Page:Oregon Literature by Horner.djvu/75

Rh the longest religious epic written in Oregon. The peculiar nature of the subject and lengthy treatment given it has destined the poem to resemble the "Paradise Lost" in the fact that its number of admirers will excel its number of readers. It is not at all presumptuous to assert that the poem will live a century hence it must be a satisfaction to believe that one's writings will go on preaching some immortal truth to the children of men long after the author has finished her work.

Throughout the poem, Mrs. Hamilton deals with stern religious truths as awful facts, and exhibits a devotional spirit directed by that wisdom that comes from philosophy and interpretation; her poems are therefore intellectual. She rarely alludes to nature, but, if she were to enjoy a bouquet of flowers, she would revel in their variety, arrangement and beauty, and be delighted with their fragrance, which would be poetical; unconsciously she might go a step further and ask why are they beautiful? This would still be poetical. But when she begins to analyze their aroma to ascertain the kinds and the proportion of each that pleases her she enters a realm of investigation which causes most minds to think so intensely that the heart loses its opportunity to feel. Hence, at times the poem becomes somwhat metaphysical, and consequently appreciated by those who read it more as food for the mind than as food for the heart.

The poem which contains about 1,500 lines is