'PRINCE DEUKALION. 431 it possible for one to assert that a writer may be judged somewhat by his ideals, and that, so far as this mode of judgment is concerned, its author held a significant place in the group of American poets. It was the precursor the overture, we may say to the work that was his swan-song, the larger drama which he His swanlived to complete, and of which a fair broad copy reached him but a day before the lyre dropped from his hand forever. "Of his last work," wrote his bereaved wife, sein Schwanen Gesang, as I call it, 66 as I would call it in my mind involuntarily, long before I knew he was deadly ill, he only saw one copy, and that of the English edition." song. Deuka lion: a Drama," 1878. A strange interest belongs to the drama of Prince "Prince Deukalion. The poet deferred his serious work upon the life of Goethe, that he might be sure of complet- Lyrical ing this one poem which he strove to make his best. Attention may be directed to the artistic skill with which it is composed, to the sounding qualities of the main body of its verse, and to the varying interludes marked by the author's lyrical felicities in their maturest range. Even here his expression retains a mannerism which grew out of the limited vocabulary prevailing when he learned his art in youth. Certain words and effects are of too frequent recurrence; but, allowing for all this, "Prince Deukalion" will bear Rhyth examination for its excess of rhythmical beauty. beauty America has produced few poems so admirable for richness and variety of measures. mical teristic theme. The subject is one that lay near Taylor's heart, A characand to him was the most elevating of poetic themes -to wit, the progress of mankind, from the ignominy and suffering belonging to the youth of the world, to the golden age of the future. The thought and treatment of the drama are entirely characteristic of the Agathon's avowal. author. The early portion is unquestionably fine. Passages in the middle and latter sections show a falling off, due, it may be, to the languor of illness and to the pressure of the instinct which made the poet hasten to the completion of his task, but at the close he again rose to a noble height. It is easy to select an example of the vigorous handling of the structural verse. His Poet declares : — "I am a voice, and cannot more be still Than some high tree that takes the whirlwind's stress Be thou a wooing breeze, my song is fair; Be thou a storm, it pierces far and shrill, And poured round Life as round its isles the sea!" In the fourth act, the words of Agathon are an expression of the sentiment and hopeful philosophy which animated Taylor's whole career: — "But I accept-even all this conscious life But at last, and even here, it seemed as if — to change the line of John Webster — the years of this loyal and eager poet had felicities too many. His rest was not to be that upon which he counted. Had he drawn his own horoscope it could not have appeared more perfect. He went again to the land of his earliest pilgrimage, encouraged with honors and affection, and with the best opportunities for the production of a work to which his own choice and the desire of the entire republic of letters strongly im THOUGHTS ON HIS CAREER. 433 pelled him. Hereafter, he was to have calm and leisure. But within the year his soul was required of him, Died in and one more broken shaft was added to the endless Berlin, Germany, colonnade by which we testify to the incompleteness Dec. 19, of this our earthly life, and express the pity of it. 1878. sidera tions. Shortly after Taylor's death, a fellow-writer, who Final conknew him well, spoke to me of his literary career. "A man so aspiring and sagacious," this critic said, "could be satisfied with nothing less than the highest achievement, the soundest professional judgment in his favor." Recognizing the point thus made, I would not accept it as a test of his genius. It seemed to me that it was his fortune, however wide his popular reputation, to be underestimated by his professional compeers. His gift was genuine and inherent, but it became too much diffused; he strove to survey too large a precinct, and it was surprising how far, in more than one direction, he made his lines extend. With all his facility and purpose, he found himself in a too arduous struggle between the duty of the hour and the still higher work fashioned after "the pattern which was shewed him in the Mount." self to carry out an almost impossible plan of life. His manliness in this and other respects we all concede. During his experience of a time and region which made Poe a weakling, almost an Ishmaelite, He set him with what pluck and heartiness Taylor faced the situation, until it seemed as if the very god of strength took pleasure in befriending him! After all, he had some right to count upon length of years, and to shape his plan accordingly. He grew in taste and judgment as he grew older, and even his devotion of so much time to hack-work was not without its requitals. He led a singularly happy life throughout, and the cloud foretokening its close was but of brief duration. He was fond of festivals, of joy; he had honor, love, and loyal "troops of friends." More was given to him than was taken away, and his memory is something to dwell upon with pleasure, not with pain. The volumes of his song are left to us, the bequest of that which he thought the choicest product of his years. No one who would acquaint himself with American poetry can overlook Bayard Taylor's share of it. Those who would understand its growth, or predict its future, must bear in mind the generation for which he wrote and the story of his efforts and environment. IN CHAPTER XII. THE OUTLOOK. to com tive. N writing upon the leaders of American song, IRetrospechave sought to make our various studies as comprehensive as possible within due bounds. That they might be both critical and sympathetic, and afford new illustrations of the poetic principle and the temperament of poets, it has been my effort to approach the subject of each from his own ground, prehend his motive and judge him at his best; at the same time, to see where he has failed of that standard and of the true spirit of ideal expression. Such an effort requires to be taken as a whole. Isolated phrases, and even sections, may be misconstrued as unfair stricture or, on the other hand, as if biased by personal considerations. Yet, in the course of each study, I have tried to draw a just portrait, and so to analyze the work of its original as to obtain at least an approximately correct resultant. For this final chapter, -relating to various persons Design of and questions of the time, and necessarily less cohe- this chap sive and animate than those which it supplements, I would ask that its parts be weighed together, if at all. It has a distinct purpose, -to glance at the existing condition of our poetry, and to speculate concerning the near future. Not to prophesy · scarcely can forecast next month's weather from the numberless shifting currents of to-day. Yet one may we ter. |