- Fashion would | miliar face that approaches. Politeness without previous parley or some disarming of reserve, is tacitly understood to be the deference of respectful admiration or implied inferiority. beauty only we repeat soon come and beg to ,,splinter a lance," and thus, by rivalry and not by favor, might the door of Wealth be thrown open to those superior by nature. OPERA MANNERS, AND DEMEANOR OF GENTLEMEN IN AMERICA. POLITENESS to women is an impulse of nature, and Americans are, to women, the politest nation on earth. Politeness of gentlemen to each other is the result of refinement and good breeding, and American gentlemen, toward their own sex, are the least polite people in the world. As close as possible upon the heels of so disagreeable a truth, let us mention an influence or two which has helped to increase or confirm the bad manners of American men. www In the national principle of GET ON - with or without means but any how, GET ON! the art of persuasion has been pressed into the service of business. It was long ago found out, in Wall-street, that politeness would help to get a note discounted, sometimes procure a credit, frequently stave off a dun. Being used more by those who had such occasion for it than by those who effected their ends with good endorsements and more substantial backing, politeness has gradually grown to be a sign of a man in want of money. A gentlemanly bow and cordial smile given to a man in Wall-street, will induce him to step round the corner and inquire of some friend as to your credit taking your bow and smile to be the forerunner of a demand for a loan. Politeness, again, has been discredited in this country by the class of foreigners who haved served as examples of it. All Frenchmen are admirably polite but few of the higher class coming to this country, French politeness has passed into a usual sign of a barber, a cook, or dancing-master. Much American rudeness, too, grows out of the republican fact that, personal consequence being entirely a matter of opinion (regulated by no court precedence, entailed fortune, or heraldic record) every man fights his own castle of dignity, and looks defiance, of course, into every unfa One other, though perhaps a less distinct influence acting upon American manners, is the peculiar uncertainty of men's fortunes and positions in this country, and the natural suspiciousness and caution which are the inevitable consequence. In such a boiling pot of competition, with bubbles. continually rising and bursting, the natural instinct of self preservation makes men careful in whose rising they seem to take an interest. Too much openness of manner and too free a use of the kind expressions of politeness, would result in a man's being too often singled out for desperate applications by friends in need. A character for sympathy and generosity is well known, in American valuation, to be one of the most expensive of luxuries. It is true that these causes of our bad manners are temporary, and will cease to act as the country refines and grows older; but is it not a question worth asking, meantime, whether the ultimate standard for the manners of American gentleman is not thus permanently affected? We simply drop this pearl of precaution into the vinegar of our fault finding. To catalogue all the American variations from foreign good-breeding, would be to write a work on manners in general (a subject upon which we are very far from setting up our opinions as authority, and for which a book, and not a newspaper article, would offer the proper space) these variations extending throughout all manners, as the general discouragement of courtesy lessens its degree in every kind of manifestation. We wish, just here, to comment on a point or two only. ance. To the main object of an Opera, | regulate themselves. We should be glad music is, in a certain sense, secondary; to see a distinctly American school of good and should be considered as but a lesser part of the value received for the price of an Opera ticket. A foreigner standing against the stair railing of the Astor Place Opera lobby, between the acts, and looking coolly around upon the male crowd, would imagine that the men were either most intimately acquainted, or obstinately determined not to be acquainted at all there is such an utter absence of any form of politeness in meeting, greeting, parting, or passing by. A man in white gloves goes elbowing through the crowd, shoving and incommoding twenty people, without care or hesitation; another knocks your hat out of your hand, and never dreams of picking it up or begging pardon a third intrudes upon two who are conversing, and perhaps takes the arm of one and draws him away, without the slightest excuse or acknowledgment to the other left behind a fourth is reminded by a polite foreigner that he is losing his handkerchief, or that another gentleman is beckoning to him, and expresses no thanks in return. There are no polite phrases to be overheard; no hats seen to be lifted; no smiles of courtesy or indications of respectfulness at the greetings of older men; and no sign of the easy and unconscious hilarity which marks a man not on the look-out for a slight none of the features, in short, which make up the physiognomy of a wellbred crowd in an Opera-lobby of Europe. We confine our remarks entirely, as will have been noticed, to such politenesses as are based on kindness and good feeling. We do not think any one country's customs are a law for another, in the decision of such questions as whether a gentleman may wear coloured gloves at the Opera, or visit a lady's box in a frock-coat. Such trifles manners, in which all useless etiquettes were thrown aside, but every politeness adopted or invented which could promote sensible and easy exchanges of good will and sociability. We have neither time nor space to say more of this, but will close with the mention of one very needful and proper Operatic etiquette, which is either unknown or wholly disregarded by most of the frequenters of Astor Place. An Opera-box is not a place for long conversations, or for monopoly of a lady's society. Even the gentleman who has the best claim to exclusive occupancy (from acknowledged precedence in favor), commits an indelicacy in proclaiming his privilege by using it in public. The Opera is a place for greetings, remindings, exchanges of the compliments of acquaintanceship, explainings of preventions or absences, making of slight engagements for the regulating and putting to right of the slighter wheels in the complicated machinery of society. It is a labor - saving invention of fashionable life for the twenty social purposes achieved in one evening at the Opera, and by which acquaintance is kept up or furthered, would require almost as many separate calls at the residences of the ladies. It is upon these grounds, doubtless, that was first based the common European etiquette of which we speak viz.: that, after occupying a seat in a lady's Opera box for a few minutes, the occupant gives it up at the approach of another of the lady's acquaintances, unless his rising from the seat is prevented by her express wish to the contrary. Husbands and brothers are included in this place- giving compulsion, for the best of wives require some variety to domestic bliss, and ladies come to the Opera to pay dues which they owe to society and acquaintance. HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN. Born 1813. MOORE. and swell the mirth of the banquet; atune the solemn harmony of a Milton, and the melodious sweetness of a Moore. With the prevailing thoughtfulness that belongs to British poetry, it is striking to contrast the brilliancy of Moore. He seems to bring the vivacious and kindly genius of his country, with an honest and cheerful pride, into the more stately ranks of the English minstrels. His sparkling conceits and sentimental luxury have a southern flavour. They breathe of pleasure. Even when pathetic their influence is the same, for grief is robbed of its poignancy and soothed into peace. The severity of thought, the strain of high excitement, the tumult of passion, are alike avoided. We are not carried to the misty heights of contemplation, nor along the formal paths of detail; but are left to saunter through balmy meadows or repose in delicious groves. If sometimes a painful idea is evolved, a musical rhyme or bright image at once harmonizes the picture. We are seldom permitted to realise the poem, so ̈ constantly is maintained the idea of the song. An impression such as the voluntary numbers of the troubadour convey, like the overflowing of a lightsome yet imaginative spirit, continually pervades us. No wrestling with the great mysteries of being, no studied attempts to reach the height of some POETRY seems as capricious in her alliances as opinion. She is as frequently wedded to gladness as to gloom. When we recall the fortunes and character of her votaries, it seems impossible that an element so peculiar should co-exist with such opposite tendencies of mind and traits of feeling. Like the mysterious combinations of light, which yields a verdant gloom to the cypress, and a rosy hue to the cloud, with one lucent effluence producing innumerable tints, the spirit of poetry assimilates with every variety of human sentiment, from the deepest shadows of misanthropy to the freshest bloom of delight. She elevated the stern will of Dante into grandeur, and softened the passion of Laura's lover into grace. In some buoyant child of the south, she appears like a playful nymph, crowned with roses; and breathes over a northern harp like an autumn wind sighing through a forest of pines. She brooded with melancholy wildness over the soul of Byron, and scattered only flowers in the path of Metastasio. Alternately she wears the complacent smile of an Epicurean and the cold frown of a stoic. Now she seems a blessing, and now a bane; inspires one with heroism, and enervates another with delight;,,great argument," characterize the song of sometimes reminds us of the ocean, waywardly heaving a hapless barque, and again wears the semblance of a peaceful stream, in whose clear waters the orbs of heaven seem to slumber. Thus poetry follows the universal law of contrast, and is true to the phases of life. She not only reflects the different orders of character, but the changeful moods of each individual; appeals to every class of sympathies, and adapts herself to every peculiarity of experience. She has an echo for our glee, and an accompaniment for our sadness; she can exalt the reverie of the philosopher, and glorify the lover's dreams; kneel with the devout, Moore, but a melodious dalliance with memory and hope, a gay or pensive flight above the toilsome and the actual into the free domain of romance. With all these attractions, the poetry of Moore is in no small degree artificial. The highest, as well as the most touching song, is undoubtedly that which springs warmly from the poet's life and emotions. This is, without doubt, the case with many of the effusions of the bard of Erin; on the other hand, we frequently meet in his pages with gems brought from afar, beauties that obviously have been garnered, rather than naturally suggested. Lalla Rookh, for instance, is the result of the through the delicious labyrinths of oriental romance, and a companion at the festive board; as a poet, a friend, and a man of the world. He is one of those men who seem born to ornament as well as to delight; to give a new grace to pleasure and an imaginative glow to social life. There is room for constant discrimination in estimating Moore. He has written a mass of verses which are of temporary interest, and of so little merit that we cannot choose but wonder that he should annex them to his more finished productions. Lalla Rookh“ and the,,Loves of the Angels" are the best of his long compositions, and of these the beautiful episode of,,Paradise and the Peri" bears the most brilliant traces of his genius. His fame, however, will doubtless rest eventually on the ,,Melodies." It is to be regretted that so many evidences of hasty and casual impressions, at once immature and injudicious, should appear among the gems of such a minstrel. His notices of this country, for instance, founded on the most meagre observation, are scarcely worthy of a liberal mind; and had the poet conscientiously examined the causes of the revolutionary failure of the Neapolitans, he would not have had the heart to write of a people so much,,more sinned against than sinning," so cruel an anathema as,,,Ay, down to the dust with them, slaves as they are." The metaphors of this poet admirably illustrate his power of fancy, indicated in the felicitous comparison of natural facts to moral qualities. In one of his dinner speeches, complimenting his hearers on their superiority to party malevolence, he says their author's gleanings amid the traditions and natural history of the East. His treasures are used, indeed, with consummate skill, and no process but the meditative workings of a glowing mind could have blended them into pictures of such radiant beauty. Still, it is well to feel the distinction which obtains between the poetry of the artist and the poetry of the man. It argues no ordinary facility and creativeness, for a minstrel to deliberately plan a work, as an architect does a temple; and then, having collected the materials of the fabric, proceed to rear a harmonious and delightful structure. But there is a process in the art more divine than this. It is that of the bard who obeys, like a prophet, the call of inspiration, utters chiefly what his own heart pleads to express, and throws into his poem the sincere teachings of his inmost life. In such poetry there is a spell of no transient power. It comes home to our highest experience. It is eminently suggestive. Like the echo of the mountains, it is full of lofty intimations. To this species of poetry Moore has but slightly contributed. His general tone is comparatively superficial. Fancy is his great characteristic. This is the quality which gives such a sparkling grace to his verse. Like the coruscations of frost - work and the phosphorescence of the sea, his fanciful charms play around and fascinate us; they give a zest to the passing hour, and kindle bright illusions in the monotonous circuit of existence; but they seldom beam with the serene and enduring light of the stars. Moore is too much the creature of social and fashionable life to attain the highest range of Parnassus. He is neces-,,noble natures, in the worst of times, would sarily, to some degree, conventional. His associations rarely transcend the present and prevailing in thought. In the Vale of Cashmere he does not forget the ,,mirror," and amid the light of other days," his memory is busy with the ,,banquet hall." Moore especially deserves the title of accomplished. He is no rough ploughman, with nothing but the hills and firmament, a rustic charmer or a crushed daisy, to awaken his muse; he is no discontented peer, seeking in foreign adventure freedom from social shackles; but a cordial gentleman, ever ready with his pleasant repartee and his graceful song. He appears to equal advantage at the literary dinner and in the fashionable drawing - room; as a guide come out of the conflict of public opinion, Around the crater's burning lips, Among numerous similar examples are the following: In every glance there broke, without control,! Founts, that but now in sunshine played, ,,to see Those virtuous eyes forever turned on me And in their light re-chastened silently, Like the stained web that whitens in the sun, Grow pure by being purely shone upon.“ Music is a great element of Moore's poetry. How few have succeeded so well in softening the Teutonic jar of our language, and giving a flow to the verse and a cadence to the rhythm, like the liquid tongues of south? And what an ineffable charm has the melody given to his song! He compares his verses to flies preserved in amber." So beguiling is the greater portion of the music that we can scarcely give a calm examination to the poems with which it is indissolubly associated. In this respect Moore enjoys a signal advantage. There is an anecdote of an ancient dame who refused to sanction the publication of her deceased partner's sermons,,,because they couldn't print the tone with them." In poetry, how much depends upon the reader's tone, both of voice and of mind! How many noble pieces of verse slumber in obscurity for want of an oral interpreter! Elocutionary skill has revealed beauties in poetry of which even the author never dreamed. The sweetest of Moore's effusions are allied to delightful music. Sense and soul are simultaneously addressed, and perhaps no modern bard has been more widely felt as well as acknowledged to be a poet. In the gay saloon, on the lonely sea, from the lips of the lady and the peasant, the student and the sailor, the lover and the hero, how often have breathed such airs as ,The Meet ing of the Waters, ,,Love's Young Dream," ,,Come rest in this bosom," ,,Oft in the Stilly Night," ,,Come, ye Disconsolate," ,,Sound the Loud Timbrel," ,,Mary's Tears," and others as familiar in bower and hall. Thousands have responded to the sentiment of Byron : 66 ,,Were't the last drop in the well, As I gasped upon the brink, Ere my fainting spirit fell, "T is to thee that I would drink. ,,In that water, as this wine, The libation I would pour Should be Peace to thine and mine, And a health to thee, Tom Moore!" There is certainly something real and grateful in such fame, and it is not surprising that Moore declares he has no idea of poetry, disconnected with music. The national associations connected with the poetry of Moore greatly enhance its attractions. As the bard of a depressed but noble people, whose sufferings are only equalled by their heartiness and hardihood, he claims universal sympathy. We cannot but remember that his strains breathe of a land so lovely and so impoverished that it has been aptly called Paradise Lost. In those touching melodies which seem to embalm the fresh soul of Erin in the days of her strength, what fervent appeals are there to every loyal and benevolent heart! Indeed the very fact of gathering from the cotter's fireside, from moor and valley and sequestered glen, the wild and melting notes of old Irish song, and wedding them to the language of modern refinement, strikes us as one of the most romantic enterprises of modern poetry. If an Italian painting, a Moorish fountain and an Egyptian pyramid affect us, as the surviving and beautiful memorials of a nation's better day, how much more should we recognize the eloquent and simple music of a distant era, in which the glow of love, patriotism and grief is yet warm and thrilling! Not less in his personal traits than his muse does Moore illustrate his country; his patriotism, convivial talents and kindly feelings are equally characteristic. As the popular bard of Ireland, his position is singularly desirable. He is not lost in a crowd of versifiers and asso With ciated with a local school, but strikes the imagination as the poetical representative of a great and unfortunate nation. the groans that echo from her afflicted shores his notes of fancy and feeling mingle, to remind us of the high and warm traits of the Irish heart, and of the flowers of genius still blooming amid the gloom of her distress. Well may he sing ,,Dear harp of my country! in darkness I found thee! The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long, When proudly, my own Island harp! I unbound thee, And gave all thy chords to light, freedom and song!" |