STRAY LEAVES.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 192, 23 August 1859, Page 3

STRAY LEAVES.

if»om thr portfolio of a literary rack.] The Function of the Song Whiter. It is admittid 011 all band* that the *ong write* occupies but a very subordinate position in the do* main of poesy* His mission Is essentially different from that of the'bard of the highest class, and also from that of the purely intellectual poet. Notwithstanding that he is interior £<i many respects to both, yet his power over the feelings of mankind is much greater than that possessed by either. - It . was the knowledge of this fact that led Fletcher of Saltoun to utter his celebrated exclamation respecting the influence of popular songs. The bard of the highest class writes fur the most uncultivated as well as for the most brilliant of his kind ; the intellectual poet addresses his effusions almost exclusively to the understandings of a select audience; the song writer.appeals to the sympathies and feelings of the people. The first class of writers is <ypified by Dante and Shakespere, the second by Tennyson and Wordsworth, and third by the favourite bard of auld Caledonia. The members of these different classes of poets require various and special sets of faculties for the due fulfilment of their mission. ">The poet of the highest class must possess that faculty that is termed the creative, and which is the one that originate* and takes cognizance of the ideal; he must be a being far in advance of the great mass of his species ; he must be capable of penetrating mysteries which, to inferior natures, must ever remain obscure and unintelligible; and he must be endowed in a very high degree with constructive talent; he must possess that indiscribable power—if I may so call it—that literary sense, which enables a writer to impart an air of completeness and unity to his work; and in addition to all these rare gifts, he must be a sound logician, so as, that there may be 1 no hiatus in his thinking, and. he must have unlimited command of language, so that his ideas may be suitably and brilliantly, and sometimes gorgeously, expressed. The' bard who possesses all these divine gifts is not only able to write up to the highest of human intellects, but is also able to write down to the meanest understanding; nor is he distinguished more by his power: of taking a leading part amongst the most brilliant and original of thinkers, than he is by the ability with which he can influence even. the meanest of his race. It is scarcely necessary to add that the number of poets belonging to this class is very limited. The province of the song-writer is of a subordinate character. The power of expressing accurately the emotions of the heart, the power of feeling deeply and of rightly estimating the feelings of others, combined with simplicity and pathos, a keen perception of the beauties di external nature and a refined taste, are his principal requirements. The themes on which he expatiates are generally of a humble and familiar character. The materials of the people's songs mnst be taken from those events that are common to the life of the people*' High-flown and stilted songs,-^-heaven-scaling dramas,—star-tossing lyrics,—will never produce much effect upon the passions of mankind, nor will they be long remembered. Th« scenery that surrounds us during the early part of our life, and the impressions produced on our minds by that scenery; the struggles, aspirations, hopes, and fears of the laboring classes; the unjust demands and odious actions of legalised tytanny; the deJights and sorrows, the bickerings and cooiogs of sweethearting and marriage; the constancy and inconstancy of lovers; the pleasures of friendship, martial courage, the passion for military glory* and the various melancholy modes in which death ■ waite on all-menj 'are'th^ principal themes belonging to the province of the song-writer^ Popular songs are merely popular, pictures of thoso events with which all" men,. are familiar, and which all mm understand-. Hence their moral influence over the community, hence too their power to stimulate expiring: courage, and soothe the heart under deep bereavement, and hence also the unquestionable fact that the quality of the influence which they exert is in exact accordance with their own quality and tone. - ._ . : ■' - :■■:■'■ ■■-■:-" The national songs of different people have always something peculiar and distinguishing in them—something that mirrors the national character. Indeed, a song must accord more or les9 with the passions and peculiarities of a people in order to become popular-amongst them. The songs of a warlike race differ very much from those of a pastoral people, and. the songs and melodies popular in low countries, seldoni possess the energy or breathe the wildness of mountain ditties. The song-writer is influenced by the circumstance and associations which surround him, and the song he produces, is generally a reflex of his mental impressions. Hence, the purely intellectual poet seldom succeeds as a song-writer* His themes are generally too elevated to be coin* prehended by the mass.