Chapter IV

           Presley’sSocialisticpoem,“TheToilers,”hadanenormoussuccess.TheeditoroftheSundaysupplementoftheSanFranciscopapertowhichitwassent,printeditinGothictype,withascare-headtitlesodecorativeastobealmostillegible,andfurthermorecausedthepoemtobeillustratedbyoneofthepaper’sstaffartistsinamostimpressivefashion.Thewholeaffairoccupiedanentirepage.Thusadvertised,thepoemattractedattention.ItwaspromptlycopiedinNewYork,Boston,andChicagopapers.Itwasdiscussed,attacked,defended,eulogised,ridiculed.Itwaspraisedwiththemostfulsomeadulation;assailedwiththemostviolentcondemnation.Editorialswerewrittenuponit.Specialarticles,inliterarypamphlets,dissecteditsrhetoricandprosody.Thephraseswerequoted,—wereusedastextsforrevolutionarysermons,reactionaryspeeches.Itwasparodied;itwasdistortedsoastoreadasanadvertisementforpatentedcerealsandinfants’foods.Finally,theeditorofanenterprisingmonthlymagazinereprintedthepoem,supplementingitbyaphotographandbiographyofPresleyhimself.

           Presleywasstunned,bewildered.Hebegantowonderathimself.Washeactuallythe“greatestAmericanpoetsinceBryant”?Hehadhadnothoughtoffamewhilecomposing“TheToilers.”Hehadonlybeenmovedtohisheart’sfoundations,—thoroughlyinearnest,seeingclearly,—andhadaddressedhimselftothepoem’scompositioninahappymomentwhenwordscameeasilytohim,andtheelaborationoffinesentenceswasnotdifficult.