A LEAGUE OF POETASTERS.
AT last the tribe of little poets and verse-makers have taken a desperate resolve : singly they have failed to scale the steep heights of Parnassus, now they are going to band themselves together and, united, carry the summit by storm. So far, the world has only had to deal with the indi- vidual poet, the gentleman who shyly courted its notice from the most obscure corner of the provincial paper, or who meekly bowed to the neglect of an unfeeling publisher and an illiterate public ; now it will have to confront a whole league of the genus irritabile, and if it refuses to listen to them, so much the worse will it be for the world. The Brotherhood of Poets" has been founded; their union has become an established fact ; and who shall dare to laugh at them ? Naturally, they make no threats as yet, and their first pro- spectus has been couched in words of sorrow rather than of anger. " In this enlightened, age," they say, there are clubs and societies for almost every science and art, and yet never a club in which the makers of poetry "may unite together for mutual sympathy, help, and instruction." Nevertheless, poets stand more in need of such a society than any other class of the community; "since the days of the Immortal Homer,' poets have always been looked down upon by their more for- tunate prose brothers, have been made the butt of all the small fry of literature, and have suffered keenly at the hands of critics, although they have tried more than any other class of human beings to make mankind nobler and better." We have purposely omitted the "Brotherhood's" description of critics, as we are sure that, in its calmer moments, it will regret its extreme impoliteness. Possibly, it may also, at that future period, be induced to moderate its pretensions as to past services and its accusations of old neglect. We do not remember having heard that the "Immortal Homer" suffered much at the hands of his more fortunate prose brothers; but we do remember baying heard that bards and poets formed a more or less privileged class in those far-off ages, and we know, in the case of Homer, at least, that the poet must have survived any prose brother who was his contemporary. As a matter of fact, "a Brotherhood of Poets" is not altogether a new thing in the British Isles. In the days of the Druids, the bards ranked in power next to the priests ; in Wales they were almost always a privileged class ; and in Ireland the brother- hood abused its privileges to such an extent as to rouse the country against them. The Irish bard had the right, we have heard, of dipping his fork first into anybody's pot, and taking therefrom as much as he needed. Relying upon their privi- lege, the fraternity of Irish bards, like Jeshurun, "waxed fat, and kicked." In other words, they made themselves such a nuisance to the people at large, that they had to be forcibly expelled from the country,—their exodus, we believe, taking place some time after that of the snakes, which was conducted by St. Patrick.
We do not mean to suggest that the modern "Brotherhood of Poets" is likely to share the same fate as the ancient Irish bards. Judging from their prospectus, it is rather their inten- tion to prey upon each other, than upon the outside public, though the prospectus, of course, may be merely intended as a ruse to divert the public suspicion from more nefarious designs. Such as it is, however, we will quote it to show the ostensible objects of the Brotherhood, and the reader can form his own opinion as to its real meaning. The primary object, we learn, is "to form into a select Brotherhood, or Society, all Poets, Verse-Writers, lovers of Poetry, 84.c." Whatever may be the exclusiveness of the Brotherhood in the future, there is no doubt whatever as to the select character of its present Council. It does not yet possess a President, but it has a council of twenty-four members, and not a single name among them, to the best of our belief, has ever suffered the degradation of a critic's praise, or the humiliation of a book-stall reputation. "To establish by means of a quarterly journal, the Muses, a bond fide and
honourable exchange of literature to insert free in the same journals any new poems written by Fellows to make known and bring to light excellent writers of vcrse who would otherwise remain in obscurity." That is to say, that any Fellow or subscriber of the Society will have the right to have his effusions printed in the Society's journal; and, also, that it will be expected of him that he should read other people's effusions as well as his own ;—a kind of co- operative arrangement, by which poets may become their own audience, and so rescue each other from obscurity; for it is better to be read even by other poets than not to be read at all. "To provide by means of the Muses, an excellent journal which shall be highly instructive, entertaining, and amusing."—We will refrain from comment. "To review in an impartial style any poetical or prose work written by Fellows or Honorary Members of the Brotherhood." Here, too, we would rather refrain from comment, but we know that impartial style too well—or rather, what an author considers to be an impartial style—to abstain from giving the future editor of the Muses a word of advice. Never let him entrust any book to a friend of the author for the pur- pose of reviewing. Let him always insist upon the author writing his own review ; he will find that to be the only method of obtaining for an author really impartial criticism. To proceed with the prospectus : "It is not the intention of the Brotherhood to start a new School of Poetry, but rather to promote as much as lies in its power 'the pure and sublime side of life,' and by means of the Poetic Art to bring out and develop all that is noble in man ; " to which end "it will pro- vide, when funds permit, handsome gold emblems" for more than ordinary excellence, and will make arrangements with a "large publishing firm to print all the Fellows' poetry with as little expense as possible,"—for the advertisement of which poetry, the journal will form an invaluable vehicle. In fact, the whole Brotherhood of Poets will be self-supporting. They will be their own publishers, their own advertisers, their own critics, and—their own public.
The idea is not wanting in ingenuity, but it presupposes a certain amount of disinterestedness on the part of the would- be poet, which we feer that gentleman, as a rule, is very far from possessing. He is not anxious to rescue his colleagues from obscurity ; he wishes to climb above their heads himself. He wishes to be read, and to be paid by his readers, not to pay for and to read other people's publications. Were it only possible that these brothers of the Muses should find content- ment in a small mutual admiration society, and be willing to support the same with their purses as well as their pens, then the fraternity might well have a long and prosperous life, and might earn, moreover, the deserved thanks of every editor and publisher. But never will these little poets be content to be their own public ; neither the sight of their verses in print, nor the receipt of golden emblems, nor even the serenity of praise which is conferred by their own criticism, will com- pensate them for the chilling indifference of the outside public Dog does not eat dog, nor little poet read little poet ; they despise each other far too heartily for that. Maudle butters Postlethwaite, and Poatlethwaite butters Maudle ; but in their hearts they know that the butter of mutual praise is rancid, and yearn for the fresh applause of the streets. For though it may be pleasant to belong to a select brotherhood, no poet cares to address a select audience, however much he may affect to despise the taste and critical capacity of the general public.
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