ive to tone them down in proper
subjection to that Beauty which is the atmosphere and the real essence
of the poem."

Lest one should conclude that this is the verdict of an exclusively
artistic spirit, bent upon the development of "art for art's sake"
alone, disregardful of the spiritual essence involved, let him
read the following passage by Dr. William Hayes Ward, scholar,
archaeologist, critic, editor of a great religious journal. Treating of
"The Elements of True Poetry," he lays down this:

"What, then, is poetry? It is the verbal expression of thought under
the paramount control of the principle of beauty. The thought must
be as beautiful as possible; the expression must be as beautiful as
possible. Essential beauty and formal beauty must be wedded, and the
union is poetry. Other principles than beauty may govern a literary
production. The purpose may be, first, absolute clearness. That will
not make poetry. It will make good mathematical demonstration; it may
make a good news item; but not poetry. The predominant sentiment may
be ethical. That may give us a sermon, but it will not give a poem. A
poem is first of all beautiful, beautiful in its content of thought,
and beautiful in its expression through words....

"The first and chief element in a poem is beauty of thought, and that
beauty may relate to any department, material, mental, or spiritual,
in which beauty can reside. Such poetry may describe a misty desert,
a flowery mead, a feminine form, a ruddy sky, a rhythmic waterfall, a
blue-bird's flutterings, receding thunder, a violet's scent, the spicy
tang of apples, the thrill of clasped arms and a lover's kiss. Or it
may rise higher, and rest in the relations of things, in similes and
metaphors; it may infuse longing and love and passion; it may descant
fair reason and meditative musing. Or, in highest flight, beauty
may range over the summits of lofty purpose, inspiring patriotism,
devotion, sacrifice, till it becomes one with the love of man and the
love of God, even as the fading outline of a mountain melts into the
blue sky which envelops it....

"Dominant over all beauty is moral beauty. All highest flights of
poetry must range in the empyrean."

Thus, in poetry, all other graces and powers, be they lower or higher,
must come under control of the principle of beauty--the pleasing
harmony that brings delight. And the almost "infinite variety" of
beautiful modes and styles offered in such a gather