| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
FAMOUS SONGS |
||
|
" MY DEAR SIR,—I have had the pleasure of receiving your note in regard to the poem ' Ex-celsior/ and very willingly give you my inten-tion in writing it. This was no more than to display, in a series of pictures, the life of a man of genius, resisting all temptations, laying aside all fears, heedless of all warnings, and pressing right on to accomplish his purpose. His motto is, Excelsior—' Higher.'—He passes through the Alpine village—through the rough, cold paths of the world—where the peasants cannot understand him, and where his watchword is an ' unknown tongue.' He disregards the hap-piness of domestic peace, and sees the glaciers —his fate—before him. He disregards the warnings of the old man's wisdom and the fascinations of woman's love. He answers to all,' Higher yet I' The monks of St. Bernard are the representatives of religious forms and cere-monies, and with their oft-repeated prayer min-gles the sound of his voice, telling them there is something higher than forms and ceremonies. Filled with these aspirations, he perishes; and the voice heard in the air is the promise of immortality and progress ever upward. You will perceive that 'Excelsior,' anj^ijective of the comparative degree, is used adverbially; a use justified by the best Latin writers."
245 |
||