LXXXVIII BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



philosophy it is animism. This animism or anthropomorphism 

 is ])('rsonification from the standpoint of poetry. 



^^'ildwood man is of the opinion that all bodies are animate 

 and that all the tribes of the lowei- animals, and all the tribes 

 of stars, and all the tribes of clouds and sti'eams, and all the 

 tribes of ])lants, and all the tribes of stones are tribes composed 

 of clans like his own. The philosophy of savagery is the 

 essence of poetry, but before it is recognized as such it must 

 undergo wondrous development. This philosophy must first 

 become a religion before it is etherealized as trope, which is the 

 essence of modern poetry. 



In the earliest poetry holophrastie words are used as nouns 

 or substantives with adjecti^■es of (piality in exclamatory sen- 

 tences (remember the distinction between qualities and proper- 

 ties) to mark the time of a complement of steps in the dance 

 of worship. In every clan or tribe in this stage of society 

 there is a leader who is the master of the dance and who regu- 

 lates it with rhythmic chant in which others may take part, 

 when the solo of the shaman becomes the chorus of the people. 

 The exuberance of dance and the inspiration of shout unite to 

 produce emotion — wildly hilarious if it is a dance of ])raise, 

 wildly vengeful if it is a dance of war, wildly wailing if it is a 

 dance of mourning for the dead. Thus is produced an ecstasy 

 of joy or hate or sorrow. 



In the exclamatory phrases of song are named the personified 

 objects that are supposed to be inspired with motives like those 

 of men, and hence the adjective element of the song expresses 

 the good or evil which is the theme of poetry. The earliest 

 poetry in this manner involves a double expression — one of 

 personification and another of qualification. 



Similitude — In the second stage powers are personified as if 

 they were bodies, and there is developed a new class of deities 

 which are supposed to be superior to the old gods, and the old 

 gods are called demons ; not yet devils, mind you, but oidy 

 demons. Now, there are many kinds of these demons — as elves, 

 fairies, muses, sirens, and what not, while huinaii beings are 

 sometimes giants and pigmies. This is pertinent to the present 

 exposition. Personification in this stage is the creation of 



