Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/151

 A Down East Homer.

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��his muse at least was of a somewhat owl-like vision.

At New York sales by auctiou of books and other property, there have appeared at rare intervals broadsides of poetry by Thomas Shaw, of Stan- dish, Maine. These have been cat- alogued with much display, and with unusnal fulness of description. They have for years commanded prices in the metropolis such as their author never dreamed of askina; as he hawked them about among the less appre- ciative farmers among whom he lived. They are good specimens, — and this is all the merit they can now claim, — of a species of literature that had its day in this country a good many years ago. Their value, however, for pur- poses of illustrating certain phases of New England life at the beginning of this century, is scarcely affected by the circumstance that they are un- qualified doggerel.

We glean the little knowledge we have of the author from his produc- tions. Some of his more ambitious pieces appeared in 1815, and he was still hard at work in the same line when Lafayette visited this country in 1824. In a poem of twenty-four stanzas inspired by the visit of the French general, he tells us that he was born before the close of the Rev- olution :

"I and some Fathers still remain, Who saw our Independence gain."

This tribute to the distinguished visitor, records the fact that the poet availed himself of the opportunity to pay liis respects to the Nation's guest.

" He went from place to place in state, And welcomed by small and great, Whereof we heard and saw the same, And can describe the man by name."

��The author manifests in this poem a great deal of bitterness towards Great Britain. It was quite natural that the appearance of Lafayette should revive something of the old spirit.

The plan of the work was to exhib- it the career of Lafayette, and sing his praises. Attention is directed mainly to what he did for America in the Revolution. The British troops are represented as bees leaving their hive to sting the Americans. Wash- ington and Lafayette beat them off. As this is all the play there is given to the imagination in the whole com- position, no one will find fault with the simile. The part which our French ally took is stated over and over again in different terms, but it all amounts to the same thing. A single stanza will serve as a sample :

" On his expense he clothed men Who stood as needy soldiers then, Entering our service without pay, To drive the British bees away."

Later on we are given a glimpse of Lafayette contending for the liberties of his own people :

" Until by chance in prison fell, And troubles too he knew full well."

It is not difficult to discover the in- fluence of the New England Primer upon the poet's thought, if not upon its expression. He cannot close this encomium upon his hero without in- dulging the reflection, —

" He's but a man when all i.s done, All mortal men their course do run."

How faithfully this echoes the famil- iar sentiment, —

•' Xerxes the Great did die, And so must you and I."

The next piece is "• A Mournful Song, occasioned by the shipwreck

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