Hawthorne's position on the Continent has
perhaps not been so much one of conquest as of receiving an abstract
admiration; but he has taken much stronger hold of the Anglo-Saxon mind
than either of the others, and it is probable that his share in
inspiring noble literature in America will--as it has already begun to
show itself an important one--become vastly greater in future. It is
impossible, as we have seen, to fix an absolute ratio between these
writers. Irving has a more human quality than Poe, but Poe is beyond
dispute the more original of the two. Each, again, has something which
Hawthorne does not possess. But, if we must attempt at all to reduce so
intricate a problem to exact terms, the mutual position of the three may
be stated in the equation, Poe _plus_ Irving _plus_ an unknown
quantity equals Hawthorne.
XIII.
THE LOSS AND THE GAIN.
The suddenness with which Hawthorne faded away and died, when at the
zenith of his fame, is no less strange and sad and visionary now than it
was a poignant anguish then. He returned from Europe somewhat
lingeringly, as we have seen, knowing too well the difference between
the regions he was quitting and the thinner, sharper, and more wasting
atmosphere of a country where every one who has anything to give is
constantly drawn upon from every side, and has less resource for
intellectual replenishment than in other lands. His seven years in
England and Italy had, on the whole, been a period of high prosperity,
of warm and gratifying recognition, of varied and delightful literary
encounter, in addition to the pleasure of sojourning among so many new
and suggestive scenes.
Pages:
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364