Take the straight tip, my dears--I glean it
From private talk--_they don't half mean it!_
* * * * *
THE VOLUNTEERS' FOOTHOLD.--SHOEBURYNESS.
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
BORN, FEB. 22, 1819. DIED, AUG. 12, 1891.
"We could not have been prouder of him had he been one of
us."--_Times_.
Bard of two worlds, and friend of both,
As ripe in years as culture, verily
To miss that voice two worlds are loth,
In which much wisdom spake so merrily.
A voice, and no mere echo, thine,
Of many tones, but manly ever.
Thy rustic _Biglow's_ rugged line
A grateful world neglecteth never!
It smote hypocrisy and cant
With flail-like force; sleek bards that ripple
Like shallow pools--who pose and pant,
And vaguely smudge or softly stipple,--
These have not brain or heart to sing
As _Biglow_ sang, our quaint _Hosea_,
Whose "Sunthin in the Pastoral line,"
Full primed with picture and idea,
Lives, with "The Courtin'," unforgot,
And worth whole volumes of sham-Shen-stone.
Yes, you could catch, as prigs may not,
Pure women's speech and valiant men's tone.
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