LITERATURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17145, 26 April 1919, Page 1 (Supplement)

LITERATURE.

AN INFLUENCE FOR GOOD. BY B, E. HAOGJIEGOB. As all life begiiu in a single cell, so all history hinges for ever on the individual, and upon the height the individual attains is determined the fate of the nation. The healthy influence of good, practical, elevating, inspiring literature is beyond dispute. It enlarges and expands the mind, develops the soul, and tends to free the individual frou undesirablo influences and conditions. A man's life is but the sum and expression of his thought, and as his ideas are gathered from that with which ho comes in contact, his power and degree of thought will depend largely upon the times he lives in, the society he keeps, and his range of reading. Poetry and Thought. literature contributes to the fire of which thought is made, and, above all, to the directive force of the divine power in proportion to one'B receptivity. Of all writings the influence of the poet iB the greatest. Poets give us in essence all that is noblest, most expressive, and inspiring. Filled with imagination, they smite and abuse us, exhort us to make use of dormant talents, intensifying our desires, and encourage us to make a choice iiuour pursuit of life. Both religion and poetry breathe a common air and rule over a common kingdom. The saint and the poet are both born from above, and by their inner-sight they behold two worlds. They have their being in the perfect ideal of the visible light. With sight wo possess tho outer world, with vision, the inner. The poet illustrates thiß faculty. No one iB unconscious of the unseen, no one is insensible to its influence. As the waves lap the soft sand and leave their trace, so docs the unseen impress the soul.

The Elizabethan Age. t i This ago was one of poetic expression. ) It was also one of intense humanity— 1 man in its appetites, passions, imperfec- $ tions, vices, thoughts, aspirations, and virtues. Its writers accepted this belief in human nature, and gave expression to it in their works. It was an age when ( activity was impelled by a romantic and ( heroic, rather than a theological spirit. ] It was characterised by currents of dig- , nity, sweetness, and strength, which found , the highest expression in Shakespere, that ] marvellous, potent, comprehensive and in- 1 spiring force, whose appoaranco is simply ( a fact in the world's intellectual history ~ which can be connected with no preceding 1 fact nor with the spirit of his age. E The Writer's Influence. ] "Yet are we so made that each man ' wi'l think of some authors as if they were 1 bet,er for him than others." The truth I is that the authors with whom he is * most in sympathy— are the chosen « friends by his souL Some writers breathe ' an atmosphere of inexpressible beauty and . ' heavenly rest, and this thrilling uplift of | the higher nature comes as a sanctifica-1J tion. They •carry' us into a Idgher realm of purity and holiness above all things earthly and base. Their pictures of sunsets bid us fly from earth to the angels, and in their pictures of nature love speaks and fills the world with music and light. Their voices call to us from the starry spheres, inspiring us with hone and courage and giving us the perpetual companionship of thought. The Pre-Eaphaelites. History a full of occasion when unimportant and apparently trivial means have served to accomplish great ends. The little band of writers, the pre-Raphaelites, whose brief tenure of existence was an important event even in letters, created an influence whose seal and earnestness seemed to pervade the air. It kindled thought , and proclaimed the progress of a larger truth, and Ruskin, who followed on, with his pure, wholesome atmosphere, administered to the nobler view and service of a higher beauty in an age of show and superficial pretence. The Hovel. Human nature remains the same in all ages motives of actions are the same, though the relative force, desires, and ideals of which they are inspired vary. The novel is the immortal rose of literature, and finds its inflorescence in romance. It ill a matter for discussion whether the novel exerts a more perceptible influent* on the life than life exerts on the novel. The great novelists claim that the ideal life is the only normal life, and "true realism" is expressive of the spiritual side of life. Thought, motive, aspiration, and belief are, they contend, the true realities, and their portrayal is true realism, the novelist exerts an influence combining that of the post, philosopher, and teacher. Kovel and Society. Hovels, as a rule, are a form of distinctly pleasant reading, pervaded with aft atmosphere of refinement, revealing certain unconscious standards of honour and of morality, that make them of value in the influence they exert. It is the missing link between society and literature, for it reflects the social changes of successive periods and corresponding vafi-1 ations of taste and thought. It preserves the customs, sentiments and ideas of an epoch. The work of notable standard authors reveals the type of fiction of the past and traces its evolutionary processes. Dickens and Thackeray were the reporters of existing social orders; Kingslcy was a novelist of purpose; George Eliot wrote by force of conviction— all sincere intense, delicate, and penetrating sympathy are linked with all the phases of the problems before humanity. Novelists nave already done much to open the portals of the twentieth century and the possibilities of the novel in the direction aro infinite. The Divine Afflatus. The basis of all imaginative and poetic beauty in literature is its absolute trust in the divine. It is all this inner hidden life that is touched and stirred, fed, and developed by it—the charm that invests life with significance as well as with the enchantment by which, after all, we truly love; for enchantment is the magic which is really the working force, the sustaining energy of all onr effort and endeavour. Life is a very comprehensive thing, and it is fed from the entire field of human ideas, sympathies, and activities. Ordinary labour and the drudgery of daily detail are performed with infinitely more case and power by one who has a largo capacity for imagination; it is a refuge and solace, and can he achieved and made one's own through ,ha power of assimilation. The arts of poety and imaginative literature will tend to its nurture and development. Universality. Literature is the only form of art that can be made universal; pictures, music, and sculpture are restricted to place and occasion. It is the call of immortal voice! to life, not as the va„nje dream of some remote and unknown future, but it invest! the present with that " holy earnestness' : which cheers as through the wilderness and aids us in transforming that, wilder ness into the promised land. Thought/ reading, aspiration—these are factor: which make up the fulness of our days and books are of value as they stimulate and give incentive to nobler inspirations With the twentieth century is coming i time when we are practically understand ing that thought is productive of marvel luui insults, and opens up to us unlimited possibilities. The power of right Uim on can bo strengthened and developed to much greater degree by the perusal of X literature. Many writers exert an r,,||uen<e for good in this direction m H; 1!l1 'V f homVht The world .' boohs is ItiiMhe wlrtf and in liUratwe, as .n life, fine Wilis serve us.