By no means all of the eastern fiction, however, is realistic. THOMAS
BAILEY ALDRICH (1836-1907), for instance, wrote in a romantic vein _The
Story of a Bad Boy_, which ranks among the best boys' stories produced in
the last half of the nineteenth century. There were many other writers of
romantic fiction, but the majority of them at least felt the restraining
influence of the realistic school.
REALISM IN POETRY.--One eastern poet, Walt Whitman, took a step beyond any
preceding American poet in endeavoring to paint with realistic touches the
democracy of life. He defined the poet as the indicator of the path between
reality and the soul. He thus proclaims his realistic creed:--
"I will not have in my writing any elegance or effect or originality to
hang in the way between me and the rest like curtains. I will have
nothing hang in the way, not the richest curtains. What I tell I tell for
precisely what it is. Let who may exalt or startle or fascinate or
soothe, I will have purposes as health or heat or snow has and be as
regardless of observation. You shall stand by my side and look in the
mirror with me."
The subject of his verse is the realities of democracy.
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