A Biography of Sidney Lanier Part 13

Dear Mr. Buck, -- I send you herewith the complete text for the Cantata.

I have tried to make it a genuine Song, at once full of fire and of large and artless simplicity befitting a young but already colossal land.

I have made out a working copy for you, with marginal notes which give an a.n.a.lysis of each movement (or rather MOTIVE, for I take it the whole will be a continuous progression; and I only use the word "movement" as indicating the entire contrast which I have secured between each two adjacent MOTIVES), and which will, I hope, facilitate your labor by presenting an outline of the tones characterizing each change of idea. One movement is placed on each page.

Mr. Thomas was kind enough to express himself very cordially as to the ideas of the piece; and I devoutly trust that they will meet your views. I found that the projection which I had made in my own mind embraced all the substantial features of the Scheme which had occurred to you, and therefore, although greatly differing in details, I have not hesitated to avail myself of your thoughtful warning against being in any way hampered.

It will give me keen pleasure to know from you, as soon as you shall have digested the poem, that you like it.

G.o.d send you a soul full of colossal and simple chords, -- says

Yours sincerely, Sidney Lanier.

In another letter, of February 1, 1876, he wrote: "I will leave the whole matter of the publication of the poem in the hands of Mr. Thomas and yourself; only begging that the inclosed copy be the one which shall go to the printer. The truth is, I shrank from the criticism which I fear my poem will provoke, -- not because I think it unworthy, but because I have purposely made it absolutely free from all melodramatic artifice, and wholly simple and artless; and although I did this in the full consciousness that I would thereby give it such a form as would inevitably cause it to be disappointing on the first reading to most people, yet I had somewhat the same feeling (when your unexpected proposition to print first came) as when a raw salt spray dashes suddenly in your face and makes you duck your head.

As for my own private poems, I do not even see the criticisms on them, and am far above the plane where they could possibly reach me; but this poem is NOT mine, it is to represent the people, and the people have a right that it should please them."

In this letter Lanier antic.i.p.ates the criticism that was sure to come upon the poem when printed without the music.

It was at once received with ridicule in all parts of the country.

The leading critical journal of America exclaimed: "It reads like a communication from the spirit of Nat Lee, rendered through a bedlamite medium, failing in all the ordinary laws of sense and sound, melody and prosody." It urged the commissioners to "save American letters from the humiliation of presenting to the a.s.sembled world such a farrago as this." For several weeks Lanier could not pick up a newspaper without seeing his name held up to ridicule, the Southern papers alone, out of purely sectional pride and with "no understanding of the PRINCIPLES involved," coming to his rescue. The spirit in which he received this criticism may be seen in a letter written to his brother: --

This is the sixth letter I've written since nine o'clock to-night, and it is like saying one's prayers before going to bed, to have a quiet word with you.

Your letter came to-day, and I see that you have been annoyed by the howling of the critics over the Cantata. I was greatly so at first, before I had recovered from my amazement at finding a work of art received in this way, sufficiently to think, but now the whole matter is quite plain to me and gives me no more thought, at all. . . .

The whole agitation has been of infinite value to me. It has taught me, in the first place, to lift my heart absolutely above all EXPECTATION save that which finds its fulfillment in the large consciousness of beautiful devotion to the highest ideals in art. This enables me to work in tranquillity.

In the second place, it has naturally caused me to make a merciless arraignment and trial of my artistic purposes; and an unspeakable content arises out of the revelation that they come from the ordeal confirmed in innocence and clearly defined in their relations with all things. . . .

The commotion about the Cantata has not been unfavorable, on the whole, to my personal interests. It has led many to read closely what they would otherwise have read cursorily, and I believe I have many earnest friends whose liking was of a nature to be confirmed by such opposition. . . .

And now, dear little Boy, may G.o.d convoy you over to the morning across this night, and across all nights, Prays your S. L.

That the poem was misjudged cannot be denied. Lanier's defense published in the New York "Tribune" must be taken as a justification, in part at least, of the principles he had in mind.* It was not written as a poem, -- and Mrs. Lanier has wisely put it as an appendix to her edition of the poems, -- but as the words of a musical composition to be rendered by a large orchestra and chorus. It compares, therefore, with a lyric very much as one of the librettos of a Wagner drama would compare with a genuine drama. It serves merely to give the ideas which were to be interpreted emotionally through the forms of music.

Lanier knew well the requirements of an orchestra. He knew the effect of contrasts and of short, simple words which would suggest the deeper emotions intended by the author. He thought of Beethoven's "large and artless forms" rather than that of formal lyric poetry.

He had heard Von Buelow conduct the Peabody Orchestra in a symphony based on one of Uhland's poems, in which only the simple elemental words were retained, "leaving all else to his hearers' imaginations."

This served as a model for his Cantata.

-- * 'Music and Poetry', p. 80.

That the Cantata was a success is borne out by contemporary evidence.

The very paper which had criticised Lanier most severely said, in giving an account of the opening exercises, "The rendering of Lanier's Cantata was exquisite, and Whitney's ba.s.s solo deserves to the full all the praise that has been heaped upon it." Ex-President Gilman thus writes of the effect produced on the vast audience a.s.sembled in Philadelphia:

"As a Baltimorean who had just formed the acquaintance of Lanier (both of us being strangers at that time in a city we came to love as a most hospitable and responsive home), -- I was much interested in his appointment. It was then true, though Dr. Holmes had not yet said it, that Baltimore had produced three poems, each of them the best of its kind: the 'Star-Spangled Banner' of Key, 'The Raven', of Poe, and 'Maryland, My Maryland', by Randall. Was it to produce a fourth poem as remarkable as these? Lanier's Cantata appeared in one of the daily journals, prematurely. I read it as one reads newspaper articles, with a rapid glance, and could make no sense of it.

I heard the comments of other bewildered critics. I read the piece again and again and again, before the meaning began to dawn on me.

Soon afterwards, Lanier's own explanation, and the dawn became daylight.

The ode was not written 'to be read'. It was to be sung -- and sung, not by a single voice, with a piano accompaniment, but in the open air, by a chorus of many hundred voices, and with the accompaniment of a majestic orchestra, to music especially written for it by a composer of great distinction.

The critical test would be its rendition. From this point of view the Cantata must be judged.

"I remember well the day of trial. The President of the United States, the Emperor of Brazil, the governors of States, the judges of the highest courts, the chief military and naval heroes, were seated on the platform in the face of an immense a.s.sembly.

There was no pictorial effect in the way they were grouped.

They were a ma.s.s of living beings, a crowd of black-coated dignitaries, not arranged in any impressive order. No cathedral of Canterbury, no Sanders Hall, no episcopal or academic gowns. The oratory was likewise ineffective. There were loud voices and vigorous gestures, but none of the eloquence which enchants a mult.i.tude.

The devotional exercises awakened no sentiment of reverence.

At length came the Cantata. From the overture to the closing cadence it held the attention of the vast throng of listeners, and when it was concluded loud applause rang through the air.

A n.o.ble conception had been n.o.bly rendered. Words and music, voices and instruments, produced an impression as remarkable as the rendering of the Hallelujah Chorus in the nave of Westminster Abbey.

Lanier had triumphed. It was an opportunity of a lifetime to test upon a grand scale his theory of verse. He came off victorious."*

-- * 'South Atlantic Quarterly', April, 1905.

The most important thing, however, about the writing of the Cantata was that it gave expression to a strong faith in the nation as felt by one who had been a Confederate soldier. The central note of the poem is the preservation of the Union. In spite of all the physical obstacles that had hindered the early settlers, in spite of the distinct individualities of the various people of the sections, in spite of sectional misunderstandings which had led in the process of time to a b.l.o.o.d.y civil war, the nation had survived. All of these had said, "No, thou shalt not be."

Now praise to G.o.d's oft-granted grace, Now praise to man's undaunted face, Despite the land, despite the sea, I was: I am: and I shall be.

Lanier desired, however, to avoid anything like spread-eagleism, and so after the chorus of jubilation just quoted, there is a note of doubt as to how long the nation will last. The answer, sung by the Boston soloist, Myron D. Whitney, was particularly impressive: --

Long as thine Art shall love true love, Long as thy Science truth shall know, Long as thine Eagle harms no Dove, Long as thy Law by law shall grow, Long as thy G.o.d is G.o.d above, Thy Brother every man below, So long, dear Land of all my love, Thy name shall s.h.i.+ne, thy fame shall glow!

Soon after finis.h.i.+ng the Centennial Cantata, Lanier started upon a much longer centennial poem which, as the "Psalm of the West", was published in "Lippincott's Magazine", June, 1876, and for which he received $300. "By the grace of G.o.d,"

he writes to Bayard Taylor, April 4, 1876, "my centennial Ode is finished.

I now only know how divine has been the agony of the last three weeks, during which I have been rapt away to heights where all my own purposes as to a revisal of artistic forms lay clear before me, and where the sole travail was of choice out of mult.i.tude."

This poem was written with the idea of a symphony in his mind.

One of the last things he planned was to write the music for it.

The poem as a whole is a musical rhapsody rather than a self-contained work of art. Although there are fancies and obscurities, the general theme, the magnificent opening lines, and the Columbus sonnets, with here and there lines of imaginative power, make it noteworthy.

The poem is a pa.s.sionate a.s.sertion of the triumph of freedom in America, -- freedom, the Eve of this tall Adam of lands.

Her shalt thou clasp for a balm to the scars of thy breast, Her shalt thou kiss for a calm to thy wars of unrest, Her shalt extol in the psalm of the soul of the West.

Freedom with all its dangers is the precious heritage of Americans.

"For Weakness, in freedom, grows stronger than Strength with a chain."

With the aid of the G.o.d of the artist the poet reviews the history of the past, beginning with the time when in this continent "Blank was king and Nothing had his will." The coming of the Northmen, the discovery of the land by Columbus, the voyage of the Mayflower, -- s.h.i.+p of Faith's best hope, -- the battle of Lexington, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the opening up of the West, are all chanted in unrestrained poetry. The Civil War is described as a tournament: --

Heartstrong South would have his way, Headstrong North hath said him nay.

They charged, they struck; both fell, both bled; Brain rose again, ungloved; Heart fainting smiled and softly said, 'My love to my Beloved.'

Heart and brain! no more be twain; Throb and think, one flesh again!

Lo! they weep, they turn, they run; Lo! they kiss: Love, thou art one.

The poem closes as it began, with the triumphant vision of the future: --

At heart let no man fear for thee: Thy Past sings ever Freedom's song, Thy Future's voice sounds wondrous free; And Freedom is more large than Crime, And Error is more small than Time.

The significance of the national spirit in these two poems may be seen only when it is looked at from the standpoint of the sectionalism that prevailed in the South and in the North. At the very time when Lanier was writing them, men in Congress were giving exhibitions of partisans.h.i.+p and prejudice that threatened to make of the Centennial a farce. "The fate of the Centennial bill in Congress," he writes to Dudley Buck, "reveals -- in spite of its pa.s.sage -- a good deal of opposition. All this will die out in a couple of months, and THEN every one will be in a temper to receive a poem of reconciliation.

I fancy that to print the poem NOW will be much like making a dinner speech before the wine has been around." Indeed, there were few men in America at this time who really understood the significance of the national spirit.