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THB SOUTHERN WORLD, JANUARY ,5,18*6
89
Biographical.
Written specially for the Southern World.J
SOUTHERN LIVING WRITERS.
Paul Hamilton Hayne.
BV PROF. HENRY E. HARMAN.
Of the few earnest literary workers in
all the South to-day, Paul H. Hayne
stands cleverly among the first. For
more than thirty years he has wielded a
facile pen, and, notwithstanding his
verses lack the enthusiastic fire which
stirs the heart in Father Ryan’s poetry,
have not the identity that is noticeable
in Requier, nor yet the genial natural
ness of Timrod, still we place him for
ward to-day as the best exponent of our
Southern literature. Mr. Hayne’s po
ems are not only read and admired in
his own section, but throughout the
North he is a favorite; and even beyond
the sea his sterling qualities as a poet
nold high recognition. Bryant, Long
fellow and Willis—brothers in the same
high calling, who have crossed the mys
tic river—all spoke of his verse in the
most complimentary manner; Victor
Hugo has evinced much interest in his
history, both personal and literary; and
Mr. Edwin P. Whippie and Bayard Tay
lor both attribute to Mr. Hayne more
of the poetic enthusiasm than is pos
sessed by William Morris, his English
contemporary.
Paul Hamilton Hayne was born in the
city ot Charleston, January 1st, 1830.
His father was Lieutenant Paul H.
Hayne, of the United States Navy, who
was a younger brother of the famous
Gen. Robert Y. Hayne, so well known
in Congressional history. From early
boyhood he had a passionate fondneBB
for books and eagerly perused such
works as “Robinson Crusoe,” “The
Arabian Nights,” “ Swiss Family Rob
inson” and “The Anatomy of Melan
choly.”
Mr. Hayne was educated at the Col
lege of Charleston, from which institu
tion he graduated in 1850, having won a
number of honors and medals during
his course. He next studied law, and
was admitted to the bar at an early age.
But the law had few charms for him who
aspired to fame in the walks of litera
ture. William Gilmore Simms was at
that time the most prominent man of
letters in the South, and he used all his
influence and power to aid the youth in
his early efforts. Mr. Hayne at this
time was in affluent circumstances and
did not choose to follow any regular avo
cation, but his desire for a literary ca
reer was so great that he naturally turn
ed his attention in that direction.
The first regular literary position held
by Mr. Hayne was that of editor of the
Southern Literary Gazette. This brought
him before the public. The Gazette be
ing merged into the Weekly News, Mr.
Hayne continued as editor of the new
combination, but in 1854 the News failed,
and then its editor began writing stories
and sketches for the Southern Literary
Messenger.
liusseVs Magazine was started in
Charleston in 1857, and our author was
at once chosen its editor. This journal
soon became the leading periodical in
the South, and during the two years in
which Mr. Hayne was connected with
it he won considerable distinction, espe
cially as a reviewer and essayist.
Mr. Hayne’s first volume was pub
lished by Ticknor & Fields in 1855, and
consisted principally of fugitive pieces
which had appeared in various journals.
One noted exception was the “Tempta
tion of Venus,” which waB very gener
ally admired. This first volnme was
pronounced by leading critics to be one
of great promise.
Two years later Mr. Hayne’s second
volume of poems was issued by a pub
lishing house in Charloston, and at once
reached an extensive Bale. Probably
the finest poem of this collection was
“The Ode to Sleep,” “which at once
distinguished the author, and marked
the highest point he had yet attained in
poetry.”
“ Avolio and Other Poems ” came out
iu 1859 from the press of Messrs. Tick
nor & Fields, and of this third volume
the Atlantic Monthly, in a very compli
mentary criticism, said: “ Mr. Hayne’s
volume shows culture, thoroughness,
sensibility to natural beauty, and great
refinement of feeling. In many of his
sonnets the post shows a genuine vigor
of expression and maturity of purpose.”
In 1860, when the war broke out, Mr.
Hayne was quietly and contentedly en
gaged in literary work in his native city.
The Hayne family had always been
noted for its gallantry, so when the
State called for volunteers our poet
bravely responded. E very day his fame
was growing brighter and his future en
larging, but all this he willingly left be
hind and turned to the war. For a time
he served on the staff of GovernorPickens
and afterwards as a volunteer soldier in
Fort Sumter. But the hardships of army
life told heavily upon his delicate con
stitution and he was compelled to retire
from active service.
At the close of the war Mr. Hayne
found himself left in destitute circum
stances. His house in Charleston had
been burned by the bursting of a shell,
fired when the Northern troops were en
tering the city. His youth and early
manhood had been bright with happy
dreams. He had married a beautiful
and noble woman at the age of twenty-
two, bad lived almost a dozen years af
terward without a want, but alaa! the
bloody, cruel war left him, like hundreds
of others, without a home. Gazing
upon the smouldering ruins to which
his almost palatial residence had been
reduced, he thought of the beautiful
past, and then with anguish of heart he
looked to the gloomy future. But the
poet was as much a man in this awful
emergency as he was in his happier
days. He turned his back upon the
past, with all of its tranquillity and ease,
and with a resolute will went forth to
rebuild his fortunes.
In 1865 he removed to Augusta, Ga.,
and became one of the editors of the
Constitutionalist. Shortly afterwards
abandoning this position, he settled six
teen miles Northwest of Augusta, on
the Georgia Railroad, where he now re
sides. “ Copse Hill,” the name of his
home, is said to be a very lonely and
desolate spot, surrounded by a cheerless,
barren country. It is beautiful and in
viting only when the flowers of spring
and early summer are in bloom. But
the little family, consisting of Mr.
Hayne, wife, son and mother, are not
lonely, for all the leading magazines,
periodicals and a great many new books
visit them regularly.
In 1867 Mr. Hayne became editor of
Southern Opinion, ot Richmond, Va.,
which position he held for two years,
writing the book notices and criticisms,
also his famous “ War Reminiscences.”
Later he was a contributor to Southern
Society and to the Banner of the South.
Since 1870 Paul H. Hayne hab con
tributed principally to Northern period
icals, simply because they pay him best.
He writes poems for the Atlantic. Har
per's Magazine, The Century and Lippin-
cott’s, and stories and sketches for Ap
pleton’s Journal.
lie has written a “Memoir” of his
old friend and patron, William Gilmore
Simms, which is yet in manuscript, and
which is to be published by the Harpers.
In 1873 Mr. llAyne published a collec
tion of Henry Timrod’s poems. To this
edition he appended a sketch of the
poet’s life—one of the most touching
and eloquent tributes that genius could
pay to genius. This work went through
three editions. In 1875 his “ Mountain
of the Lovers and Other Poems” ap
peared, and added new laurels to the
author’s reputation, and in 1882 a com
plete edition ot his works.
The wife of this great Southern poet
deserves more credit than the cold, for
getting world is ever likely to give her.
She is descended from a distinguished
French family, her father having served
as a surgeon in Napoleon’s army.
“Mrs. Hayne has been the friend, com
panion, comfort and solace of her poet
husband in all the trials of his life.
She has brightened his secluded home
by her ever cheerful company, acted as
his amanuensis when he was stretched
on the bed of suffering, and nursed him
through severe attacks of illness.” For
several years past Mr. Hayne has been
in very delicate health, and quite a num
ber of his later pieces—among them the
International Cotton Exposition “ Ode,”
and the “Lyric of Yorktown”—have
been written while the poet was sick. I
cannot close this sketch with better lan
guage than by quoting a few remarks
from the pen of my friend, Mr. J. 8.
Daley, editor of tlio Edgefield Chronicle.
He says:
“Mr. Hayne stands pre-eminent; he
began his literary career in the days of
hiB prosperity, when pleasure or the al
lurements of fame were the only motives
could have actuated him; pecuniary
gains was a secondary consideration; he
may, therefore, justly be termed a ge
nius, gifted by nature in the art of poe
sy, and endowed by education with su
perior qualifications. He could not re
sist the impulses of his nature, or the
ambi.ion of his intellect, notwithstand
ing he was surrounded with ail the lux
uries, and all the pleasures that wealth
could give. He, therefore, wrote partly
(or pleasure, and partly for the enter
tainment of his fellowmen, until a
change in his circumstances made it in
cumbent on him to seek remuneration
for his literary labors, and in this he
had much discouragement. But the
times are changing, and more encour
agement is given to Southern literature
now than ever before. The Southern
people have passed from luxury into
poverty, and from poverty are entering
upon an era of industrial prosperity;
they are encouraged partly by pride and
partly by necessity to build up a home
literature. The Southern youth, no
longer lapped in luxury, must work in
some way, not for pleasure, but for sus
tenance, and the works of Paul H.
Hayne will serve as a model of purity
and excellence for the emulation of the
youth of future ages.”
Col. T. M. K. Talcott has been ap
pointed General Manager of the Mobile
and Ohio Railroad, succeeding Col. Jor
dan, deceased. During the “late un
pleasantness” he served upon the staff
of Gen. Robert E. Lee, ranking as Colo
nel. When the contest ended he pur
sued his profession as railroad engineer
and superintended the construction of
the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.
For fifteen years be filled the office of
General Manager of the Richmond and
Danville Raiiroad with eminent ability.
His numerous friends in this section re
joice at his promotion, feeling assured
that he will honor the position he is
called upon to fill.
Be sure to read the poem entitled
“Lost Violets,” in our Home Circle.
If we were to say it is Angel-ic, it might
be considered a pan, hence we will not
say it, and content ourselves with the
remark—it is charmingly sweet.
HOME OF PAUL H. HAYNE.
