Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/378

 of poetry as the people of Oregon would finally reach the point of satiety, if in a cumulative production none should ever be discarded. The fairly good of the old must be thrown out to make room for the fairly good of the new, but neither the limitations of our enjoyment nor the wealth of our creative talent will justify treating with prodigality such gifts as Sounds by the Western Sea. In reference to that little pamphlet there was in the Oregon public, ordinarily so sure and warmly quick, a curious embargo of the appreciative senses—eyes closed to the gleam shining through the small type and poor format, ears unresponsive to its cadences, imagination unquickened by the sweep and compass of its connotations. Whatever the causes that have obscured the merit of those 40 pages, they represent, next to the disdained legacies of the Indians, the greatest loss suffered by Oregon literature. Fortunately, the loss need not be permanent, if they could be reprinted and submitted to the altered and awakened taste of a later public.

When Samuel A. Clarke wrote them he was not an unknown man of unproved ability, but during 22 years in Oregon had become prominent through business enterprises, journalism and civic leadership.

Born on a Cuban plantation in 1827, he came to Portland in the fall of 1850 and a few months later was largely responsible for getting it and its 400 people incorporated as a city. "He circulated a petition, obtained 144 names and with M. King went to Oregon City, when the legislature was in session." In January, 1851, Portland was incorporated "as a result of his work."