_The Hermitage_, his first volume, was published in 1867, a later edition (including later poems) appearing in 1889. His two posthumous books are _Poems_ (1887) and _Hermione and Other Poems_ (1899).
Sill died, after bringing something of the Eastern culture to the West, in 1887.
All alone—alone, Calm, as on a kingly throne, Take thy place in the crowded land, Self-centred in free self-command. Let thy manhood leave behind The narrow ways of the lesser mind: What to thee are its little cares, The feeble love or the spite it bears?
Let the noisy crowd go by: In thy lonely watch on high, Far from the chattering tongues of men, Sitting above their call or ken, Free from links of manner and form Thou shalt learn of the wingéd storm— God shall speak to thee out of the sky.
Doubting Thomas and loving John, Behind the others walking on:—
“Tell me now, John, dare you be One of the minority? To be lonely in your thought, Never visited nor sought, Shunned with secret shrug, to go Thro’ the world, esteemed its foe; To be singled out and hissed, Pointed at as one unblessed, Warned against in whispers faint, Lest the children catch a taint; To bear off your titles well,— Heretic and infidel? If you dare, come now with me, Fearless, confident, and free.”
“Thomas, do you dare to be Of the great majority? To be only, as the rest, With Heaven’s creature comforts blessed; To accept, in humble part, Truth that shines on every heart; Never to be set on high, Where the envious curses fly; Never name or fame to find, Still outstripped in soul and mind; To be hid, unless to God, As one grass-blade in the sod, Underfoot with millions trod? If you dare, come with us, be Lost in love’s great unity.”
Sidney Lanier was born at Macon, Georgia, February 3, 1842. His was a family of musicians (Lanier himself was a skilful performer on various instruments), and it is not surprising that his verse emphasizes—even overstresses—the influence of music on poetry. He attended Oglethorpe College, graduating at the age of eighteen (1860), and, a year later, volunteered as a private in the Confederate army. After several months’ imprisonment (he had been captured while acting as signal officer on a blockade-runner), Lanier was released in February, 1865, returning from Point Lookout to Georgia on foot, accompanied only by his flute, from which he refused to be separated. His physical health, never the most robust, had been frightfully impaired by his incarceration, and he was already suffering from tuberculosis, the rest of his life being spent in an unequal struggle against it.