itis itis itis is well to have for while hile all have a general general general gen gen- eral notion of what poetry is there is ism m much ch which passes current as poetry which if tried in the furnace of a just criticism would prove to be counterfeit Y Yet t it is by no means means- easy to tell just what is meant by poetry and to draw the theline theline theline line between the genuine article and mere poetizing doggerel Let us see what Wordsworth V says say's of the nature of poetry Its chief characteristics characteristics characteristics charac charac- are aie the following I. I An imitation of and so far as possible possible possible ble an adoption of the ver very language of men 2 2 Metre This selection of the language language language lan lan- guage really spoken by men if made with tr true e taste and feeling will with the addition of metre produce the desired result Is the of qualities complete complete complete com com- One of his biographers and critics calls our attention to one of the ible characteristics of genuine poetry of lasting worth viz music For about twenty years Wordsworth possessed this gift of music After that though still r retaining his intellectual powers his wealth of imagination and his depth dept of feeling he ceased to produce poems which can dm take rank with those of his flowering period What had he lost That subtle non non intellectual non-moral non quality which I f is the very life and charm of his his his' greatest greatest- productions productions- productions his his is pow power r of musical musical musi- musi I i iVe cal utterance We Ve see then that genuine poetry must must- have at least these qualities It must be simple not stilted it must be genuine it must contain thought But this thought need not be of the logical and reasoned type Its cogency must consist in its appeal appeal appeal ap ap- peal to the intuitions and those too of the feelings not of the intellect if any distinction is to be made in this region of profundity There is more real poetry in some simple songs of Brownings Browning's like those from cc Pippa Passes than in pages of sueh dialectical and controversial verse verge as Mr as Mr Sludge the Medium and Bishop Bish op Apology But only must poetry contain thought but this thought must be cast in lJ the mold of the imagination It is one great function of the poet to impress upon the shows and shams of things the he abiding forms of the imagination which give the outlines of lasting truth because they are the forms I of human nature itself But all these qualities qualities' may be present in large measure and yet the result will not be poetry unless they are reduced to fo toa a systematic and orderly whole by that mistress of all song song music This quality it it- itis is next to impossible to define One feels it but may not dissect it So perhaps perhaps perhaps per per- haps at the end of our description we weare f are as far from a definition of poetry as i when we began It is sufficient for the purpose if if we have set up some finger finger- posts which point out the way along I which true poetry is to be found f To return to the topic of the moral in influence influence influence in- in fluence of poetry That depends as in in prose upon the kind of poetry and the character of the poet As a consequence of what has been said above about m music sic it follows that i j much of the charm and effectiveness of poetry depends upon that subtle non- non moral element in it Music considered abstractly is neither moral nor immoral It acquires a moral character from the use given it by moral beings Hence verse may be musical and yet immoral in its tendency or it may be bewitchingly musical musical musical mu mu- and yet highly elevating like some of the the lyrics of Tennyson Hence we we seem to be l led d to the conclusion that the moral quality of verse as of prose depends depends depends de de- upon its subject matter and not upon its form When the form is good it increases the effectiveness of the sentiment sentiment sentiment senti senti- ment when bad it diminishes it just as asin asin asin in prose the felicitous expression of a great truth contributes to the retention of it it in the memory and so to its influence upon life while the commonplace or obscure obscure ob obscure ob- ob statement of the greatest verity leaves us indifferent Granting then that the moral influence of poetry depends upon the thought that thatis is upon the content and not upon the mere verse form fonn we may still inquire whether there are not certain forms of poetical expression which are better adapted than others to the inculcation of moral truth Shall we a moral lesson lesson lesson-in in th the narrow limits of the distich or the quatrain Shall we sing it in the ballad or proclaim it in the stately measures measures meas meas- s meas-s ures of the sonnet Shall we use the line four-line or line eight-line stanza employ rhyme or blank verse or use the expanded form of the epic That depends on the nature of the truth So we find ourselves bro brought back to our old position viz That the moral influence influence in in- flu fluence nce of poetry depends not upon the form of expression but upon the context I of thought But laying aside the question question question ques ques- tion of particular po poetic tic form let us raise the question whether poetry as distinguished distinguished distinguished distin distin- from prose is s a fitting medium for the express expression on of moral truth I. I t We We find that some of the earliest as aswell aswell well as some of the profoundest of the I 1 utterances of the human heart have used j the medium of poetry The earliest monuments of the V Vedic dic religion are poems many of them of great power and beauty So to too the most primitive as well gas as as the most profound portion of the re religion religion religion re- re ligion of consists of gathas or hymns hymns' Who vV o does not recognize the Psalms as embodying some of the loftiest ideas of the Hebrew religion and what could be more moie poetical in thought and feeling feeling feeling feel feel- ing if not in form than the majestic utterances utterances utter utter- ances of the Second Isaial Although the original documents of the Christian religion are not written in poetry yet some of the thebe be best t expressions of Christian thought are found in hymns Those hymns which appeal most to the Christian heart are not those which embody private opinions and md sectarian doctrines nes but bu t those which express ess the deepest feelings and loftiest aspirations aspirations aspirations of the soul Consider the great influence influence influence in in- fluence upon national character of such songs as the Watch on the Rhine the Marseillaise etc When the Englishman sings God save the Queen how can he avoid a feeling of loyalty and patriotism and a gathering devotion to the best traditions of monarchy When the stirring stirring stir stir- ring strains of the Marseillaise ring out every Frenchman must feel his blood tingle for lib liberty and resolve anew that tyranny shall never again disturb and oppress oppress oppress op op- press fair France When the German bids his Fatherland rest in quiet because the guard on the Rhine is both vigilant and firm how can he avoid feeling that it is his duty and privilege to make that living wall firm yes invincible against every foe And who that sings My My Country of Thee Sweet Land of Liberty can repress the swelling of his bosom or damp the sacred flame of patriotism patriot patriot- ism How can he raise his voice in praise J I if t of liberty and andin in worship of God without r being made madea a a better and more devoted citizen If however aside from this general ex- ex soul which comes from religious and patriotic hymns we we consider didactic poetry in the narrower sense we are fain to desire that we may not be burdened with mora moral t instruction in the verse form Poetry to be effective must produce the impression of spontaneity The poet may mayobey mayobey mayobey obey the injunction of Horace to use the file but its employment must be so skillful skillful skillful skill skill- ful that we do not see its marks Mere rhyme and mere verse form do not make poetry and while the rhyme and may aid us to remember the thought it will not impress us unless it comes glowing glowing glowing glow glow- ing with feeling and clad in music as in a garment of light If the poet is a great man his poetry will be truly didactic though not formally so Tennyson's In Ill Memoriam is i a anoble anoble anoble noble example of didactic verse in in- inthe the best bes sense It handles some of the profoundest and most perplexing problems which confront confront confront con con- front the human mind but in the reverent spirit of open-eyed open truth and with a masers maser's masters master's masters master's mas mas- mas- mas ter's ers hand Brownings Browning's Soul Abt V Vogler and Rabbi Ben Ezra are truly didactic poems in that they teach great truths of weightiest import They are the stirring soul-stirring utterances of a great soul voicing its profoundest convictions Such poems are ever highly instructive They are didactic in the truest sense since they give us insight into the deep things of God and man Yet I question if any anyone one would class them with i r that sorry array commonly called didactic poems Take another example from a avery avery avery very different sphere Omar Khayyam's s 's c 4 bewitching quatrains though there may maybe be a large infusion of Fitzgerald in the translation n bring us face to face with some of those problems and questionings of 0 the human m mind nd which in all ages have been as deep calling unto deep and which I have moved profoundly the minds of the worlds world's greatest thinkers It is a curious phase of thought which Omar Khayyam represents He seems to be in a state of transition from a jovial to the black blac despair of blank materialism He suggests the darker solution of some of those great problems which confront the thoughtful just as Browning and Tennyson offer a more scientific and at atthe atthe atthe the same time more truly religious tion Thus we might consider various poetical cal works such suc-h as Goethe's Faust Brownings Browning's Ring and the Book or the Book of Job and show how each of these productions different as they are all handle great passions and problems of human life and while all are dramatic and none are didactic in il- the conventional sen sense e all are re rethe the teachers of great lessons For poetry often imparts instruction not in set phrases phrase but by holding before the mind an example of some great experience of the soul soul soul-a a success or a failure a lofty self-sacrifice self or a base self-indulgence self the beneficent results of noble living o or the baneful effects of base deeds Poetry is concrete J Its ts teachings are not in the abstract abstract abstract ab ab- formulae formula of science or metaphysics but in the throbbing life of men and women We vVe at once feel a distinct loss in poetic power when an abstract principle is made to play the part of a person in a drama instead of the pers person n being drawn to the life and then allowed to live and act before us Herein I combined combined combined com com- with his faculty of seizing upon the negative and sombre aspects of life lies one great object of that master of the dissection dissection dissection dis dis- section of the corrupt corrupt Henrik t-Henrik t Henrik Ibsen We may conclude then that the most genuine the most i inspiring the most perennially perennially perennially per per- interesting poetry that to which we turn turn in our best moo moods ls and amI which inspires inspires inspires in in- spires us to the the noblest livi living lg is always profoundly moral His solution of life may not be ours but the true poet is ever evern n near ar of kin km to the s seer er and the prophet Indeed he is one who sees and feels as Plato lato did of old the ancient br brotherhood 1 n nay r the eternal oneness of beauty and goodness and truth He is conscious not alone of th the beauty of holiness but of the holiness of beauty Seeing with the depths of man and of nature and catching glimpses of the infinite profundity of God he summons the deep in m man man m to respond respond respond re re- spond to the deep in nature and in God I and thus thu arouses us to moral responsiveness responsive responsive- ness ness and inspires us to imitation of th the p Divine vine G. 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