VIII 



POETRY AND ELOQUENCE 



"TTTHEEE does eloquence end, where does poetry 

 ' ' begin ? " inquires Eenan in his " Future of 

 Science." And he goes on to say, " The whole dif- 

 ference lies in a peculiar harmony, in a more or less 

 sonorous ring, with regard to which an experienced 

 faculty never hesitates." 



Is not the " sonorous ring," however, more charac- 

 teristic of eloquence than of poetry ? Poetry does 

 begin where eloquence ends ; it is a higher and finer 

 harmony. Nearly all men feel the power of elo- 

 quence, but poetry does not sway the multitude ; it 

 does not sway at all, — it lifts, and illuminates, and 

 soothes. It reaches the spirit, while eloquence stops,, 

 with the reason and the emotions. 



Eloquence is much the more palpable, real, avail-, 

 able ; it is a wind that fills every sail and makes 

 every mast bend, while poetry is a breeze touched 

 with a wild perfume from field or wood. Poetry is 

 consistent with perfect tranquillity of spirit ; a true 

 poem may have the calm of a summer day, the pla- 

 cidity of a mountain lake, but eloquence is a torrent, 

 a tempest, mass in motion, an army with banners, the 

 burst of a hundred instruments of music. Tenny-, 

 son's " Maud " m a_notable blending of the two.. 



