The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-04
Llew LlWyd's Literary Methods.
For The Tribune.

I The reader will observe the steady
expansion Of Llew's powers TO q
cathOlicity of range he added great
flexibility of treatment. The quatrains
and poems mentioned represent two
distinct stages of his growth as bard
bard, l say, for we Welsh bards ap-
ply the term poet only to some English
versifiers.
The Quatrain periods represents
Llew's struggles for the mastery of al
liberation and rhyme often at the ex-
pense of sense. But even here we see
how faithfully he observed the eternal
fitness of things by choosing subjects
of a trivial nature. with the exception
perhaps, OF the Colorado beetle. which
at that time had gained international
notoriety. But Llew confessed to me
that he soon despaired of being able to
infuSe much sense into the twenty
four metres. Take for instance. one of
his best quatrains, "The Pig" literally
translated and shorn of its complicated
alliteration:
"A long cared, big -bellied caterpillar.
Caterpillar. was the only category
that would rhyme.)
With a long mouth and short leg, is
the pig:
1t will have it's way in spite of sticks. -
In way there is good deal of sense
i'm the abOve--pig SENSE. maybe-but
hardly worthy of Llew's genius. 1t is
with pleasure, therefore. we hail the
poems" period. Here the bard Is in
his element. Here he takes his immOr-
tai fellow bard, lslwyn, the great bard
ic liberatOr. as his model. You notice
the striking succession Of subjects.
With the composition of Truth Llcw
became u realist. He threw off the
scales of Dafydd alb Emwnt from his
eyes He dived into the heart of things.
lie dared to investigate the uncunny.
Like all realists. he delighted in dis
cussing the shady side of human ex-
perience. He followed 'The Police
man. on his beat. He lent a hand to
The Sexton" to dig some graves. Had
he known of Stevenson's Suicide Club
he would have applied for membership.
His muse grew fat on worms. The hOr-
rifying minuteness of THE Coffin like
those lines of Tennyson to the "Old
YeW':
Thy fibres net the dreamless head,
Thy roots are wrapt about their bones
places that poem unique among word
paintings. But through ii all Llew kept
a level head. and i'm his masterpiece on
immortality" there is no suggestion
of the odor of the vault.
With laugh-another proof of his
level lheadedncss-Llew told me "a re-
markable fact. After all there are but
few bards who venture far into favor
lite field without consulting the tastes
of the crowd, who follow like dumb
driven cattle far behind Sound prin-
ciples should produce good income
and LEV solved the problem in his own
way.
Alliterative quatrains demand an i'm
meHse amount of labor. 1t is an art
by itself-the art of word juggling
and many are masters of the art But
Llew found 1t a poor paying thing.
Llew. by the way. did not depend on
literature for living-anOther proof of
his observation-disclosures. But he thouht
reasonably enough that the muse
ought at the least to keep him in tobac-
CO. And of all species OF poetry elegies
pay best. While composing the I'm
dertaker." Sexton" Coffin" and I'm
mortality" vista of vast possibilities
opened before Llew. These poems sup
piled him with a ready stock OF fune-
real sentiments. and Llew saw no rea-
son why they could not be applied to
variety of cases. like a hearse or a bor-
rowed suit of mourning.
His first attempt In this new line--an
elegy on a deceased colliery manager
brought him ten shillings. But the
small eisteddvods were few and far be-
tween, and competitors for bardic
fame were as thick as leaves in that
Italian valley. though the valley of
Cwmcoed is good enough for me. Llew
took another tack. When neighbor