"Is there a man whose judgment clear Here pause-and, through the starting tear, In low pursuit, Know, prudent, cautious, self-control Here are no feigned musings, no feigned self-castigations, but the sterling ring of sincerity in every line sincerity in his sketch of his own character; sincerity in his petition for sympathy; sincerity in his caution to the reader; and with the sterling sincerity we get the sterling value, the pure gold, the fine craftsmanship. The Poet's glowing heart was in the work. 56. Keats's "Ode to Autumn."-Or take Keats's "Ode to Autumn " : "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness! Close bosom friend of the maturing sun, With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd and plump the hazel shells And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cells. "Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourne ; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies." No doubt, I should say, that the poet was authentically impressed by some rich autumn scene. 57. Wordsworth.-Note the same characteristic in the following Wordsworth sonnet in another vein : "High is our calling, friend! Creative art Faith in the whispers of the lonely Muse Brook no continuance of weak-mindedness: 58. No great work can be done without sincerity.In all these passages, I should say, there is the unmistakable quality of sincerity. To some people, unhappily, cash seems to be about the only reality, but it had nothing to do with "A Bard's Epitaph," nor with Shakespeare's contemplation of the cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces, nor with Dante's vision of Hell-Gate; neither had the professional spirit, nor pedantry, nor pride, nor egotism, nor any other sinful or low motivepower. Their inspiration, first and last, was a profound interest and concern in the tremendous facts and problems of Man and the Universe. the millionaires in the world could not present 1 To R. B. Haydon. All mankind with gifts so precious as those given to them in great poetry. 59. Even laughter to be genuine must be sincere. -And whilst thus insisting upon sincerity in Literature and all other works, let it not be supposed for a moment that one is hostile to gladness, or mirth, or laughter. That were a contemptible doctrine. Lord Chesterfield was wrong in saying that " you are not to pipe and fiddle." The better advice would have been: "Don't pipe and fiddle too much; pipe and fiddle on suitable occasions." Laughter, too, may easily proceed from the heart. The fountain of laughter, as well as the fountain of tears, seems to have been created by God. There is no hostility between laughter and religion, even though Prophets and Apostles do not seem to be much given to hilarity. The point is that your laughter should be sincere from the heart outward, and not merely a facial contortion. We may see one whose smile is a kind of beatitude, whilst that of another is a mere display of teeth. In Johnsonian phrase, we should not manifest the vociferation of merriment without "the tranquillity of cheerfulness"; and, again, we shall find this genuineness of mirth making its presence felt in truly witty or humorous writings as freshly and spontaneously as the dew of a summer morning or evening upon the grass. 60. All Nature is inspired and glorified by sincerity. In a word, all Nature is inspired and glorified by sincerity. Hear the birds in Spring. Do they not warble their sweet lays as with heart and soul! Listen to the sighing of the wind or to the murmuring of a brook. Regard the crash and the far-bellowing roar of the thunder. Witness the rising of the Sun, or the glowing splendours of Sunset. Nature gives us sincerity in all its forms-in gladness, seriousness, and solemnity. 61. So, all the works of sterling men.-And just as there is no suggestion of weak or improper motive in the splendours of Sunset, nor in any other occurrence in Nature, so in all the works of sterling men, literary, artistic, or any other kind, there must be no suggestion of weakness or insincerity. In every department of Life the first of virtues is glowing, quenchless, Godly sincerity in thought, word, and deed. We cannot have too much wisdom or too little folly either in Life or in Literature. In both the moral motive should be supreme because, intrinsically, it is of the highest importance and significance. All the greatest Literature, I surmise, is, in some way or other, concerned with the moral issues. If in these a writer is deeply absorbed, this sacred prepossession will probably enable him to express himself in the most appropriate forms. All impressive social intercourse is saturated with moral implications and moral significance either for good or evil.1 1 I am utterly out of agreement with Professor Saintsbury when he says: "Generally speaking-the saying has of course the danger of the double edge, but it is true for all that, when Good Sense comes in at the door, Ecstasy flies out of the window, and when Ecstasy flies in at the window, Good Sense and (the lower) Reason retire prudently by the door." History of Criticism,' Vol. ii. p. 289. It will not do. It is sound sense, I submit, that gives rise to the most witching ecstasies. Who wants ecstatic nonsense! The less of it the better. No poet, I repeat, is worth speaking about except in so far as he is sound in the Head. The same in every field of mental activity. 316 CHAPTER XII. THE CROWNING GLORY. 1. What is the quality which lifts a composition into indubitable poetry?-But yet another step. A work should be true to Nature, according to its kind, in plot, narrative, and description. Its diction should be melodious. It should be instructive, well-proportioned, lucid, and sincere; but though possessing all these excellent qualities, it may yet fail to achieve perfection. All these qualities, indeed, are essential to, but do not necessarily imply the highest poetry. What, then, is the quality which lifts a composition into the highest rank? Is there any poetical calimeter in our tool-basket by the application of which to any composition we may be able to say with some confidence this is perfect, and that is not? 2. Man and Nature are complementary to each other in all their relationships.-Let us see. It is to be noticed that, in all their relationships, Man and Nature are complementary to each other. The Farmer, for instance, can do nothing without Nature, but, on the other hand, Nature does very little without the Farmer. The engineer cannot build a bridge without the material supplied by Nature, but Nature with all her store of stones will never build a stone bridge. The learner can do nothing without the natural faculty, but the natural faculty does not make a learned man unless the learner makes faithful use of it; and |