New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-03-06
Che Nelut}lork 0ribm'1ss
SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 1910.

changes it we must conceive Oh hiH "9 u''f
ing into a totally different type! NOT iohs 90
an editorial in THE London Times adVahteu
the s,lrmisa that Wordsworth was perhaps III.
only English poet who had really preferred anu
lived of free choice, the simple country me-
V-hereuDon the present Laureate. inviting HIS
soul in Italy, got into something oI ''ihi7'
and straightway wrote to claim Nhducei' oPe
ser and Shakespeare as lovers Oh the Silnpe
country life and to point out that Byron ehei
lev Tennyeon and even Pope were ho'' Ute. an
unnuaIified cts? Tell me, if you can, ne
added "of single English poet, of really sreiis
ord enduring distinction, who has not preferred
tho simnIe country life" Promptly Mr. u IN
Shorter turns I'D to contradict the Laureate
Their disagreement is not, perhaps, OF lluch
consequence, save that it turns upon the lu':
+inn as TO whether 1.-The simple country llie 10
good for poets and helpful to SANITY iii' ID
an amusing question, and it is none the le's 81
because, as matter OF fact, tHe poeI ii'eN M
world of his creation
TT is the easiest thing in the world TO delhoh-
strate the poets dependence upon his SURROUND
iuos The biographer who sets out 10 recoiu
the influences by which his nero was loi niou
soon finds the and his WORKS pdiiilClhS ~
ncrfection This or that poem may cohhuen'ls
be ascribed to an experience had Id thls CT liza,
MACE Nav. the poet himself supplies abundant
that the scene of mans work is the detefmln
ING factor in the development Of his genius we
orc soon landed in absurdity. We might argue,
then that the brilliance of Mr.. Sargents Vene-
tian water coorS is to be taken as PROOF 'n''
1is art is rooted in Venice rather imam III Luz
don 1t is rooted, OF course, III neither pace.
Wordsworth, coming up from his simple coun-
try life and stan(.ing upon Westminster briuse'
could write this poem:
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
DuIl would he be Of soul who could pass oy
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning: silent pare -,
Shps towers domes, theatres. and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky
All bright and glttering in the snokeleSS ar.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first spIendour valley. rock, or hl!i
Ne'er saw I, never felt, calm SO deep!
The river glideth at its own sweet Will
Dear Cod the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
What does this prove as to Wordsworth's
preference in the matter Of nome! Oh Lial
subject it has nothing to tell us whatever Oh
the other hand, it offers pretty conclusive tesl-
mony to the fact that 1.-The lords OF tnouSht
NAV dwell where they choose, the growth ana
operation of their genius receiving their needed
stimulus from obscure springs in their own
hearts.
The English novelist cannot be happy just
unless he or his publisher iS SiS LIZ 9eiiie
thing In print about the chances OF fiction
What shall it be sold for? Shall II be SUD-
jected to the censorship of circulating library!
Is it to dominate the literary market, or Is
# to lose its vogue? In short, what Is the
novelist to do in order to make quite sure OF
comfortable living? The latest contribution to
the subject is made by anonymous novelist,
writing leading article in "The Athenaum
Over the existing situation he sadly shakes MS
head There are too many cheap magazines
They clamor for the serial story or for the
'.serles," and the author, having butchers bills
to paw surrenders to the power of the perlodl-
cal Gle tends to write with one eye upon its
necessities and requirements; and if these re-
cuirements are not such as stimulate the writ
ing of good work. good work is apt to be
unwrtten" He cannot write tragedy because
the magazine pumps for the happy ending.
There are too many novels, and hence the
writer of talent and the reader both suffer.
"Papers with no literary standard puff this and
that novel recklessly,' and SO the public loses
It's way in the weller Of new books. The novel
fst has plenty # freedom, and If he has 1T IN
him he may write great truths concerning
human life but after he has done so he may
wait in vain for recognition. And SO on, and
80 on Nevertheless, we advise the novelist to
cheer I'D Let him write a really good book
and we dare say that, despite the dolefulneas or
'.'rhe Athennum' it will somehow get itself
read. There is something comic about these