The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States Part 3

VI

WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE

The foremost of the poets of the race at present is William Stanley Braithwaite, of Boston. Mr. Braithwaite is not only the possessor of unusual talent, but for years he has worked most conscientiously at his art and taken the time and the pains to master the fundamentals that others all too often deem unimportant. In 1904 he published a small book of poems ent.i.tled "Lyrics of Life and Love." This was followed four years later by "The House of Falling Leaves." Within recent years he has given less and less time to his own verse, becoming more and more distinguished as a critic in the special field of American poetry. For several years he has been a regular and valued contributor of literary criticism to the _Boston Evening Transcript_; he has had verse or critical essays in the _Forum_, the _Century_, _Scribner's_, the _Atlantic_, etc.; and in 1916 became editor of the new _Poetry Review_ of Cambridge. He has collected and edited (publishing chiefly through Brentano's) "The Book of Elizabethan Verse," "The Book of Georgian Verse," and "The Book of Restoration Verse"; and he has also published the "Anthology of Magazine Verse" for each year since 1913. He is the general editor of "The Contemporary American Poets Series," which is projected by the Poetry Review Company, and which will be issued in twelve little books, each giving a sympathetic study of a poet of the day; he himself is writing the volume on Edwin Arlington Robinson; and before long it is expected that a novel will appear from his pen. Very recently (1917) Mr. Braithwaite has brought together in a volume, "The Poetic Year," the series of articles which he contributed to the _Transcript_ in 1916-17. The aim was in the form of conversations between a small group of friends to discuss the poetry of 1916. Says he: "There were four of us in the little group, and our common love for the art of poetry suggested a weekly meeting in the grove to discuss the books we had all agreed upon reading.... I made up my mind to record these discussions, and the setting as well, with all those other touches of human character and mood which never fail to enliven and give color to the serious business of art and life.... I gave fanciful names to my companions, Greek names which I am persuaded symbolized the spirit of each. There was nothing Psyche touched but made its soul apparent. Her wood-lore was beautiful and thorough; the very spirit of flowers, birds and trees was evoked when she went among them. Our other companion of her s.e.x was Ca.s.sandra, and we gave her this name not because her forebodings were gloomy, but merely for her prophesying disposition, which was always building air-castles. The other member besides myself of our little group was Jason, of the heroic dreams and adventuresome spirit. He was restless in the bonds of a tranquillity that chafed the hidden spirit of his being." From the introduction we get something of the critic's own aims and ideals: "The conversational scheme of the book may, or may not, interest some readers. Poetry is a human thing, and it is time for the world--and especially our part of the world--to regard it as belonging to the people. It sprang from the folk, and pa.s.sed, when culture began to flourish, into the possession of a cla.s.s. Now culture is pa.s.sing from a cla.s.s to the folk, and with it poetry is returning to its original possessors. It is in the spirit of these words that we discuss the poetry of the year." Emphasis is here given to this work because it is the st.u.r.diest achievement of Mr. Braithwaite in the field in which he has recently become most distinguished, and even the brief quotations cited are sufficient to give some idea of his graceful, suggestive prose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE]

In a review of this writer's poetry we have to consider especially the two collections, "Lyrics of Life and Love," and "The House of Falling Leaves," and the poems that have more recently appeared in the _Atlantic_, _Scribner's_, and other magazines. It is to be hoped that before very long he will publish a new edition of his poems. The earlier volumes are out of print, and a new book could contain the best of them, as well as what has appeared more recently. "Lyrics of Life and Love"

embodied the best of the poet's early work. The little book contains eighty pages, and no one of the lyrics takes up more than two pages, twenty in fact being exactly eight lines in length. This appearance of fragility, however, is a little deceptive. While Keats and Sh.e.l.ley are constantly evident as the models in technique, the yearning of more than one lyric reflects the deeper romantic temper. The bravado and the tenderness of the old poets are evident again in the two Christmas pieces, "Holly Berry and Mistletoe," and "Yule-Song: A Memory":

The trees are bare, wild flies the snow, Hearths are glowing, hearts are merry-- High in the air is the Mistletoe, Over the door is the Holly Berry.

Never have care how the winds may blow, Never confess the revel grows weary-- Yule is the time of the Mistletoe, Yule is the time of the Holly Berry.

December comes, snows come, Comes the wintry weather; Faces from away come-- Hearts must be together.

Down the stair-steps of the hours Yule leaps the hills and towers-- Fill the bowl and hang the holly, Let the times be jolly.

"The Watchers" is in the spirit of Kingsley's "The Three Fishers":

Two women on the lone wet strand-- (_The wind's out with a will to roam_) The waves wage war on rocks and sand, (_And a ship is long due home_.)

The sea sprays in the women's eyes-- (_Hearts can writhe like the sea's wild foam_) Lower descend the tempestuous skies, (_For the wind's out with a will to roam_.)

"O daughter, thine eyes be better than mine,"

(_The waves ascend high on yonder dome_) "North or South is there never a sign?"

(_And a ship is long due home_.)

They watched there all the long night through-- (_The wind's out with a will to roam_) Wind and rain and sorrow for two-- (_And heaven on the long reach home_.)

The second volume marked a decided advance in technique. When we remember also the Pre-Raphaelite spirit, with its love of rhythm and imagery, we are not surprised to find here an appreciation "To Dante Gabriel Rossetti." Especially has the poet made progress in the handling of the sonnet, as may be seen in the following:

My thoughts go marching like an armed host Out of the city of silence, guns and cars; Troop after troop across my dreams they post To the invasion of the wind and stars.

O brave array of youth's untamed desire!

With thy bold, dauntless captain Hope to lead His raw recruits to Fate's opposing fire, And up the walls of Circ.u.mstance to bleed.

How fares the expedition in the end?

When this my heart shall have old age for king And to the wars no further troop can send, What final message will the arm'stice bring?

The host gone forth in youth the world to meet, In age returns--in victory or defeat?

Then there is the epilogue with its heart-cry:

Lord of the mystic star-blown gleams Whose sweet compa.s.sion lifts my dreams; Lord of life in the lips of the rose That kiss desire; whence Beauty grows; Lord of the power inviolate That keeps immune thy seas from fate,

Lord, Very G.o.d of these works of thine, Hear me, I beseech thee, most divine!

Within very recent years Mr. Braithwaite has attracted unusual attention among the discerning by a new note of mysticism that has crept into his verse. This was first observed in "Sandy Star," that appeared in the _Atlantic_ (July, 1909):

No more from out the sunset, No more across the foam, No more across the windy hills Will Sandy Star come home.

He went away to search it, With a curse upon his tongue, And in his hands the staff of life Made music as it swung.

I wonder if he found it, And knows the mystery now: Our Sandy Star who went away With the secret on his brow.

The same note is in "The Mystery" (or "The Way," as the poet prefers to call it) that appeared in _Scribner's_ (October, 1915):

He could not tell the way he came Because his chart was lost: Yet all his way was paved with flame From the bourne he crossed.

He did not know the way to go, Because he had no map: He followed where the winds blow,-- And the April sap.

He never knew upon his brow The secret that he bore-- And laughs away the mystery now The dark's at his door.

Mr. Braithwaite has done well. He is to-day the foremost man of the race in pure literature. But above any partial or limited consideration, after years of hard work he now has recognition not only as a poet of standing, but as the chief sponsor for current American poetry. No comment on his work could be better than that of the _Transcript_, November 30, 1915: "He has helped poetry to readers as well as to poets.

One is guilty of no extravagance in saying that the poets we have--and they may take their place with their peers in any country--and the gathering deference we pay them, are created largely out of the stubborn, self-effacing enthusiasm of this one man. In a sense their distinction is his own. In a sense he has himself written their poetry.

Very much by his toil they may write and be read. Not one of them will ever write a finer poem than Braithwaite himself has lived already."

VII

OTHER WRITERS

In addition to those who have been mentioned, there have been scores of writers who would have to be considered if we were dealing with the literature of the Negro in the widest sense of the term. Not too clearly, however, can the limitations of our subject be insisted upon.

We are here concerned with distinctly literary or artistic achievement, and not with work that belongs in the realm of religion, sociology, or politics. Only briefer mention accordingly can be given to these latter fields.

Naturally, from the first there have been works dealing with the place of the Negro in American life. Outstanding after the numerous sociological studies and other contributions to periodical literature of Dr. DuBois are the books of the late Booker T. Washington.

Representative of these are "The Future of the American Negro," "My Larger Education," and "The Man Farthest Down." As early as 1829, however, David Walker, of Boston, published his pa.s.sionate "Appeal," a protest against slavery that awakened Southern legislatures to action; and in the years just before the Civil War, Henry Highland Garnet wrote sermons and addresses on the status of the race in America, while William Wells Brown wrote "Three Years in Europe," and various other works, some of which will receive later mention. After the war, Alexander Crummell became an outstanding figure by reason of his sermons and addresses, many of which were preserved. He was followed by an interesting group of scholarly men, represented especially by William S.

Scarborough, Kelly Miller, and Archibald H. Grimke. Mr. Scarborough is now president of Wilberforce University. He has contributed numerous articles to representative magazines. His work in more technical fields is represented by his "First Lessons in Greek," a treatise on the "Birds" of Aristophanes, and his paper in the _Arena_ (January, 1897) on "Negro Folk-Lore and Dialect." Mr. Miller is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University. He has collected his numerous and cogent papers in two volumes, "Race Adjustment," and "Out of the House of Bondage." The first is the more varied and interesting of the two books, but the latter contains the poetic rhapsody, "I See and Am Satisfied," first published in the _Independent_ (August 7, 1913). Mr.

A. H. Grimke, as well as Mr. Miller, has contributed to the _Atlantic_; and he has written the lives of Garrison and Sumner in the American Reformers Series. "Negro Culture in West Africa," by George W. Ellis, is original and scholarly; "The Aftermath of Slavery," by William A.

Sinclair, is a volume of more than ordinary interest; and "The African Abroad," by William H. Ferris, while confused in construction and form, contains much thoughtful material. Within recent years there have been published a great many works, frequently ill.u.s.trated, on the progress and achievements of the race. Very few of these books are scholarly.

Three collaborations, however, are of decided value. One is a little volume ent.i.tled, "The Negro Problem," consisting of seven papers by representative Negroes, and published in 1903 by James Pott & Co., of New York. Another is "From Servitude to Service," published in 1905 by the American Unitarian a.s.sociation of Boston, and made up of the Old South Lectures on the history and work of Southern inst.i.tutions for the education of the Negro; while the third collaboration is, "The Negro in the South," published in 1907 by George W. Jacobs & Co., of Philadelphia, and made up of four papers, two by Dr. Washington, and two by Dr. DuBois, which were the William Levi Bull Lectures in the Philadelphia Divinity School for the year 1907.

Halfway between works on the Negro Problem and those in history, are those in the field of biography and autobiography. For decades before the Civil War the experiences of fugitive slaves were used as a part of the anti-slavery argument. In 1845 appeared the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Dougla.s.s," this being greatly enlarged and extended in 1881 as "The Life and Times of Frederick Dougla.s.s." In similar vein was the "Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro," by Samuel Ringgold Ward. Then Josiah Henson (the original of Uncle Tom) and Sojourner Truth issued their narratives. Collections of more than ordinary interest were William Wells Brown's "The Black Man" (1863), James M. Trotter's "Music and Some Highly Musical People" (1878), and William J. Simmons's "Men of Mark" (1887). John Mercer Langston's "From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol" is interesting and serviceable; special interest attaches to Matthew Henson's "A Negro Explorer at the North Pole"; while Maud Cuney Hare's "Norris Wright Cuney" was a distinct contribution to the history of Southern politics. The most widely known work in this field, however, is "Up From Slavery," by Booker T. Washington. The unaffected and simple style of this book has made it a model of personal writing, and it is by reason of merit that the work has gained unusual currency.

The study, of course, becomes more special in the field of history.

Interest from the first was shown in church history. This was represented immediately after the war by Bishop Daniel A. Payne's studies in the history of the A. M. E. Church, and twenty-five years later, for the Baptist denomination, by E. M. Brawley's "The Negro Baptist Pulpit." One of the earliest writers of merit was William C.

Nell, who, in 1851, published his pamphlet, "Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812." "The Rising Son," by William Wells Brown, was an account of "the antecedents and advancement of the colored race"; the work gave considerable attention to Africa, Hayti, and the colonies, and was quite scholarly in method. Then, in 1872, full of personal experience, appeared William Still's "The Underground Railroad." The epoch-making work in history, however, was the two-volume "History of the Negro Race in America," by George W. Williams, which was issued in 1883. This work was the exploration of a new field and the result of seven years of study. The historian more than once wrote subjectively, but his work was, on the whole, written with unusually good taste. After thirty years some of his pages have, of course, been superseded; but his work is even yet the great storehouse for students of Negro history. Technical study within recent years is best represented by the Harvard doctorate theses of Dr. DuBois and Dr.

Carter G. Woodson. That of Dr. DuBois has already been mentioned. That of Dr. Woodson was ent.i.tled "The Disruption of Virginia." Dr. Woodson is the editor of the _Journal of Negro History_, a quarterly magazine that began to appear in 1916, and that has already published several articles of the first order of merit. He has also written "The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861," a work in the most scientific spirit of modern historical study, to which a companion volume for the later period is expected. Largely original also in the nature of their contribution have been "The Haitian Revolution," by T. G. Steward, and "The Facts of Reconstruction," by John R. Lynch; and, while less intensive, interesting throughout is J. W. Cromwell's "The Negro in American History."

Many of the younger writers are cultivating the short story. Especially have two or three, as yet unknown to the wider public, done excellent work in connection with syndicates of great newspapers. "The Goodness of St. Rocque, and Other Stories," by Alice Moore Dunbar (now Mrs. Nelson), is representative of the stronger work in this field. Numerous attempts at the composition of novels have also been made. Even before the Civil War was over appeared William Wells Brown's "Clotille: A Tale of the Southern States." It is in this special department, however, that a sense of literary form has frequently been most lacking. The distinctively literary essay has not unnaturally suffered from the general pressure of the Problem. A paper in the _Atlantic Monthly_ (February, 1906), however, "The Joys of Being a Negro," by Edward E.

Wilson, a Chicago lawyer, was of outstanding brilliancy. A. O. Stafford, of Washington, is a special student of the folklore of Africa. He has contributed several scholarly papers to the _Journal of Negro History_, and he has also published through the American Book Company an interesting supplementary reader, "Animal Fables From the Dark Continent." Alain Locke is interested in both philosophical and literary studies, represented by "The American Temperament," a paper contributed to the _North American Review_ (August, 1911), and a paper on Emile Verhaeren in the _Poetry Review_ (January, 1917).

Little has been accomplished in sustained poetic flight. Of shorter lyric verse, however, many booklets have appeared. As this is the field that offers peculiar opportunity for subjective expression, more has been attempted in it than in any other department of artistic endeavor.