The present volume is unique and to those who value the brief suggestion which fires a train of thought, it is valuable,—exceedingly so.
Not all of these “Outlines” are properly so called. Many of them are as complete in themselves as are the Cameos of Walter Savage Landor.
Like other Georgia bards—A. R. Watson, Dr. Frank Tickner, Joel Chandler Harris, Frank L. Stanton and Don Marquis,—Sidney Lanier could put so much thought and beauty into four lines as to give one a sense of perfection.
For example,
“And then A gentle violin mated with the flute, And both flew off into a wood of harmony, Two doves of tone.”
That is not the “Outline” of a poem; it is a poem, perfect in its way and complete in itself. There was nothing more to be said.
Again,
“Tolerance, like a Harbor, lay Smooth and shining and secure, Where ships carrying every flag Of faith were anchored in peace.”
This also,
“Who doubts but Eve had a rose in her hair Ere fig leaves fettered her limbs? So Life wore poetry’s perfect rose Before ’twas clothed with economic prose.”