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, colonnade by which we testify to the incompleteness Dec. 19, of this our earthly life, and express the pity of it. Germany, 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. CHAPTER XII. THE OUTLOOK. N writing upon the leaders of American song, I Retrospec prehensive 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,—to comprehend 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. tive. this chap ter. For this final chapter, — relating to various persons Design of and questions of the time, and necessarily less cohesive 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 hopefully surmise, for example, that a dull spell will not last beyond all reason and experience. The past teaches us what signs indicate the change, — where blue sky will first appear, - and that, if the wind "backs," or proves fickle, a brightening will be temporary and delusive. In the mood of a cautious weather-sage, then, let us examine the late reports from the signal-stations that together show the probCp. "Vic- abilities. In reviewing the poetry of England, the general drift was indicated more plainly by the choir at large than by the solos of a few striking and independent voices. torian Po ets": p. 234. Recent forebodings. I. WHEN Some of our elder poets, their careers felicitously rounded, were taken from us, there soon arose a cry of foreboding. Who, it was asked, are to occupy the places of Bryant, Longfellow, Emerson? What younger men can equal the work executed by those pioneers when the latter were of corresponding age? A period of decline has been predicted. It may be noted, as we seek to determine whether the prediction is well based, that a similar cry is heard from across the sea. The work of Tennyson and the Brownings, in their prime, is contrasted with that of their juniors, and critics are not boastful as to the promise of another saengerfest. I venture to recall that ten years ago I saw the beginning of a poetic dusk, and expressed a belief in its temporary continuance. It is now generally perceived and lamented; nevertheless it seems to me that it is near an end, and that we may begin to look for a new day. If this is to differ from the last, if we who enjoyed the old fashion shall find it hard to accustom ourselves to the new, - the young will speedily interpret it for us. DISTRACTING INFLUENCES. Their estimate of relative values will have its own gauge. 437 and close of our first term. ୮ The rise of Poetry in America, its first noteworthy Duration and somewhat original endeavor, was clearly marked, and in the main coincident with that of the Victorian poetic School abroad. Before long, our poetry took its place with standard literature; its authors won the interest, even the affection, of an attentive public. The close of the term involved may not have been so clear to us. Literary periods shift with mingled sounds, like those of bands following one another at intervals in a procession. But, as in the case of the parallel term abroad, it was defined sufficiently for us now to look back and recognize it. The influences to which was due a diversion of interest, and which brought poetic lation of aims and methods into doubt, may be briefly recapit- influences. ulated. They include all that we have seen prevail- Cp. "Vicing throughout Christendom and resulting from its ets":" accelerated evolution of knowledge and energy: the 7-9. radical change in the course of imagination, enforced Recapitu distracting torian Po by the advance of science, the disturbance of tradition and convictions, the leap from romance to realism. We must allow, too, for the diversion of See pp. 17, genius to material conquests, adventure, the creation of fortunes; and for the growth of journalism, and of prose fiction answering to the demands of the time. All the resulting influences are fully as dynamic here as in the Old World, and some of them far more so. But other factors, peculiar to this country, must not be overlooked. The civil war was a general absorb- The War. ent at the crisis when a second group of poets began to form. Their generation pledged itself to the most heroic struggle of the century. The conflict not only checked the rise of a new school, but was followed by a time of languor in which the songs of Apollo |