USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Five > Part 6
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Thomas Buchanan Read used to say he had four principal homes, Philadelphia, Boston, Florence and Cincinnati. He had many friends in Ohio, to whom he acknowledged his indebtedness for patronage in art and letters. During his sojourn in the Queen City, he was constantly busy at the easel or the desk, and in that city he painted some of his finest pictures and composed some of his best poems. The house in which he lived, on Seventh Street, and in which he wrote the poem "Sheridan's Ride," is marked with a bronze tablet, commemorating that fact.
Gen. W. H. Lytle, though not a "one poem poet," gained his secure place in literature through the merit of his masterpiece, the lyric "Antony and Cleopatra," a stroke of genuis and true inspiration, a passionate glorification of love and war, of the "Great Triumvir" and the "Star-eyed Egyptian"-and the author rose to renown. Like Kinney's "Rain on the Roof," and O'Hara's "The Bivouac of the Dead," the "Antony and Cleopatra" appears to be "booked for immortality." In the small volume of Lytle's Poems collected by the writer of this sketch and published in 1894, readers will find a number of pieces well
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worthy to be preserved with the "Antony and Cleo- patra." Specially excellent are the lyrics: "Popo- catepetl," "Macdonald's Drummer," "Jaqueline," "The Volunteers," "Farewell" and "Sweet May Moon."
More than forty years have elapsed since Alice Cary died; more than seventy since she gathered her first laurels as a poet. At the very beginning of her literary career she was received with applause, and from year to year her reputation steadily advanced. It is to be doubted if any other American woman has ever, through the accomplishment of verse, attained so much celebrity as did this country girl of Clover- nook. Even to-day, she has numerous readers and admirers, not only in Ohio, but in all parts of the United States. She was one of the poets "sown by nature;" she was sensitive to all beauty and truth; she had broad sympathies; she had the "vision and the faculty divine." Readers loved her personality and felt instinctively that she understood their feelings, and that she wrote of what she really knew, from direct observation and experience.
Phoebe Cary (1824-71) was also a genuine poet. "Her reputation," as a recent critic justly remarks, "has been somewhat obscured by the greater lustre of her sister's fame. Though the amount of her work is relatively small, Phoebe was possessed of natural gifts scarcely inferior to those of Alice, nor was her artistic instinct less refined than that of her sister." The two women exerted and still exert a sweet, pure and stimulating influence, especially upon the young in the public schools and upon senti-
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mental readers who care more for melodious common sense than for the subtleties and refinement of poetic art, however masterfully employed.
William Penn Brannan (1825-66), of Cincinnati, poet and artist, a man of unusual talent, wit, and refinement, published a volume of meritorious verse entitled "Vagaries of Vandyke Brown." His auto- biographic poem, "Saint Mary's Hospital," contains passages of lofty meditation and genuine lyric charm.
Helen Louisa Bostwick Bird (1826-1907), a writer of marked power and originality, whose literary work was nearly all done in Ohio, deserves to occupy a place of distinction among the women poets of America. The rare qualities of her poetic genius are fully rec- ognized by the editor of "Poets of Ohio," who devotes ten pages to a sketch of her life and selections from her verse. Some of the most felicitous of Mrs. Bird's exceptionally delicate and beautiful lyrics are found in a volume entitled "Four O'Clocks," published in 1888.
Florus Beardsley Plimpton (1830-86), journalist and poet, was born at Elmyra, Portage County, Ohio. For more than a quarter of a century he was a citizen of Cincinnati, engaged in newspaper editorship in association with Murat Halstead. The form and quality of his carefully finished work are such as to insure him a long lease of more than local fame. Appre- ciated and applauded while living, by Holmes, Whittier, Howells, and others prominent in letters, his memory is cherished with admiration and praise by many readers who are familiar with his verse. One of the pieces which made his name popular is the vigorous
WILLIAM HAINES LYTLE
Born in Cincinnati, November 2, 1826; graduated from Cincinnati College, began the practice of law, and was Captain of a company in the Mexican War; afterward resumed his profession and became active in politics; served with distinction in the Civil War, being promoted to Brigadier General of volunteers; killed while leading a charge at Chickamauga, September 20, 1863; author of the magnificent poem, "Antony and Cleopatra."
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS HITYI ZANIAH MAILJIW
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a inclitorious verse Vagarie: of Vandyke Brown." His auto- biographie pocin, "Saint Mary's Hospital," contains passages of lofty meditation and genuine lyric charm.
Helen Louise Bostwick Bird (1826-1907), a writer of marked power and originality, whose literary work was nearly all done in Ohio, deserves to occupy a place of Murlocnou among the women poets of America. The run qualities of her poetic genius are fully rec- dymiumde Goroditor of "Poets of Ohio," who devotes w a sketch of her life and selections from Sume of the most felicitour of Mr. Bird's delicate and beautiful lyrica are found watitled "Four O'Clocks," published in
dsley Plimpton (1830-86), journalist born at Elmyra, Portage County, Ohio. Ln & quarter of a century he was a citizen fmh, engaged in newspaper editorship in with Murat Halstead. The form and Diw carefully finished work are such as to wwwwellas long lease of more than local fune. Appre- oMod applauded while living, by Holmes, Whittier, Uovaby, and others prominent in letters, his memory Underiled with admiration and praise by many rriden who am familiar with his verse. One of the pinus calo sale his name popular is the vigorous
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ballad, "Lewis Wetzel." Others of Plimpton's poems which, on account of their substantial contents and their charm of diction, have become favorites, are those entitled, "The Reformer," "The Poor Man's Thanksgiving," "In Remembrance," and especially "Summer Days," the last beginning with the stanza: "In summer when the days were long, We walked together in the wood;
Our heart was light, our step was strong; Sweet flutterings were in our blood;
In summer when the days were long."
Coates Kinney (1826-1904), journalist, statesman, orator, was, above all, a poet of that noble order the dignity and grandeur of whose mission is eulogized in the lofty quatrain :
"His work it is that lifts the human life:
While others lead by law's and battle's might He rises into calm above the strife
And sets new guiding-stars along the night."
Nature endowed his large brain richly with the power of thought and the faculty of song. Though he de- voted many years of his life to practical affairs-as lawyer, editor, military officer, state senator-he never neglected the higher "business of his dreams." In his youth he gave to the world the spontaneous music of "Rain on the Roof," a poem which has main- tained its popularity for more than sixty years, and which, in its revised form, will no doubt continue a favorite with all who have the gift of nice appreciation. Representative of his later work, and of special interest to the student of Ohio literature, is the "Ohio Cen- tennial Ode" (1888), a forceful production giving eloquent expression to what is best and noblest in Ohio history, tradition, and ideals, and worthy to
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be classed with Lowell's "Commemoration Ode." Of the author's poetry in general, Julian Hawthorne wrote: "It expands the brain and touches the heart. * What he has done will last"; while William Dean Howells, recognizing in Coates Kinney "a truly great poet, subtle and profound," accords him a place among "the few who think in the electrical flushes known only to the passions of most men," a poet whose verse "brings to the reader the thrill imparted by mastery in an art which has of late seemed declining into clever artistry." It is impossible, in a brief sketch, to give an adequate idea of the scope and quality of Kinney's genius. The strength of his imagination, his profound insight into the heart of man and of nature, his vigorous intellectual grasp and subtle analytic acumen, his daring fancy, and his facile command of rhythm and rhyme, are revealed in the two volumes, "Lyrics of the Ideal and Real," 1887, and "Mists of Fire, a Trilogy; and Some Eclogs, " 1899, which contain a great variety of poems dealing with themes philosophical, religious, patriotic, social, and purely aesthetic. When at his best Kinney wrote with a vividness, originality and beauty which give a surprise and delight such as none but poets of first rate genius can awaken. Concerning the author's masterpiece, an elaborate production in three parts entitled, respectively, "Kapnisma, "Pessim and Op- tim," and "A Keen Swift Spirit," the editor of "Poets of Ohio" writes: " 'Mists of Fire' has for its theme the immortal soul of man, its origin, vicissitudes, exaltations, despairs, and conjectured destiny. In this great work, the ripe fruition of the poet's genius,
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the whole gamut and diapason of intellectual life is sounded. Thought surcharges every sentence. The thought is usually calm, logical, guided by scientific safeguards; but now and again imagination kindles the philosophic facts, and the glowing pile mounts to the sky, a daring chariot of fire. The prevailing mood of the poem is solemn, devout, religious, rising at times to the high seriousness of oracular utterance. Unique in design and in poetic method, 'Mists of Fire' is, in fact, the autobiography of a poetic nature, the thought and feeling of a profound and speculative soul, who, like Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Browning, seeks to embody in adventurous song a new gospel of freedom and of faith, which shall reconcile the postulates of science with the intuitions of religion."
John James Piatt (1835 -), has long occupied a secure and deservedly conspicuous position as one of Ohio's indefatigable promoters of belles lettres. He is one of those "planters of celestial plants," who have never lost faith in high ideals nor in the divinity of the Muses. He has devoted much of his energy to elevating the literary profession in the Ohio Valley, both by his discriminating work as an editorial writer and by his many publications in choice prose and genuine poetry. The country owes him a debt of gratitude for editing that notably elegant and compendious volume, "The Union of American Poetry and Art," and for issuing the more recent sumptuous volumes of "The Hesperian Tree," a Western Annual containing some of the best literature of the period. Mr. Piatt's reputation as a poet is established; he needs no new encomium. Proud and
1
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jealous of the region in which he was born and educated, he has chosen to write much on local themes, "The Pioneer's Chimney," "The Lost Farm," "The Mower in Ohio," and he has given subtle and delicate poetic expression to thoughts and emotions evoked by the idyllic, the home-bred and the pensive. Since 1893 he has resided at North Bend, Ohio, devoting his time to literature. In 1860, he published, in collab- oration with W. D. Howells, a first book, "Poems of Two Friends." Other of his poetical writings are: "The Nests at Washington," "Poems in Sun- shine and Fire-light," "Western Windows," "Land- marks," "Poems of House and Home," "Lyrics of the Ohio Valley," and "The Ghost's Entry and Other Poems." His prose style is shown at its best in a volume of delightfully artistic essays, entitled, "Penciled Fly Leaves."
Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt (1836 -), wife of John James Piatt, is a woman of original and exceptional genius-a poet whose name shines in American liter- ature.
"Like some great jewel full of fire."
She is unrivalled in her province of song by any living author, whether native to this continent or of foreign birth. Whatever she writes has meaning, and the significance is often deep-sometimes strange and elusive-never commonplace. "Mrs. Piatt's poems are introspective and personal to the last degree," remarks a recent biographer. "They depict the essen- tial life of woman, in its various phases, voicing her ambitions, longings, joys, disappointments, doubts, an- guish, prayer. The tone of the verse is often sorrow-
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ful, sometimes deeply tragic." "In the rush of these hopeless tears," writes Mr. Howells, "this heart- broken scorn of comfort, this unreconcilable patience of grief, is the drama of the race's affliction; in the utter desolation of one woman's sorrow, the universal anguish of mortality is expressed. It is not pessi- mism; it does not assume to be any sort of philosophy or system. It is simply the bitter truth, to a phrase, of human experience through which all men must pass, and the reader need not be told that such poems were lived before they were written." Mrs. Piatt is inimitable in her own vivid, bold and suggestive invention and manner, and her masterful art has been admired by many who appreciate the technical diffi- culties of the poetic craft. She is the author of: "A Woman's Poems," "A Voyage to the Fortunate Isles," "That New World," "Poems in Company with Children," "Dramatic Persons and Moods," "An Irish Garland," "Selected Poems," "In Primrose Time," "Child's World Ballads," "The Witch in the Glass," "An Irish Wild Flower," "An Enchanted Castle." Her "Complete Poems," in two volumes, appeared in 1894, from the press of Longmans, Green & Co., New York and London.
William Dean Howells, to whose prose work reference is made on a previous page, won his first laurels as a poet while a young man engaged in literary duties on the staff of the "Ohio State Journal" at Colum- bus. Of his conspicuous achievement as "an artist of rare skill and surprising invention" in the domain of verse, a recent critic writes as follows: "To few American authors whose reputation rests mainly upon
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the excellence of their work in prose, has it been given to contribute so much that is of enduring merit to the poetical literature of the Nation. His early poems are distinguished for melodious cadence and exquisite touches of descriptive beauty, while his more recent achievement in verse, fairly represented in the volume, "Stops of Various Quills, " shows the ripe thought and imagination of a philosophic poet who, in the spirit of noble altruism, has sympathetically studied human nature and human society, and who has pondered deeply the ultimate problems of life."
Katherine Margaret Brownlee Sherwood (1841 -), of Toledo, organizer of the National Woman's Relief Corps, G. A. R., and president of the Ohio Newspaper Women's Association, the woman whose patriotic pen gave to the State and to the Republic those inspiring books, "Camp Fire and Memorial Day Poems" and "Dream of the Ages, a Poem of Columbia," holds a warm place in the hearts of many admiring readers. Her poem entitled "The Logan Elm," written for the "Ohio State Journal," in 1872, is of marked value, literary and historical.
Alice Williams Brotherton, of Cincinnati, accom- plished scholar, former president of the Cincinnati Woman's Press Club, and lecturer on the Shakes- pearean drama and on other literary topics, a poet of distinction well known on account of her contributions to the "Century," "Scribner's," the "Atlantic Monthly," "St. Nicholas," and other periodicals, is the author of three published volumes: "Beyond the Veil," "The Sailing of King Olaf, and Other Poems," and "What the Wind Told the Tree-Tops."
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Edith Matilda Thomas (1854 -), a brilliant ex- ponent of the culture of the Western Reserve modified by the influence of New England training, was born in Medina County and educated in a normal school at Geneva, Ohio, in which village her literary ten- dencies were encouraged and largely developed. In her early womanhood she came under the influence of Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson, who, recognizing her exceptional talent, "introduced her to the editors of the"Atlantic Monthly" and the"Century," and thus to a larger circle of readers than she had yet addressed." In 1888 Miss Thomas removed to New York City, where she still resides, and where, as did Alice Cary, she devotes herself to authorship, being an accomplished writer in prose and in verse. Her publications in verse comprise: "A New Year's Masque, and Other Poems," "Lyrics and Sonnets, " "The Inverted Torch," "Fair Shadow Land," "In Sunshine Land," "In the Young World," "A Winter Swallow, with Other Verse," "The Dancers," "Cassia, and Other Verse," "The Children of Christmas," and "The Guest at the Gate." A keen and logical intellect, a daring imagi- nation and versatile fancy, a passionate love of nature, an Emersonian fondness for the occult, a fine taste for classicism and for the suggestive beauty of myth, are among the elements of her poetical and artistic equipment. That she is a genuine poet, "called and chosen,"-one who has "slept on the Mountain of Song" and brought home pure Parnassian dews,- her inspired lyrics attest. Edmund Clarence Stedman, in his "American Anthology," declares that "her place is secure among the truest living poets of our English
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tongue"; and the editor of "Poets of Ohio," in his estimate of the author's genius, asserts with confidence that "in her peculiar domain of lyric art Miss Thomas is unrivaled"; and that "for originality and breadth of conception, depth of feeling, classic dignity and finish, haunting melody, and ease of execution, her poems have rarely been equalled by any writer of her sex on either side of the Atlantic."
Henry Holcomb Bennett (1863 -), of Chillicothe, book-illustrator and landscape-painter, a versatile writer and a contributor to periodicals, won general appreciation and applause bestowed in recognition of the force, beauty, and pathos of his thrilling patri- otic lyric, "The Flag Goes By."
John Bennett (the brother of H. H. Bennett), whose prose writings are mentioned on a preceding page, also knows "himself to sing" and "turn his merry note," as the lyrics in "Master Skylark" and such lilting melodies as "The Robin that Sings at My Window" attest.
William Norman Guthrie (1868 -), born in Dundee, Scotland, educated in the University of the South, was for several years a resident of Cincinnati, in which city many of his writings were published. He is a minister in the Protestant Episcopal Church, a pro- fessorial lecturer in general literature, a brilliant writer of prose and verse, and was editor of the "Foren- sic Quarterly" (1909-10) and of "The Drama" (19II). Dr. Guthrie is a poet of vivid imagination and daring flight, who sings a modern Orphic strain with passionate fervor and genuine inspiration. His published books in verse bear the following interesting
DANIEL DECATUR EMMETT
Born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, October 29, 1815; organized the first colored ministrel troupe in the forties, and became one of the best known men of the country in minstrelsy; author of "Dixie," "Old Dan Tucker," and other popular melodies; died in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, June 28, 1904.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
war of "Poets of Ohio," in his
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.AOQI ,8s SMUL ,oidO nomeV JM ni boib esibolton, her equalled by any writer of of the Atlantic." Bennett (1863 -- ), of Chillicothe, mol-illustrator And landscape-painter, a versatile Write and a contributor to periodicals, won general appreciation and applause bestowed in recognition of the force, beauty, and pathos of his thrilling patri- die lydc, "The Flag Gors By."
John Bermeti (the brother of H. H. Bennett), whose por sning soir mentioned on a pre- ding page, "alm If co sing" and "turn bis merry WTik in "Master Skylark" and such "The Robin that toga at My
Guthrie (1868 -1, born in Dundee, not in the University of the South, friars a resident of Cincinnati, in which his writings were patinbed. He is a Protestant Episcopal Church, a pro- Amohut Weniger in general literature, a brilliant write nil prose and weise, and was editor of the " Foren- ie Cuartoly" (1900-16) and of "The Drama" (29)r). Dr. Guthrie is a poet of vivid imagination and during flight, who sings a modern Orphic strain with passionate fervor and genuine inspiration. His published books in verse bear the following interesting
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titles: "To Kindle the Yule Log," "Songs of Ameri- can Destiny," "The Old Hemlock," "The Christ of the Ages in Words of Holy Writ," "The Dewdrops and Other Pieces Written for Music," "Orpheus To-day, St. Francis of the Trees, and Other Verse," "On the Heights" (translated from Henrik Ibsen), and "Niag- ara, and Other Poems."
Alice Archer Sewall James (1870 -), of Urbana, Ohio, poet and painter, author of "An Ode to Girl- hood" and "The Ballad of the Prince, " and of various poems and illustrations published in leading magazines, is recognized alike by the general reader and the exacting critic for the excellence of her verse. We endorse the words of an appreciative reviewer who writes: "Mrs. James has produced many exquisite lyrics, which are invariably characterized by originality, vigor, and freshness of conception, purity and elevation of sentiment, delicacy of fancy, and grace of expression, as well as by rhythmic and melodious charm."
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), of Dayton, perhaps the most remarkably endowed literary genius that the African race has produced, holds an honorable place among the lyric poets of our nation. His extraor- dinary gifts were immediately discerned by ap- preciative readers and reviewers, including Mr. William Dean Howells, who was prompt to proclaim the advent of the new singer, "the first instance of an American negro who has evinced innate distinction in literature." "So far as I could remember," writes Mr. Howells in his introduction to one of the poet's early volumes of verse, "Lyrics of the Lowly," "Paul Dunbar was the only man of pure African blood and of American
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civilization to feel the negro life æsthetically and express it lyrically. It seemed to me that this had come to its most modern consciousness in him, and that his brilliant and unique achievement was to have studied the American negro objectively, and to have represented him as he found him to be, with humor, with sympathy, and yet with what the reader must instinctively feel to be entire truthfulness." The following is a list of Dunbar's principal books of verse: "Oak and Ivy," "Majors and Minors," "Lyrics of Lowly Life," "Lyrics of the Hearthside," "Poems of Cabin and Field," "Candle-Lightin' Time," "Lyrics of Love and Laughter," "Heart of Happy Hollow," "Li'l' Gal," "Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow," and "Howdy, Honey, Howdy."
Frederick Ridgely Torrence (1875 -), of Xenia, is a writer whose achievement in lyric and dramatic poetry, and whose growing reputation, give assur- ance of an ascending light of pure ray "unbor- rowed of the sun." Mr. Torrence received his academic training at Miami University and at Princeton. He was librarian of the Astor Library, and later of the Lenox Library; was assistant editor of "The Critic" and of the "Cosmospolitan"; and he is a member of the American Institute of Arts and Letters. The following is a list of his published volumes: "The House of a Hundred Lights," "El Dorado, a Tragedy," "Abelard and Heloise, a Poetic Drama," "Rituals for the Events of Life," and "Three Plays for Women."
THE JUDICIARY OF OHIO
BY DAVID K. WATSON and MOSES M. GRANGER
Several notable contributions on this subject have appeared in recent years in connection with the Ohio Centennial celebrations. Two of these are of such distinctive and permanent historical interest that it is eminently fitting to preserve them in the present pages.
The first is by the Hon. David K. Watson (b. 1849), a graduate of Dickinson College and the Boston University. He has had a distinguished official career in his profession, having served as Assistant United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; member of the 54th Congress; Attorney- General for the State of Ohio from 1887 to 1891; and for several years a member of the commission appointed by Congress to codify the civil and penal laws of the United States. He is the author of "The History of American Coinage" and "A History of the Constitution of the United States," the latter a most scholarly work in two volumes.
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