A Williams Anthology Part 25

Her first poem, _Mariamne, Queen of the Jews_, has a footnote which contains this interesting, if rather incomprehensible, sentence:

"The reader must take the production with its stamp of originality, which is the plainer synonym of afflatus or inspiration."

Undoubtedly she successfully diagnosed the case.

Two pa.s.sages from this remarkable poem, which is her most ambitious effort, will bear quoting:

"The swooping winds across the spicery snare, The aromatic smells of redolent wood, Camphor, cinnamon, ca.s.sia, are incense there, And the tall aloe soaring into the flood Of pearlaceous moonlight stimulates the air Which scarcely soughs, so heavy with vesper scents; The calamus growing by the pond, did spare A spicey breath, with sweet sebaceous drents Of nard, and Jiled's balsamic tree, balm sweet, Were all which filled this estival retreat."

The other:

"The problem of Existence here when tried, G.o.d remains G.o.d though matter returns to dust; The fool can read this truth; but, if denied, Does spirit return to be from what it came?

Is there reunition of love with G.o.d as at first?

The Brahmin trusts his soul even higher, its flame Refines in th' Nirvana that absorbs its load, Though this divine psychism seems lotus flowed, Seems spirit inane as that on flowers bestowed; Islamism prepictures the voluptuary's abode Of Love unending: It is 'Love, love, love,'

Which souls have cried since eons began to move."

Now it is an infinite relief to turn from this inflated but would-be stately style to the homely diction of the Sweet Singer, as found in the _Sentimental Song Book_. Her book of verse is small and insignificant, and has not the prosperous, self-satisfied appearance of Mrs. L.'s volume, with its gold letters shining from a green cloth background. At the top of its paper cover the price is modestly given: 25 cents. Then is printed: "The Sweet Singer of Michigan Salutes the Public," with a likeness of the author directly beneath. She is depicted as a strong, masculine woman with heavy, black eyebrows, large, black eyes, and a ma.s.s of coa.r.s.e, black hair tumbling over her shoulders in a way that makes one think that she has washed and sunned it, and has forgotten to put it up again. She wears a sort of crown or band at the top of her head. There is nothing in the homely face, with the squat nose and thick lips, that would betray sentimentalism, and yet those honest eyes were probably continually suffused with the tears for which her ultra-sensitive nature was responsible. Below her picture follows this simple introduction, without reference to any "laudable ambition," "acquisition of knowledge," or "cultivation of inherited gifts."

"Dear Friends: This little book is composed of truthful pieces. All those which speak of being killed, died or drowned, are truthful songs; others are 'more truth than poetry.' They are all composed by the author.

"I was born in Plainfield, and lived there until I was ten years of age. Then my parents moved to Algoma, where they have lived until the present day, and I live near them, one mile west of Edgerton.

"JULIA A. MOORE."

Among those pieces "which speak of being killed, died or drowned,"--and it was on these melancholy topics that she was at her best--are four poems which deal with the sad history of the House family. They seemed to have had the most abominable luck. When they couldn't get shot or induce the small-pox to hasten their departure from this world of care, they pa.s.sed away for no reason at all.

Somehow they just could not keep alive. Martin House is the first of whom she speaks. He enlisted with a friend in the federal army at Grand Rapids. The final stanza of "The Two Brave Soldiers" discloses their fate--

"It was down in old Virginia Those n.o.ble soldiers fell, In the battle of Hanover town, As many a one can tell.

They fought through many a battle And obeyed their captain's call, Till, alas, the bullets struck them That caused them to fall."

Hattie House had no reasonable excuse for dying, but she managed to fool her mother:

"Hattie had blue eyes and light flaxen hair, Her little heart was light and gay, And she said to her mother that morning fair, 'Mother, can I go out and play?'

"Her mother tied her little bonnet on, Not thinking it would be the last She would ever see her dear little one In this world, little Hattie House.

"She left the house, this merry little girl, That bright and pleasant day-- She went out to play with two little girls That were about her age.

"She was not gone but a little while When they heard her playmates call-- Her friends hastened there to save the child, But, alas, she was dead and gone.

"Those little girls will not forget The day little Hattie died, For she was with them when she fell in a fit, While playing by their side."

Lois House, however, did not have to resort to any subterfuge. The divine Providence spared her the trouble. She had just married an exemplary young man, who "had courted her a long time in triumph and glee," and

"They loved each other dearly and never deceived, But G.o.d he did part them, one which he laid low, The other He left with his heart full of woe."

The last verse almost has a touch of poetry in it:

"They placed her fair form in the coffin so cold, And placed there Joy's picture as they had been told; They bore her to her grave, all were in sad gloom, And gently laid her down to rest in her tomb."

In "William House and Family" she disposes of them collectively:

"They once did live at Edgerton, They once did live at Muskegon, From there they went to Chicago, Which proved their fatal overthrow."

Pathos evidently appealed to Julia A. Moore in a way that was not to be resisted. She was also very careful about facts. For instance, what could be more explicit than these lines from "The Brave Page Boys"?

"John S. Page was the eldest son-- Edward C. Fish was his brother-in-law; They both enlisted in the Mechanic, And served their time in the war.

Fernand O. Page was the second son; He served in the Third Infantry; He was wounded and lost both his feet On duty at Yorktown siege."

Enos Page was rather unfortunate:

"In the Eighth Michigan Cavalry This boy he did enlist; His life was almost despaired of, On account of his numerous fits, Caused by drinking water poisoned-- The effect cannot outgrow; In Northern Alabama, I hear, Came this dreadful blow."

In "The Grand Rapids Cricket Club," one of the few poems that deal only with minor misfortunes, a certain player, Mr. Follet, tried a good remedy for a novel accident.

"And Mr. Follet is very brave, A lighter player than the rest, He got struck severe at the fair grounds, For which he took a rest."

I could quote from the _Sentimental Song Book_ until I had entirely exhausted the material, and each verse would create a surprise. And yet, in spite of the grammatical distortions, in spite of the sentimentality, there is something pleasing in the absolute unaffectedness of the little book. That Mrs. Moore has been appreciated is borne out by the fact that when she travelled from town to town she used to be met at the station by a bra.s.s band or by a delegation of prominent citizens. Wherever she went she was humored, and her numerous friends vied with each other in showing her attentions. All this she took as a natural recognition of her genius, and happily was never undeceived. However innocent the _Sentimental Song Book_ may be of any literary value, the writer's sincere attempt to express her ideas are as plain as the face which embellishes the cover of the book. She was an ignorant woman, and her utter disregard of grammatical and poetic principles can be easily forgiven. But what can be said in behalf of Mrs. L., a graduate of the Oxford Female College, Ohio, when, in a piece ent.i.tled "Genesis," occurs this pa.s.sage?

"Once, the stars the Lord has scattered Bountifully on the sky, Some soul thought they there were spattered For an ornamental dye; The huge Opalescent Concave Wore the polish of a stone Which the fracturing fires engrave With a thunder-splitting tone; And the things they claimed as sponsors For the young religious thought Were the things that were the monsters Recently from chaos brought.

Then the tree inlaced in corsets Laced some maiden in its arms, 'Twas a lover's trick, to toss its Purgatories at her charms, And the lilies in the shallows, And the echoes 'mong the hills, And the torrents in their wallows, And the wind's great organ mills, And the waters of the fountain, And the mists upon the river Had the G.o.ds who made a mountain Of our cosmographic sliver."

Evidently they did not give as thorough a course in the p.r.o.nunciation of French at the Oxford Female College as they do here at Williams. At least this deplorable fact is indicated by the first stanza of "La Fille du Regiment":

"Proudly marches on the nation Which its patriots will defend, But remains a loyal station With its daughters to commend, Cheerfully to send the heroes Who are called to field and tent, Cheers for those who hold the vetoes, Vive la Fille du Regiment."

Shall we attribute it to a coincidence that Mrs. L.'s best poem strikes a very familiar chord? It is called the "River of Tears":

"The world is swept by a sorrowful flood, The flood of a river of tears, Poured from the exhaustless human heart For thousands and thousands of years.

It is sweeping thousands and thousands of lives On its currents, swift and strong, O the river of tears for thousands of years Has swept like a flood along."

Perhaps its poetic merit may be explained by the first few lines of Bryant's "Flood of Years":

"A mighty hand from an exhaustless urn Pours forth the never ending flood of years Among the nations. How the rushing waves Bear all before them!"

--and so on. There is no need of continuing.

But why disturb the bones of poor Mrs. L., who is but one of the many thousands of contributors to mortal verse? May they rest in peace. She had her dream, and never woke out of it. Undoubtedly she was all the happier as it was. And now let the Sweet Singer raise her harmonious voice once more, and close this paper with the last stanza of her poem, "The Author's Early Life," which I think is the most beautifully extraordinary--since I cannot say extraordinarily beautiful--of the entire collection.

"My childhood days have pa.s.sed and gone, And it fills my heart with pain To think that they will nevermore Return to me again.

And now kind friends, what I have wrote, I hope you will pa.s.s o'er, And not criticise as some have done, Hitherto herebefore."

_Literary Monthly_, 1910.