The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-11-01
POEM STARTLES
LONDON SOCIETY
WOMAN WITH THE SERPENT'S
TONGUE" HAS ORIGINAL
IN LIFE
AN EKVtNOMED SATIRE
Natsons New Beck Of Verses Re-
wives Talk Of "The SOUS"
Which Brought Scandal
as Affinity Hunters.

| London, Oct 31,--In William Wat,
sons new book of poems, just pub
lished by John Lane, is included one
! entitled; ~The Woman With the
Serpents Tongue" which has set all
{ London talking No name is men
itioned in the roem, but the name of
very well known woman is in every
mouth.
! MIR. Watson is being severely con
demned as having far exceeded the
bounds to which it is permissible to
20.
OF everybody conversant with the
gossip OF what goes on behind the
scenes in London life the pict ne is
speaking likeness of woman who,
perhaps more than any other in Eng.
land, below royalty has occupied pub.
lie attention from the days before her
marriage when she was the leader in
a select coterie known as THE
Souls" to these latter times, when
ner reported indiscretions have been
near precipitating political crisis.
Envenomed caricature!
Whether Mr. Watsons portrait is
trre to life or is only an enyenomed
caricature is question hotly de-
bared. Everybody who knows the
lady. who is supposed to be the orig
inal. acknowledges that she has a
sharp tongue, and it is surmisel that
the poet may have experienced its
keenness. Another suggestion is that
Mr. Watson may ascribe TO this par.
tieuar woman's influence the fact
that he has not been the recipient of
any OF those titular honors which are
occasionally awarded by the British |
government to poets of more or less |
merit,
whether there is any more--or any
less-truth in these suggested ex
plantations than in the accusations
which Mr.. Watson makes is a secret |
which lies between ths poet and his |
Woman With the Serpsnts Tongue" |
In any case the verses have created |
a maeistrom in the ordinarily quiet
eddies Of London literary life. and in |
other directions have caused no lit
tie connection. | am told that the |
publisher of the poems strongly OBJ
jected to the inclusion Of this par
ticrlar effusion in the volume. but |
that atr Watson insisted that it be |
retained
The remarkable society known as
The Souls attracted much attention
in England several years ago. al
though public knowledge of its affairs
was always somewhat indefinite |
Neither wealth nor position could Sc,
cure an entire to this most exclusive
of clubs. Intellectual brillancy was
the test, and among the leading mem |
bers were Arthur ]. Balfour, Mrs
Beerbolm Tree, Lady Cranky, Lord
Elcho. Margot Tenant (now Mrs. AS
quith, wife of the PREMIER, George
Wynham and Alfred Lyttleton
Souls Against Affinities.
|
out with high ideals. They were a
small band of men and women Of
aesthetic tastes who wished to adj
vance beyond the common herd They
were most of them well known.
either in the ultra fashionable world
Or in the world Of art or letters.
They met often AMI discu ssed every
hing imaginable and rnimaginable.
At last they got 50 far on the road to
dealism it was reported that they
.ook to finding affinties and here
came the stumbling block Affinities
got mixed. Scandal began to attach
Itself to the idaa'is;ic tendencies of
he society, and finally a really pain
'ul denoument to the affinity seekino
of one luckless couple caused society
70 frown so severely upon THE |
Souls that they disbanded forever
md now ci}npraf ie, ,,tse,ur,,,,n.j fou