William Ellery Leonard was born in New Jersey in 1876. He has
been a professor of English in the University of Wisconsin
only since 1909, so he is not, as yet, so closely connected
with the state in the thought of the alumni of the University
as are most of the men whose works have just been discussed
and illustrated. But if what he has produced may fairly be
taken as an earnest of his future work, his name will be one
which all lovers of our University will be proud to associate
with that institution. One needs read scarcely more than a
paragraph at almost any point in his published works to
realize that Mr. Leonard is a man of keen and kindly interest
in all things that he hears and sees, and that he has
traveled and studied and lived widely and wisely. He has
published several volumes, both of poems and prose,--notable
among them being "Sonnets and Poems," "The Poet of Galilee,"
"Aesop and Hyssop," "The Vaunt of Man and Other Poems," and
"Glory of the Morning." The selections given are taken from
the last two volumes mentioned.
One acquainted with modern English poetry may sense a marked
likeness between Mr. Leonard's poems and those of Swinburne,
though the former says he is not conscious of any such
resemblance. There is a warmth of passion, a fluid quality in
the rhythm, markedly like those elements in the great English
poet. The selection from "Glory of the Morning" here given
begins at that point in the play where Half Moon, the
Chevalier, the white trapper, comes back to his Indian wife
to bid her farewell and to take their two children with him
to his home in France. The reader will feel, even in this
brief extract, the sweep toward a climax of emotion, and will
be impelled to read the whole play at his first opportunity.
(One of the most interesting features of the editorial work
of this volume has been the adjustment of the choice of
selections respectively of the editors and authors. The
editors' choice of the poems from Mr. Leonard's volume, "The
Vaunt of Man," was "Love Afar"; the author, on the other
hand, tells us that he thought so little of this poem that he
even considered omitting it from the volume. His preference
is "A Dedication." What does the reader say?)