his father s and at the to which his muse was at his hands he had never had any one to with his poetical aspirations except his friend a fellow clerk of his own age who was also devoted to the and s praise had its first he did not think it worth much and secondly it could not be obtained without and it went against william henry s conscience to praise s poems well thought the young man as he looked out of his window which commanded a distant view of church there a man who was as little appreciated at my age as i am and yet he made some noise in the world he too some say was a s clerk he too was called will � which is at least an interesting coincidence he too fell a real in love at my age here his reflections ended with a sigh for the parallel extended no shakespeare had not only but � with a little too much ease indeed � had won whereas margaret was far out of his reach he had a shrewd suspicion that mr intended ner to marry and had brought him down with him to to throw the young people together as he would doubtless express it people indeed why frank was old enough � well scarcely to be her father unless he had been unusually but certainly to know better age � the man was thirty if he was a day � and youth cannot live together it was a most monstrous proposition on the other hand what could he poor william henry do if he could persuade to run away with him to morrow they must run for he had hardly money enough after that trip to pay the first out of and far less a post chaise as he thought of his merits and of the many obstacles to his union � the talk op the town he grew bitter against the whole scheme of creation if poetic impulse could have projected him fifty years forward he would doubtless have exclaimed with the bard of bon � be the clerk and the parson be the whole concern but not having that vent for his feelings he only loosened his a bit and looked moody poor fellow he had but two wishes in the world � to marry margaret and to get into print and both these desires just because he had no money were denied him at that very time margaret at her window was thinking of him she was not � she was certain she was not the idea was quite ridiculous � in love with him but thanks to his father s conduct she felt that pity for him which is akin to love and he was certainly very handsome and very fond of her he had been foolish to come down to when it was clear her uncle didn t want him but it was very nice of him too and since he was there and upon his holiday � his one holiday in the year poor fellow � it was a real cruel to him frank didn t him that she would say for frank he was a kind honest fellow though rather old fashioned and just a trifle heavy in hand she wished william henry would talk like him when addressing his father though when addressing her she confessed to herself that she preferred william henry s way it was really distressing to see her and his son together they mixed no better than oil and she was well pleased to remember that mr the poet was coming that morning to breakfast with them since his presence would prevent anything moreover he would probably take her uncle and frank away with him to investigate which would leave william henry and herself to themselves john was but a carpenter in a small way of business but he was much respected in the town and had made himself a name beyond it on account of the interest he took in all matters the gentry in the neighbourhood spoke of him as a civil and creature but he was the talk of the town with by men of letters and learning in london his position would have been better than it was had he not been so foolish as to publish a volume of poems � to be paid by this had subjected him to something much worse than criticism � to patronage every one who had advanced a few shillings for the appearance of that unfortunate volume became in a sense his master and some of them interest for their in advice remonstrance and it was a foolish thing of john to set up his trade � not but the other � in on in there are i have heard say at this present moment fifty poets all complaining that the world which will give them a monument after their death in the meantime them to starve but is a place which is scarcely poetic to begin with whereas to be a local poet in was like setting up a shed for small coal in the good man had become quite aware of this by this time he was very dissatisfied with his published productions it is a common case what a real we have in our desk seems as superior to what lies on our table as that which moves in our brain is to what lies in our desk he would have given as much to suppress his little volume as william henry would have given to get his sown over an admiring land and yet there was no question of comparison between them as respected merit john was within certain narrow limits a true poet what he saw he noted what he noted he felt so far he followed his great master he even a modest light of his own which was not reflected 