Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-01-28
"eoeBIE" viNYARO
TAKES LITERARY TURN

that we notice. yet | have been 80
forcibly impressed with some recent
ones, that wonder these resem-
ers
Rudyard Kiping. 1t will be rcmem'
bered. prefixes his 'Barrack Room Bal
lads" with three verses of quaint lit
tie rhymes in which he boldly an
nounces that many of his songs have
been heard before, and suggests that
he is only a strollng player who seeks
to amuse. After such n frank state
mept It is not surprising to note that
his famous "Recessional." Lest We
Forget, Lest We Forget" bears such
striking resemblance to Byron's "Ye
Isles of Greece. Ye Isles of Greece -
Whose burning sun is with rs yet,
But all except her sun has SET. -
that the conclusion is forced upon us
that he must have gained his inspira-
ton from Byrons poem.
| was re-reading an old favorite OF
mine recently, volume OF short
sketches by an author Of olden times
In England. whose writing, not es.
pecially popular in his own day. has
since become classic; when | no
ticed that one paragraph brought with
Its own beautiful imagery suggest
ion of something more recent The
paragraph l quote below In. full
Then / told how for seven long
years. in hope sometimes, sometimes
in despair, yet persisting ever court
cd the fair Alice WI: and. as
much as children could understand.
| explained TO them what coyness, and
difficulty and denial meant in maidens
when suddenly turning to Alice, the
soul of the first Alice looked out at
her eyes with such reality OF repre-
sentiment that became in doubt
which of them stood there before me,
or whose that bright hair was; and
while | stood gazing. both the chill.
dren gradually grew fainter TO my
view. receding and still receding, till
nothing at last but two mournful fea-
lures were seen in the uttermost DIS
tance. which. without speech. srangls
impressed upon me the effects oi
speech: We are not OF Alice nor oil
thee. nor are We children at all The
children of Alice call Bartuum father
We are nothing less thai nothing
and dreams, We are only wnat might
have been and must wait upon the
tedious shores of Lethe millions oil
ages before we have existence and a
name-and Immediately awal,Ing l
found myself seated in my bachelor
armchair. where | had fallen asleep,
with the faithful Bridget unchanged
by my side; but John l. was gone for
ever"
After reading and re-reading the
lines | searched my memory for the
duplicate. but for some time was un-
able to connect the paragraph with
any other. Happening later upon an
old magazine. saw a portion of n sto-
which so much resembled the para
graph above that hunted up the pre-.
ceding chapters of the story to find. II
possible, the connecting link. | found
not only one but seyeral--for the mag
azine article, which has since been
published in book form and was one
of last years popular favorites, is
from beginning to end reproduction
of the little sketch from which the
above paragraph is taken. | quote
now the story of today, and think the
resemblance will be plain to all:
Il wished $50 had the phantasy OF
Timothy taken possession of mel that
before he went he could have played
In the kensington gardens. and have
ridden on the fallen trees, calling glo-
riously to me 10 look; that he could
have sailed one paper galleon on the
round pond: fain would | have had
him chase one hoop little way down
the laughing avenues OF childhood,
where memory tells us we run but
once, on a long summer day, emerging
at the other end as men and women
with all the fun TO pay for. and |
think thus fancy wantons with me In
these desolate chambers) he knew
my longings, and said with boy-like
dush that the reason he never did
these things was not that ne was
afraid. for he would have loved to do
like other boys; and SO saying, he let
go my finger and faded from before
my eyes into another ana golden
ether. but l shall ever hold that had
he been quite like other boys there
would have been none Drawer than
my Timothy"
Now l was so pleased with my dis
covery that am loath to let everyone
into the secret OF who the authors are
and have decided that curious peopl.
who want to know must puzzle the
matter out for themselves. To help
you guess | will describe lie two au
thors 80 plainly that be who runs may
read. The first quotation IL from the
sketches of man who. when asked
by q friend to be allowed to see his
works." laughingly pointed to big
row OF ledgers. as he was a bookkeep.
er by profession. He lived with his
invalid sister and was fond OF playing
whist. The second paragraph quoted
is from an author at present very pop
ular, who has written several books
that have been well received in Amer
lea. two of them having been drama
uzed by himself. A play by him is
now running In New York. He Is
said to be very fond of tobacco. or was