New-York tribune., 1903-06-30
rrod,csd. they were part of the truth. and pro-
duced they have been Keats was one oi eii0S0
For 7horn the carrion yulture waits
To tear his heart before the crowd

& L.
duced they have been. Keats was one OF those
For xhou the carrion vaIture m e.d waits
To tear his heart before the crowd
What is the world the better for the KNOW
ish love letters? The world often negiec.s dA
| authors books. which may contain ms 80 49,
lest self and all of him that was OF PUN ia -, in
10 batten on the revelation OF ms priNo' Ia -
hrrnities as when for example, he uses notld
elouuence 10 his printers foreman nc. NC -
known man Of letters Of spotless chdI dIdGlcI
ernnlov language of superfuous visor Wnen
the giIlie muffed the gaf1Hg OF hsn- "oui9 80
his biographer be bound 10 insist on tnese ne ne
and whirling words? I think not but, on Is -
anti-Tennysonian theory, the biographer "0u-u
| be bound 10 insist r.. ooro
whether the Brontes' name was FfunlT "
Rrontel who are sorry that we know 50 ~
about Shakespeare. They would rejoice 70 IN lILLu
and publish the Diary ana I1e.te-s u ..--ba
Sba kespeare": or in the case of Socrates. me
Diary and Letters OF Aanthippe an So
! that thew have not the chance. Probably NEs'
| Sha Lesreare had certain grievances. SNAKE
speare was brute" people would say anu otIie. ne
people would stand up for Shakespeare. @ anu %:
that his Anne was a shrew. So the con~lroEeLsS ~
would rage, most noisy among Pe9p1e That
read Henry w. "As You Like II 10
second best bed has already been the lopiS
OF reanls Of writing. Obviously II was Ine - 5
of the husband and wife: the best bed was Ia
the spare bedroom-the best Toon-ahu PEE.
beds in those days were very good. were carved
and giIded and hung with violet velvet ana
costly embroideries. Shakespeares hear1 can
rot he torn before the crowd" The carrion
-,,i-,,re must nose out some other quarry, while
III ~ ns shakesneare was 20 the universal
good is in his works The world "oulo De mn
the better for Mrs Shakespeare's letters nor lor
the poets tavern scores at the Mermaid or any
other place OF entertainment
Take another poet. now I believe reckoneo
onIv second 10 ShakespeaTe-rake Omar hha!-
yam. Next to nothing is known aooul HIS my
except from his poems. Perhaps his praises OF
wine and girls are purely pIatoflc ie ne ;. INC;
have been q total abstainer. His practlce may
have varied from his preaching. OF Whlch I!1e
overword is Trina What does II mater 80 ~
had
and Letters of all the wives of Omar, OF the "hoe
harem, IT, as I presume, Omar was polygahlous.
The wives Of great men are not usuaHy greae
women. They have done nothing TO deserve the
dissection Of their foibes; perhaps, as Charies
II admitted about his own wife, while applaud
ing her general character they nave hao some
dfsagreeable hurnoTs.'' On the ant-Tennysonlan
theory the wife Of the great man can harQiy
hope 10 escape, and the Diary Of Xanthippe IS
part of the truth. If we possessed the Diary II
would certainly appear that Socrates. though
a great man, provoking husband Peo-
pie who do not care about the "Phaedo' or the
Apology would go round saving, Call tnat
man great spiritual teacher! He did not dlne
at home once a week. Always late at the club,
with fellows like Critias and Alcibades, and that
notorious Bohemian Aristophanes do not say
that he gave Mrs Socrates, technically speaking,
serious grounds for complaint but it is notorious
that he would talk metaphysics for hours with
Miss Diotrne, and Mrs Socrates declares that
he never talked metaphysics with her after their
honeymoon. He absent minded that he
would stand still and speechless for a whole
day. AS 10 his so-called Damon, Mrs. Socrates
repeatedly irnplored him to see Dr.. Hippocrates
about it, for she believed that. the Demon was
only liver, If not brain trouble. But he never
would. AS to his behavior on his deathbed
call II heartless" (and fear that il Wast. This,
and much more, would be part Of the truth. and,
in the minds Of many, it would totally eclipse
the large Of the Athenian martyr. That no
biographies should be written at all Is more
than we can expect, but they must be affairs
of compromise as q general rule, and affairs
Of compromise, more or less judicious, they are.
While the cry for 'the whole truth is shrill,
we do not know whether TO be more sorry for
the biographer or for his hero. Poor hero, de-
Tended: poor biographer attacked-by Sir James
Crichton-Brownei