Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

Page 19 text:

M.D.Campbell W. D. Coiuad C. K. Pilkinmon W.R.Bledsoe J. C. Pancake Baker S. A. Witherspoon J. M. B. Gill P. R. Massie K. I. M-K ' i O. B. Harvey

Page 21 text:

iiinpiiiii i up i|i i i i i i ifiii iii|ii i iiiiipi fii mi ip ri||i H iifiiiiiiiifiiiiiii|||iimii|piiiHiipiiiiiiipiiiiiipiNiiifwuipiiiiiiip ifiiiiiiiifiiiiimnii ipji imniiiMiiy.ini||n) PREFACE , iillillliMlllllilMii.li Illl]lmllllll]li.,lllllll lllllr..iMllll] ijj.li. ' li ' Illl ' l...illlll 1llllllii,i[lllll Illtlr Illhlmillllbli..|||i||||||li||i||liaumllfcu!l|lllli Ol UR friend and fellow critic, Mr. DeQuincey, has made a statement in regard to that striking, and some times very suggestive similarity which is often noticed between writers of today, and those who have preceded them, which we cannot pass over without giving it the just rebuke which we feel in our hearts that it deserves. Now the gentleman has the brazen affrontery to say that there is really no very serious objection to the use of quotation marks in many cases. He thinks that when it becomes necessary to use another man ' s ideas or thoughts for the adornment of one ' s own composition, that this is a painful and unfortunate state of affairs which can only be alleviated by disguising it. In order to convince, he also proceeds with a very forcible argument in support of his most vicious position. Quotation marks, says he, in addition to spoiling the symmetry and beauty, and solidity of a paragraph or sentence or verse, will almost always cast a damper over the spirits of the writer himself, which has a most distressing effect on the vitality of the composition. Now with this general theory as his standing ground, DeQ. proceeds to confess (after having been caught and accused, some people say,) that when it comes to a choice between marring the beauty of one of his own paragraphs, and of the chance of a little adverse criticism, that he chooses the latter without hesitation, and as for using quotation marks (except when the passage under debate is so well known that quotation marks don ' t really make any difference, when, of course, he consents to use them) he just simply passes them up. He claims, further, that he has distinguished precedents for so doing; he goes on to show how Virgil copied almost verbaiitn from Homer; how Dante took his plan of Heaven, Purgatory and Hell (Hell especially) from Virgil; how Milton was very much indebted to his friend Dante for ideas along the same line; how Keats, et als, copied from Milton almost entirely, until finally he traces it down to his own day and time. This is all very interesting, Mr. DeQ., but your nonsense is too easily reduced to an absurdity. If at first we were inclined to believe your statements, yet we cannot help thinking that if things were as you state them we would soon hold Adam accountable for all of the literary efforts of the ages. It seems, however, that notwithstanding our opinion to the contrary, there are many persons who are willing to accept the theory and follow the advice of DeQ., and these persons even wish to force such a policy upon the editors of The Calyx, U