Notes: Sunrise


In the words of Mrs. Lanier, "`Sunrise', Mr. Lanier's latest completed poem,
was written while his sun of life seemed fairly at the setting,
and the hand which first pencilled its lines had not strength
to carry nourishment to the lips." See `Introduction', p. xviii [Part I].
Lanier has two other poems on the same theme, both short:
`A Sunrise Song' and `Between Dawn and Sunrise' (entered under `Marsh Hymns').

As already pointed out (`Introduction', pp. xxxi [Part III], xlvii [Part IV]),
`Sunrise' shows in a powerful way the delicacy and the comprehensiveness
of Lanier's love for nature. True, as I have elsewhere stated
(`Introduction', p. xlvi [Part IV]), the poem has some serious limitations,
more I think than has `The Marshes of Glynn'; but, despite its shortcomings,
`Sunrise' is from an absolute stand-point a great poem;
while, if we consider the circumstances under which it was produced,
it is, in the words of Professor Kent, "a world-marvel".

Aside from the numerous unapproachable snatches in Shakespeare,*
I know of nothing on the subject in English literature
comparable to `Sunrise'. Mr. W. W. Story's `Sunrise' is perhaps
the closest parallel, and yet it is far inferior to Lanier's,
as every reader of the two will admit. If one wishes to make
further comparisons, he may find sunrise poems in the following authors:
Blake, Cowper, Emerson, Hood, Keats, Longfellow, Southey, Thompson,
Willis, etc. I may add that an interesting, though superficial article