Athwart the vapors dun
The Easter sun
Streamed with one broad track of splendor.
Perhaps I love it because so many of my ancestors were soldiers
or sailors or ship builders in northern Europe or in America.
Perhaps it is because of the story itself and the way it ends.
Perhaps it is because of the appropriate variety in the rhythms
of the different sections, so expressive of the occasion in each
case. Perhaps I cannot tell why.
Anyhow, I like the bold defiance in the Challenge of Thor,
the swing of rollers at sea in King Olaf’s Return, the creepy
repetition in The Wraith of Odin, the hurry and the lingering
in Gudrun, the jolly swing in Thangbrand the Priest. I might go
on in this way through the entire series, mentioning the clash
and rattle in the fight at sea, and the beautiful dignity of the
musical voice that speaks to Astrid the Abbess, but I want to
mention other reasons why I like the Saga.
I like it because it is full of such vivid pictures. When I read
I am right there sailing and fighting and feasting with the king
and his men.
I like some of the people I meet, and admire almost all of them.
Queen Sigrid is a _queen_! Old Iron-Beard is splendid. Raud the
Strong is an “Old Roman,” game to the end! Thorberg Skafting is
a true craftsman. Einar Tamberskelver is a brilliant hero, and
Kolbiorn as faithful a friend as ever lived and died.
But I think some parts of these poems are as perfect poetry as
I ever read. Is there anywhere in four lines a more beautiful
description of moonlight than this?
On King Olaf’s bridal night
Shines the moon with tender light,
And across the chamber streams
Its tide of dreams.
Where are there better pictures in a few musical lines than these?
Short of stature, large of limb,
Burly face and russet beard,
All the women stared at him
When in Iceland he appeared.
“Look,” they said,
With nodding head,
“There goes Thangbrand, Olaf’s priest.”
When they landed from the fleet,
How they roared through Drontheim’s street,
Boisterous as the gale!
How they laughed and stamped and pounded
Till the tavern roof resounded
And the host looked on astounded
As they drank the ale!
In the convent of Drontheim,
Alone in her chamber,
Knelt Astrid the Abbess,
At midnight, adoring,
Beseeching, entreating,
The Virgin and Mother.
Then, think of this as a description of ships putting out to sea:
On the gray sea sands
King Olaf stands,
Northward and seaward
He points with his hands.
With eddy and whirl
The sea tides curl,
Washing the sandals
Of Sigvald the Earl.
The mariners shout,
The ships swing about,
The yards are all hoisted,
The sails flutter out.
The war horns are played,
The anchors are weighed,
Like moths in the distance
The sails flit and fade.
The sea is like lead,
The harbor lies dead,
As a corse on the seashore
Whose spirit has fled!
On that fatal day,
The histories say,
Seventy vessels
Sailed out of the bay.
This simple rhythm is capable of great variety of
expression--meditation, weird movement, hurry and bustle,
solitude, sadness, despair. It is wonderful.
There are other reasons why I like the Olaf Saga, but these are
all I care to tell.
Having read this to the children, not only to illustrate the kind
of a chapter required, but to inspire them to do their enthusiastic
best, wait for results. Meanwhile, push ahead with the design.
=Eighth, Complete the Design=
We have now reached the point where individuality may reveal
itself in form and color. We want our booklets to be works of fine
art--_each one_ a work of fine art, reflecting the thought and
feeling and exhibiting the skill of the artist-craftsman who produced
it.
The key to success is to be found in Hegel’s definition: “A work
of fine art is the free and adequate embodiment of the Idea, in
a form peculiarly appropriate to the Idea itself.” By Idea Hegel
means what we mean when we say: “What is your _idea_ in doing that?”
Idea includes thought, purpose, reason, aim, intention, motive,
principle, and the like. The _idea_ is the soul of the thing, the
spirit of which the outward act, form, thing, is the manifestation or
embodiment. A concrete illustration will make this thought clearer.
Here is my Longfellow booklet. It must reflect in every detail _my_
thought and feeling about _Longfellow_.
I find in the poet a note of sadness. “Hiawatha” has it--he sails
into the sunset; the Indian era has come to an end; it will never
return. Miles Standish lost his Priscilla. The Village Blacksmith’s
wife was in heaven. Turning rapidly the pages of my Longfellow I
read titles and first and last lines, all striking the same note:
“I wish that I was dead”; “It is not always May”; “The day is cold
and dark and dreary”; “There in the twilight cold and gray, lifeless
and beautiful he lay”; “The twilight is sad and cloudy”; “And like
a dream, in the Gulf Stream sinking, vanish all away”; “There is
no flock, however watched and tended, but one dead lamb is there”;
“Black shadows fall from the lindens tall”; “My Lost Youth”; “In the
Churchyard at Cambridge”; “Weariness”--O, there are so many of them!
The Old Clock on the Stairs ticks in every poem! Even my King Olaf
failed.
The young grew old and gray,
But never, by night or by day,
In his kingdom of Norroway,
Was King Olaf seen again!
And Evangeline? Pitifully sad. Here, then, is a part of the _idea_ to
be embodied in my booklet. I have already expressed in words another
part of it, namely, my preference for the Olaf Saga. Moreover,
Longfellow seems to me a man of the kindliest, most benevolent, sweet
spirit, cultivated and lovable. How can I embody all this, my Idea,
in the make-up of my booklet?
Three opportunities present themselves--first, color; second,
decoration; third, technique.
_Color_--In all ages, in all the arts making use of color--painting,
decoration, costume, jewelry and (in language) literature--color has
been used not only for its own sake but for its symbolism. Colors
have taken on meaning. “They are manifest signs to those who think,”
said Mohammed. Here is a concise statement of the almost universal
symbolism of color:
MEANING OF THE PRINCIPAL COLORS AND THEIR
APPROPRIATE USES
RED, _the symbol of_
Blood
Love--Passion
Valor, Patriotism
Christ
ORANGE, _the symbol of_
Fire
Marriage--the Home
Hospitality
Benevolence
Earthly Wisdom
Holy Spirit
YELLOW, _the symbol of_
Sun--Gold
Supreme Wisdom
Divinity
GREEN, _the symbol of_
Vegetation
Life--Immortality
Fruitfulness
Prosperity
Hope
BLUE, _the symbol of_
Truth
Constancy
Justice
God the Father
PURPLE, _the symbol of_
Royalty
Love of Truth
Loyalty
Martyrdom
Mourning
WHITE, _the symbol of_
Purity
Perfection
Innocence
GRAY and BROWN, _the symbol of_
Barrenness
Renunciation
Unfruitfulness
Penitence
BLACK, _the symbol of_
Night--Despair--Evil--Sin--Death
Glancing over this table with my Idea in mind, I conclude that
orange best expresses my feeling about Longfellow, especially
when I remember that orange, dulled, becomes brown, symbol of the
“renunciation” and “unfruitfulness” so often dominant in his poems.
The cover of my booklet shall be brown, and whatever I place upon
it shall be in orange and black. This will not only express my idea
but be a pleasing combination of color--another important element.
Longfellow’s character could not be suggested in violent and
brilliant contrasts of loud colors!
_Decoration_--Inasmuch as Longfellow means to me, first, the Olaf
Saga, my decoration shall be Celtic. There seems to be a peculiar
appropriateness in using the Celtic interlaced ornament, for its
intricate convolutions, weaves, and knots are said to symbolize the
mysterious ways of Providence and his unity of purpose in everything.
Longfellow held that faith, although he saw the darker side of the
shield.
_Technique_--Longfellow was a gentleman and a scholar. He respected
all the fine conventionalities of life, he upheld the best traditions
in thought and speech. What a contrast between his art and that of
Walt Whitman! For a Whitman booklet I might use a paper strong and
rough in texture, and print the title in green ink! My cover design
might be as unconventional as a granite boulder, and my technique
as bold as the signature of John Hancock! But for Longfellow my
technique must be restrained, temperate, orderly, conventional,
refined.
The cover is the “advance agent.” It should win at sight; it should
arouse interest in the contents of the book, and suggest its
character; it should fittingly protect and recommend the contents, as
a frame protects a picture and enhances all its good qualities.
_Arrangement._--The problem now is the arrangement of the material
for the cover. However it is arranged, the page must be (1) legible
and (2) pleasing to the eye.
1. Legibility. This means that only easily recognizable letters be
used for the title and author’s name. “When in doubt use Roman” is
good advice. The style of lettering chosen should echo in some way
the style of the text within. If the booklet is to be written freely,
in ordinary hand, a free Roman letter, such as Mr. Hall has used in
Plate X, is appropriate for the title-page. If the hand is to be more
formal, such, for example, as that shown in Plate XI, the title-page
should be drawn in such a style as that exhibited in the heading of
the plate. In short, what is said about ornamental initials and their
relation to the text, on page 36, applies in a general way to the
title-page. The title-page may, however, be a little further removed
from the text, a little more formal in character than the initial,
because it is not so directly associated with the text. Then, too,
the title-page is like the outside front door. It first meets the
stranger. The introduction demands certain formalities. Once within
the house greater freedom may be granted.
Legibility means also freedom from entangling alliances. Text should
be text with ample space for itself, and ornament should be ornament
within its own field. The two should never quarrel, should never be
snarled up together, should never wrestle with each other or compete
for first place.
2. Pleasing Appearance. Pleasing appearance in a cover design means
four things: (_a_) The design as a whole must appeal first to the
eye. (_b_) Among the parts of this whole the title should stand first
in importance. (_c_) All the parts should have an orderly relation to
each other and to the whole in size and position. (_d_) This orderly
relation involves balance.
Balance means the distribution of attractions with reference to
some center. Lines, spots, areas, contrasts, colors all constitute
attractions for the eye. These must be so distributed that they
balance on the vertical axis of the page, and upon a point in that
axis slightly above its geometric center.
[Illustration: PLATE II.
Three types of cover designs. In the upper row badly arranged; in the
lower row well arranged.]
Plate II shows the covers of six school reports. The bad ones are in
the upper row.
The first does not present itself as a whole. The seal has the first
word. The cover below is better in design.
The second has unfortunately four styles of type in three lines (!)
where one style would have been enough. The type mass is too low on
the page. The cover below it is better.
The third repeats the defect of the first in its seal. Moreover, it
is unbalanced. The seal is on the vertical axis, but the type mass is
not. If the upper mass is at the left of the central axis, the lower
must be at the right. The cover below this is better.
[Illustration: PLATE III.