. The poets' New England. d say, of a want of unity, which shows itself sub-jectively in various other passages, where the oldstory, which should have been brocaded throughoutwith old-world and old-time imagery, is overlaid withfine new philanthropizing and philosophizing gen-eralities. The critical doctor has the grace to ad-mire the description of the brook, the most ingeniousand exquisitely finished piece of pen fancy-work Ihave seen for a long time, but why did he not equallyobject to Beaver Brook, which was almost as nearLowells home as the hang-bird on the ehn-tree bough?Lowell tells, hi
. The poets' New England. d say, of a want of unity, which shows itself sub-jectively in various other passages, where the oldstory, which should have been brocaded throughoutwith old-world and old-time imagery, is overlaid withfine new philanthropizing and philosophizing gen-eralities. The critical doctor has the grace to ad-mire the description of the brook, the most ingeniousand exquisitely finished piece of pen fancy-work Ihave seen for a long time, but why did he not equallyobject to Beaver Brook, which was almost as nearLowells home as the hang-bird on the ehn-tree bough?Lowell tells, himself, of the scene that inspired hisdescription of the brook, in a letter to his friend, He was walking home in the moonlight ona frosty night, when the stillness of the fields wasbroken only by the tinkle of a little brook which runstoo swiftly for Frost to catch it. Dr. Holmess criticisms are eminently squaretoed no doubt, yet, who would like to have the hang-bird and the dandelion banished from Sir Launfals. Beaveb, Brook THE POETS NEW ENGLAND 269 Vision? What is the use of poetry if it must be ashteral as prose? Is it not a fairyland wherein thepoet-magician surely has a right to wave his wandif he will, and make old-world trees animate withBaltimore orioles, and old-world fields emblazonedwith dandelions? If Holmes occasionally found rattlety-bang linesin Lowell, he quite blotted out the effect of his ob-jections in many another instance, such as the time,at the Atlantic breakfast, when he was in so great astate of excitement because a newspaper misprinted aword in a speech praising Lowell, making him speakof Lowells notable instead of noble poems, thathe immediately wrote to the absent Lowell, saying:The wretches printed noble, notable! The idea ofmy applying that lukewarm word to the grand poemswhich so largely merit the adjective I gave them. Iwas so vexed that if I had not slept off my breakfastI should have had an indigestion. A much more serious onslaught
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