. The poets' New England. wer, as is shown in these poems,at command, he might have made himself as uniqueand as great a poet as Robert Browning. He was, im-fortunately, too close to the Calvinism he new-won freedom of conscience gave to a sociallife which he might enjoy without fear of damnation,too great a fascination, hence he will be known as apoet of clever dinner-verses, instead of as one whocould think great thoughts, portray life with dramaticpower, and draw, through his scientific knowledge,upon a new source of metaphor and allusion withconsummate power. Lowell, like Long
. The poets' New England. wer, as is shown in these poems,at command, he might have made himself as uniqueand as great a poet as Robert Browning. He was, im-fortunately, too close to the Calvinism he new-won freedom of conscience gave to a sociallife which he might enjoy without fear of damnation,too great a fascination, hence he will be known as apoet of clever dinner-verses, instead of as one whocould think great thoughts, portray life with dramaticpower, and draw, through his scientific knowledge,upon a new source of metaphor and allusion withconsummate power. Lowell, like Longfellow, was farther removed fromCalvinism than Holmes, and, probably for thatreason, does not express any such rooted aversionto the creed of his forefathers as Holmes , on the other hand, does he like churchly man-ifestations of religion. His poem, The Cathedral,may very fittingly be compared with Wind-Cloudsand Star-Drifts, with a view to discovering whatshades of difference there were in the religious atti-. wSo o noo THE POETS NEW ENGLAND 331 tude of the two poets. Avowedly subjective, as mostof Lowells poetry is, he shows himself in this poemto be an intuitionalist. He believed in a faculty whichmakes man directly cognizant of the Divine: This life were brutish did we not sometimes Haveintimations clear of wider scope, . . yearningsof unsullied desire. Fruitless, except we now and thendivined A mystery of Purpose, gleaming through thesecular confusions of the world. He declares that though he still prays at morningand at evening, he does not know which to hold worstenemy,— Him who on speculations windy wasteWould turn me loose, stript of the raiment warmBy Faith contrived against our nakedness,Or him who, cruel-kind, would fain obscure,With painted saints and paraphrase of God,The souls east-window of divine others worship, I but look and long;For, though not recreant to my fathers faith,Its forms to me are weariness, and mostThat drony vacuum
Size: 1245px × 2007px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, books, booksubjectamericanpoetry
