Irving College - Irvingiana Yearbook (Mechanicsburg, PA)

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Although we see the worth of his choice of words and phrasing, the beauty of his descriptions and his figures of speech, let us not forget the importance of Irving's deep sympathy with human nature and his own experience. Was it not this sympathy that led him to write of the grief of the poor widow and had it not been for his own experience could he have written The Broken Heart as he did? He loved once in his life, but the woman whom he loved died. This sorrow influenced many of his writings, but it did not make them bitter. It rather made him more ready to sympathize with others, as Thackeray says, Does not his very cheerfulness of his after life add to the pathos of that untold story? To grieve always was not in his nature, or when he had his sorrow to bring all the world in to condole with him and bemoan it. In publishing the second volume of the Sketch Book, Irving determined to govern his writings by the opinions on the first: One kindly advised him to avoid the ludicrous, another to shun the pathetic, a third assured him that he was tolerable at description, but cautioned him to leave narrative alone, while a fourth declared that he had a pretty knackof turning a story and was really entertaining when in a perusive mood, but was grievously mistaken if he imagined himself to possess a spirit of humor. Thus perplexed by the advice of his friends, who each in turn closed some partic- ular path, but left him all the world beside to range in, he found that to follow all their counsels would, in fact, be to stand still, so he decided, as he says, 'fTo ramble on as he had begun and written for different humors, it would not be expected that anyone would be pleased with the whole g but that if it should contain something to suit each reader, its end would be completely answered. Therefore from Irving's own words we see that by following others' advice, nothing would have been accomplished, but by using his individuality we have a book that has become famous on both sides of the Atlantic. :sw ft' W 'Pk ' 'il xl .03 'SQJQZ . N C inf ,,, 1. -85-

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The chapter on Indian Traits gives us a beautiful view of the Indian-not merely as a savage, but as a true hearted man. Irving tells us how shamefully the Indians were treated by the whites and that it was but human nature to seek revenge. Should the poet even tell of their wrongs andlwretchedness, of how they were invaded, corrupted, despoiled, driven from their native lands and the sepulchres of their fathers, hunted like Wild beasts about the earth and sent down with violence and butchering to the grave, posterity will either turn with horror and incredulity from the tale or blush with indignation at the inhumanity of their forefathers. ' Having learned something of the nature of the Sketch Book, let us learn the nature of the qualities which make this interesting book of value. Irving chose interesting subjects. It is not only that, but even more, his qualities of style that make it what it is. A His descriptions are so vivid that one cannot fail to get the meaning and to enter into the spirit of the author. For example, in describing a noble1nan's family he says, Nothing could be more simple and unassuming than their appearance. They generally came to church in the plainest equipage and often on foot. The young ladies would stop and converse in the kindest manner with the peasantry, caress the children and listen to the stories of the humble cottagers. Their countenances were open and beautifully fair, with an expression of high refinement, but at the same time a frank cheerfulness and engaging aifability. Their brothers were tall and elegantly formed. They were dressed fashionably but simply-with strict neatness and propriety, but without any mannerism or foppishness. Their whole demeanor was easy and natural, with that lofty grace and noble frankness which bespeak free born souls that have never been checked in their growth by the feelings of inferiority. From this extract, we also notice that Irving's choice of words expresses exactly what is desired. No unfamiliar or ambiguous words are used-it holds true throughout the book that the words used are familiar to almost everyone. It Was not his purpose to use high sounding language, but to express the meaning as simply as possible. V Irving's figures of speech also add to the clearness and to the beauty of his writings. For example, he says, The Indians resembled those wild plants which thrive best in the shades of the forests, but shrink from the land of cultivation and perish beneath the influence of the sun. Again in speaking of woman, he says, As the vine which has long twined its graceful foliage about the oak and been lifted by it into sunshine, will, when the hardy plant is rifted by the thunder- bolt, cling round it with its caressing tendrils and bind up its shattered boughs, so is it beautifully ordered by Providence, that Woman, who is the mere dependent and ornament of man, in happier hours, should be his stay and solace, when smitten with sudden calamity, winding herself into the rugged recesses of his nature, tenderly supporting the drooping head and binding up the broken heart.

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3 Bitiflg New 4 glaze Qg glixsnphine Qi. gltcinirnllzrr, 'U5 N a study of former periods of American Literature we End but one true Idealistic writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Since his death in 1882 Materialism has been characteristic of our Literature until the present time, where we find among our rep- resentative writers one whom we can almost call a second Emerson-one who we hope and believe is marking the age of the Twentieth Century as Emerson did the First National Period-one who is showing the world the truth of the words z Immortality will come to such as are fit for it, and he who would be a great soul in the future must be great on earth. Such as HENRY VAN DYKE. 4 In one of his writings have been set forth four principles which he considered essential for good work in Literature, and the writer feels that the excellence of Van Dyke's own work is due to the fact that he himself carries out these principles. The Hrst is that a writing must have an original impulse-not necessarily a new idea, but a new sense of the value of an idea. One of the very attractive characteristics of Van Dyke's writings is his originality. By that is not meant that the beautiful theme and thoughts most of his writings contain were entirely original, not having been touched upon by any one of all the great writers that preceded him g but as somebody has said, Van Dyke's writings bring with them a sense of something new and real, a breath of nature, a glimpse into the deeps of experience, a note clear, sweet, memorable. With regard to the second essential element, namely, A Hrst-hand study of subject and material, it seems hardly possible that one doubt could arise in the mind of the reader, for all his writings, from his master-piece to the smallest bit off poetry, show not only an unusual study of material but the work of a master-mind in making use of the material. The third principle is this: A patient, joyful, unsparing labor for the perfection of form. A patient, joyful, unsparing labor!