"
Lanier calls from the southern marshes, fringed with the live oaks "and
woven shades of the vine":--
"I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies
In the freedom that fills all the space 'twixt the marsh and the skies:
By so many roots as the marsh-grass sends in the sod
I will heartily lay me a-hold on the greatness of God."
The impressive moral lesson taught by American literature is a presence not
to be put by. Lowell's utterance is typical of our greatest authors:--
"Not failure, but low aim, is crime."
Hawthorne wrote his great masterpiece to express this central truth:--
"To the untrue man, the whole universe is false,--it is impalpable,--
it shrinks to nothing within his grasp."
Finally, American literature has striven to impress the truth voiced in
these lines:--
"As children of the Infinite Soul
Our Birthright is the boundless whole....
"High truths which have not yet been dreamed,
Realities of all that seemed....
"No fate can rob the earnest soul
Of his great Birthright in the boundless whole!"
SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF AUTHORS AND THEIR CHIEF WORKS
[Footnote: For a complete record of the work of contemporary authors,
consult _Who's Who in America_.
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