The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-01-04
rArIrnE IN IrrERArURE.



Andrew Lang Naively Tells Tewng
Writer'S How Success Nay BE Avoided
Andrew Lang. who Is pretty nearly the
most successful .all-rounan man Of letters
OF the day. gave . lecture nc South kens-
ington on "How 20 Fail in Literature"
which is thus condensed in - sTanses'
Ga.xste. He who would fail could not be-
gin too early to neglect his education. and
must take good care not TO observe life and
literature. To cultivate bad handwriting
was precaution often overlooked Those
who would court disaster shonld be as
ignorant and As reckless as possible As
matter of style, they should always place
adverhs sitter the word ito, As. Hubert
was determined to theoretically refuse TO
entangle himself with such: - and should
use more aajeetives than words OF all other
denominations put together. They should
also hunt for odd terms, IS, "a betting
nose. and should have startling descrip-
tons, SIS, .sEhe sun sank in q caul-
dron Of deathly chaos" Unusual terms
should be pat where they would cause the
reader the most surprises. for instance,
trees around a mans house might be called
his domestic boscage. "Fictional, for
fictitious was to be distinctly recon-
mended: ''all the time might be employed
for always, . back of for behind. and
ado like he did for do as he did. Re-
versing the advice OF Cesar, Il might be
said that he who would fail must avoid sim
plicity ike sunken reel. lie who would
fail could not begin better than BY having
nothing to say. Ii was an excellent plan
70 notice nothing, TO take everything in the
lump; to 90 through the world with eyes
and ears shut, and then TO embody the re-
suits in . novel or q poem. 4 yonng
writer turned eagerly to verse. and his IA
yorite authors sang OF disappointment and
gloom. Mr.. Lang here said that. not liking
10 quote verses of other peonle's, he had
written few poems himself to show dis
tinctly how not 10 do it. A good way to
disgust an editor or publisher was 10 be-
gin with the word only" which might
also serve for q heading, as:
ONLY.
oniy spark Of an embers
Only aleaf on q tree.
Only TIE days We remember,
Only the days without thee.
Only the flow.r that thou woreSt.
Only the books that.we read.
Only that night N the forest.
Only dream OF the dead,
Only the troth that was broken.
Only the heart that was lonely.
Only the sign and the token
That sigh in the saying of s'onlyp'
Another of Mr.. LaRg's specimen poems
began:
Wnen the somhre night Is dumb,
flushed the loud ehrysanthemum,
Sister. sleepl
sleep the lissome lily saith.
This sort Of thing was q certain way of
coming TO grief in literature: but. he added
malictousiy. man might perhaps do very
wen in an undistinguished sort of way BY
writing such lines for the sister art OF
music. ALTERATION was a splendid means
of failure, and imitation was to be urged
on young authors as leadingto The greatest
possible maximum OF failure all around.
He Knew Brown
Terre Hante Express.
Watts Have You heard the story Brown
is telling on himself?
Potts--A story about himself and young
woman, wasn't it2
Watts-oh, You have heard il, have YOU
Potts-No, but know the kind of stories
Brown always tells.