The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-23
a., cuA,,Lxs aArruLL LOOMS.

v,,lisb customs but will consist OF a few
s,ncere remarks on an English poem.
Won see, the other day / was talking
.i,b a member Of one of those Browning
.oc,eties that will persist In reading mean
mos into his poetry that he never intended
TO put there
In the course of our amicable converse
,,on | said that Browning had no more
business than Byron had to write doggerel
md that he ought to rave taken toe keen
bride in his craft to ruin what might have
haen a fine handling Of the Pied Piper
Of Hamelin" subject.
on course he gasped and Of course he
..Ssd me to admire the clever rhymes,
and naturally | told him thai the rhymes
we're the ruination Of il, that a clever writer
~ burlesoue verse like W. s. Gilbert with
his irreproachable ear could have given
him valuable points. l asked him what
s.clse there was for a man with any ear
making Mile hence" rhyme with silence
or sun shone" with luncheon
Then he said 1t was only a childis story.
$50 much the worse. One should be most
mreful Of his rhymes when writing for
innocent children, who may have been
brought up on Whittier, that good but
eeress poet
MANY Poop le take the Pied Piper to be
the entrance to Browning and they turn
around in the porch and depart from
his work forever-depart FROM the man
who wrote 'Calibsn on Setebos,' -Childe
Harold to the Dark Tower Came" and
Andrea del Sarto," to say nothing Of the
spirited and quite inimitable ballad Of
'Herve Riel'
Even we who are not Browning students
remember -Herve Riel' that used TO be
rcited at c-ommencements by the boy who
bad not chosen Henry Of Navarro or
Lady Clare
On the sea and at the Hogue. sixteen hundred
ninety-two.
Did the English dsht the Frsnch-wOs
10 France!
And the thirty-nrst Of May. heller skelter
through the blue,
Like a crowd Of frightened porpolses q shoal
Of sharks pursue,
Came crOvdins ship on ship to saint-Malo
on the Rance,
With the English feet in view.
Well begun, it 80 continues to the end.
one OF the finest ballads In the English
language.
II tells how the French feet under Dam
Ievnle, pursued by the English, comes to
place like our own Hell Gate and Is like
10 be caught In a trap and blown up by the
enemies guns.
The local pilots come aboard and quickly
decide that it is quite impossible to guide
such unwieldly vessels through the rocky,
treacberous channel.
In a strait" in every sense Of the word,
Damireville decides that 1t Is better to run
the ships ashore and blow them up than al
low them to become the prizes Of the hated
English.
He is about to give the word when:
up stood " . " out stepped . .
In struck
. a simple Breton sailor pressed by
Tourville for the fleet.
A poor coasting pilot. he-Herve Riel. the
Croisickese.
Herve Riel offers in his simple French
rendered into nobly simple English by
Browning, who must have enjoyed his
mornings work while he wrote at white
heat:
only let mo lead the line,
Have the biggest ship to steer.
Get this Formidable clear.
Make the others follow mine,
And | lead them, most and least, by O pas
sage | know well.
Right to SOldoT past Greve.
And there lay them safe and sound:
And II one ship misbehav We
Keel so much "a CRATE the ground
Why. I've nothing but my life. here's my
head" cries Herve Riel.
What he has promised be we'll performs:
Not a ship that misbehaves. not q keel that
CRATES the ground,
Not a spar that comes TO grief
The peril, see. is past.
All are hsrbored to the last,
And Just as Herve Riel hollas "AnchorI--
sure as fate,
Vp the English come-too Iatel
Now is Herve RieTs golden hour. He Is
TIE hero Of the day and what he asks for
that can he have from his grateful COM
patriots.
what a shout. and all one word.
'Herv4 Riel'"
AZ he stepped in front once more
Not symptom Of surprise
10 the frank blue Breton eyes,
Just the same man as before
Then Damfreville, emotional Frenchman
mat he is, says finely:
lou have saved the King his ships,
lou must name your own reward.
5ath' our sun was near eclipsel
Demand Whate'er you will.
france remains your debtor still.
ASK 70 heart 5 content and havei Or my
names not Damfreville."
ana what does the simple hearted Breton
sailor do' He bursts out laughing through
mas rough beard. He wants no reward for
uolhs what Oaterl England expected every
mah 70 do-according to Nelson:
Since lis ask and have | may:
Smce the others go ashore
Some' 4 good whole holiday!
ASaNe 70 go and see my wife, whom / call
ne Belle Aurore!"
q a ne asked and that he got-nothing more.
Hs a splendid poem and well wipes out
Ne memory Of The Pied Piper Of Hamelin, "
WIN Its bastard rhymes, but almost every
Vne mas wondered that Damfreville was so
nIersl' Why did he take the innocent
Enot az his word? Why did he not throw
purse' Browning himself received
nuharei guineas FOR the poem and he sent
very penny Of it to the relief Of starving
Paris.
D.t Damfreville gave the pilot a day