Oetry Inlc £76 £76 Song

HESE essays have been given as addresses b e f o r e many W e s t ern audiences . Not tha t the voice of the speaker e in is stilled. their appeara nc ' n printed form should continue theu helpfulness. I the field of literature and of art one can do little for others but shots the pa thlvay of his wander i ve been re ings. pointing out the beaut es tha t ha s s his limita tions vealed to him. expressing. o far a l o allow. the elect upon himse f f Suchis the purpose of this book. INTRODUC TION . A R ELY in a community w here material things overshadow the intellectual and the a thetic does a man have the love of A rt for its ow n sake so firmly established in his nature as to make him its open and 8 met Dewey essayed. Born m Victor. New York. in l 59. he a stered the turhulent transition days of Kansas at the age of W est mimbued w itheagerness to heco me a factor in the upbuild of t ing the Sta e. His profession. the law . eonfined neither his ' ature. and oi the proper expression of the best ideals of man s ' soul. mto wider fields. A s yeass passed. he grew in mental stature. He felt the i c e mpulse of the advo ate. the inspiration of the nthusiast. He gathered under his home roof those w hose friendship he cher - v r . shed. and there unfolded new ly acquired joys of disco e y A bilene his home tow n ior tvvo decadu soon lea rned to respect and trust his literary taste ; the stamp of his approval w ent far in the estimation placed on any w ork of literature of - t or art . So definite and w ellfounded w ere his ideals. hat he w u deferred to hy his towmmem m d later by the best thinkers of Kansas. He became reoognized as an authority on the things fi at it pleu ed him most to iudge and in a sense this w as a realization of his d r d ea est reams. His pow er as an uplifting factor in many lives came from his strict adherence ' to the w orld sesta blished ethical and a thet ic canons. Essentiall w rou h y he as a critic. He analyzed. he saw th ¢ POE TRY I N SONG. ll the shsms. He w as so attuned to harmony. be it in literature. reli ion usic ct v g . m . art o r archite ure. that iolation of perfect form in any degree aw oke his impatience. Out here on the ’ o le plains. in the constructive period of a State s making. pe p t think do violate form; they hurry to results. or to w hat hey are results. This he w ould not tolerate. and his insistence on for right methods because they w ere right. his demand for art ' — not its own sake. because it satisfied the artist s ideals and — e because it w as popular a w oke in some a timid reluctanc . a never lived lest their theories be sh ttered. But kinder critic : a more helpfulhand w as never reached to him w ho sought the good things of this w orld ; a cleaner example of dignity and respect w as never set . ' A first Mr. Dew ey s literary grace w as a grow th. t the it came from earnest study and thoughtful edort to master the — fixed forms of verse eu outcome of his instinct for harmony. From this study he learned to Oppreciate the w hole realm of c er Shel literature in its purest sense. Su hinterpreters as Lani . th tenderness ley and Keats appealed to him. He drank in eir . o of he reveled in their mysticism. When he w rote r spoke them. it w as w ith a personal sympathy that told of his ow n ' w o b mind s likeness to theirs. With leisure. he uld have een o v w r tten a critic of rank w ith the masters. He w uld ha e i ' literary essays to measure up w ith the w orld s best examples. It w as in this that ce ed for he ex ll ; this his mind w as fitted. ' C om arativel li o p y ttle f Mr. Dew ey s w riting appea red in i t— e e iev s o pr n h b l ed in the p ken w ord. He made a w orthy o T efi rt to establish in Kansas a literary magazine. he A gora . for years he selected the verse printed in a leading new spaper. but only his close friends knew it . He w ro te editorials for v w hich others recei ed undeserved credit. If his judgment of e lit erary w ays had fault. it w as this : he so feared the charg POETRY I N SONG. 12 of commercialisrn that he did not seek more freely the vast his influence far beyond the sphere of the platform. us. Not as a creator of lit erature die . Dew ey come to r He w as an interpreter. His lectures and essays he ein pub lished w ere a sincere attempt to bring to others the same thnll - s re d of new found delight he himself felt . He sought to p a is the love of literary grace w hich inspired his ow n soul. It in this understanding that these essays and addresses should -sto the be read. Thus accepted. they beco me stepping nes to temple in w hichhe w as ever a w orshiper. ove It w as inevitable that. w ithhis taste for music and his l D t stud for literature. Mr. ewey should find pleasure in he y of — t o v H fines literar poetry and in the w ri ing f erse. is t y addresses are on the relation of poetry to life and its trans be lation into better living. His ow n verses. few though they . breathe an artistic spirit that marks the true student of the ’ w orld s great poets. ha dee l felt Masonry had for Mr. Dewey a c rm and a p y i o until ran Mas attraction. He rose in ts h nors he became G d r ter of Masons in Kansas. and his addresses before the c aft w ere messa es of w or a dcliv g great th. M ny of these. being " " ered in the tiled communications of the lodges. cannot be here rep roduced. but they made better men of all w ho hea rd He received from the C ollege of Emporia the degree s of A . B . A M. and He w as president of the Kansas A cademy of Language and Literature. a trustee of Midland o College. and f r some years before his death at Topeka. in June. l9o6. he w as R eporter for the Supreme Court of Kan sas. Many honom a sch as are the portion of him w hom the i — community cons ders a good citizen. w ere his and he filled of State of church of c o f t r . edu ati n. o fra e nity and of society. — he did all his art . His v p de otion to home. t o w ife. dansh ter and sons — w as . in keeping w ithhis manly character. His friends w ere m hips any and strong. A llthese things. w hen added to the dernands of his profes i ma b s on. de up a usy life. That it w as a useful life every a — acquaintance knew . Kans s lost much in his death a per sonality that stood for higher. nobler literary ideals. and the courage to live up to thern. His intellect w as a helpfulmonitor ' irr the w odd of literaturg of musiq and of all A rt s highest C . M. H . T POE RY I N SONG . 14 POETRY IN SONG . USIC and Poetry have become w idely sepa rated one fro o e o m the th r. N w adays the best poetry is not intended to be set to music and the best music is not intended to be set to poetry . in olden times the Egyptian devotee san and danced and erha s la ed g p p p y , d ment before his god. and the three arts of Music. Poetry an Dancing w ere united in the closest bonds. The same w as - D t rue to a certain extent among the Jew s. avid danced and s his ow n o rac ang poetry bef re the A rk. Even the Greeks p io D v ticed this tr of arts together. ancing. how e er. early he — came a distinct and sep arate art . perhaps. because all the c f poets could not do it gra e ully. If there w as any one thing - that an old time Greek could not endure. it w as aw kw ardness. i and w e are considerably like him n that respect . it may be that music beca me divorced from poetry be b cause all poets could not sing. ut history is silent upon that point as w ell as upon the other.

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