He shows the field
"... lost afar
Behind the crimson hills and purple lawns
Of sunset, among plains which roll their streams
Against the Evening Star!
And lo!
To the remotest point of sight,
Although I gaze upon no waste of snow,
The endless field is white;
And the whole landscape glows,
For many a shining league away,
With such accumulated light
As Polar lands would flash beneath a tropic day!"
Simplicity and sincerity in language, theme, and feeling are special
characteristics of Timrod's verse. His lyrics are short and their volume
slight, but a few of them, like _Spring_ and _The Lily Confidante_, seem
almost to have sung themselves. So vivid is his reproduction of the spirit
of the awakening year in his poem _Spring_, that, to quote his own lines:--
"... you scarce would start,
If from a beech's heart,
A blue-eyed Dryad, stepping forth, should say,
'Behold me! I am May.'"
Timrod shows the same qualities of simplicity, directness, and genuine
feeling in his war poetry. No more ringing lines were written for the
southern cause during the Civil War than are to be found in his poems,
_Carolina_ and _Ethnogenesis_.
Pages:
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394