The Washington times., 1901-12-08
ROADS TO FAME
IN LITERATURE
One the Result Of Hard Work. the
Other of Inspiration.
4 Single Line Hns Often Won Indy
ing Reputation for Its Author.
The STORY of the Success of
John Ingicsant."

John Ingicsant."
There are two roads by which fame in
literature may be reached.
One kind is the result of the slow. la
borious work of years. That is the long.
winding road. which often crosses many
hills and descends into many deep val
! leys. OF such is the fame of Walter
| Scott. who built fer himself n memorial
in print and paper which will last so long
as the language that he wrote in. and
many others. shall endure. The other
kind is of the hanDy inspiration Of few
marvellous moments. which have been
permitted to win fame almost, if not
quite. enduring as theirs.
ConsreNe's immortal Lines.
For instance. how many among the myr-
! lad readers OF modern poetry and drama
remember the name Of William Congreve,
who about three hundred years ago was
one of the most famous English drama
I lists? Probably not l per cent, yet Con-
greve wrote one immortal line that ev-
erybody knows:
Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast.
Congreve wrote many finer lines than
this, but this is the one that has saved
him from twentieth-century oblivion, pos
sibly only the inspiration of one magical
moment, and yet that line will live as long
as the English language
Another instance of a writer taking a
short cut to fame is that of the Rev.
Charles Wolfe. In the year 1917 he read
in the Edinburgh Annual Register" an
account of one of the greatest tragedies
Of the English army. He wrote poem
on 1t ard gave it to the world anonymous
ly. II was copied into the newspapers
and magazines, and the best literary crit
les OF the age ascribed 1t, not only to
Southey, but even to Campbell and Byron
himself All disclaimed the authorship.
and Byron described it as the most beau
tiful ode in the language. When people
forget 10 speak English they viii forget
the lines beginning:
Not drum was heard, not a funeral note.
A. his corse 10 the raInparts we hurried.
"Auld Robin Gray
Lady Anne Barnard. a friend OF Sir Wal
ter Scott. might have lived and died In
obscurity so far as the greater world out
side her own social circle was concerned
if an inspiration had not come to her, no
doubt suggested TO her by some Scottish
tragedy OF peasant life The result of
that inspiration was song which viii
live as long as the sweetest that ever
flowed from the pen OF Robert Burns.
Its title is Aud Robin Gray"
Nearly 900 years ago there was born a
fighting poet who wrote some of the
sweetest songs in the English language.
Thousands OF English readers. and read
ers Of English poetry at home and abroad.
know four lines OF his as well as they
know the most hactneyed passages from
Shakespeare. and yet only a score or SO
Of them could say where the lines come /
from or who wrote them.
l would not love thee. dear, So much,
Loved not honor more
and
Stone walls DO not prison make.
Nor iron bars cage.
Written in Prison.
How many who read these lines know
that they we're written by Richard Love-
lace. while he was in prison, penniless
and dying OF consumption?
It is commonly supposed that Thomas
Gray's fame rests on a single poem. and
that an inspiration. This is a mistake.
Thomas Gray wrote the Progress OF
Poesy" and The Bard and these would
have secured his place in the Temple OF
Fame II he had never written a line OF
the "Elegy in a Country Churchyard."
They are the two finest odes in the En-
gllsh language. The elegy may probably
have begun with an Inspiration, but II
took seven years TO write.
There are. OF course. many Instances of
an author earning immortal fame with
one book. OF these Don Quixote' is,
perhaps the most famous. Cervantes
plowed the literary fields for many years
and produced r-any crops, but this one
Incompatible ha. st is the only one that
has survived.
Another Kind Of Fnmc.
There is another kind Of fame which.
hough well deserved, comes as il we're |
by accident There are two modern in
stances OF this in which Mr.. Gladstone
leted once knowingly and once unknow-
ngly. as the bestower of the laurel
wreath. When Mrs. Humphrey Ward
wrote -Robep Elsmere." a copy fell into
he hands Of the Great Old Critic. and he
criticised 1t unsparingly. The criticism,
II course. made the book ard the fortune
If the autboress. II it had not been for
hat criticism. the fortunes OF both might
lave been different. At another time MIR. 8
Gladstone went TO have his photograph I
AIKEN The artist suggested that he L
hould have book in his hand. tool. one '
n his table and gave it to him. The light [
ell on the title Of the book so that IL !
ould easily be read. The title was John :
nglesant." 1t had been published in BIr- d
ningham and had run through an edl-
ion Of 500 copies. I,
1t was OF the best modern novels
yer written. but II the photographer had
iwn Mr.. Gladstone a copy of Paradise
.os-' or The Pilgrims Progress" John
nglessnt" might never have been heard S
I beyond circle OF intimate friends