Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-10-18
By John KENDRICK BANGS

very much afraid that in spite of all my efforts my
eyes gave my real feelings away. swallowed hard,
and stared, and the old man chucked as he went
"They great bunch, that crowd, he observed
refectively @and 1 don't suppose the world realizes
yet what to them and their influence. Burne-
Jones, William Morris, MADDOX Brown Holman Hunt,
and Rossetti-I suppose you know your Rosseth like
book"
tried to convey the impression that was not with
out due familiarity with and appreciation of my Ros-
setti; but began to feel myself getting into deeper
water than l had expected.
"Theres lot of fine things in poetry and in paint
we'd have had if it hadn't been for those fellows
the old went "O course there's lot OF minds
caoused with the things of the past that they
can't the beauty in anything that takes EN- out of
rut, if it's really old and only to be
That's always the way with any movement, and
the fellow that starts at the head of the procession
gets lot of abuse. Take poor old Rossett for in
stance how the critics did hand it to him. especially Blu
chanan-the idea of man like Robert Buchanan even
daring to criticize Rossettis Blessed Damozel! It's
preposterous! It's like elephant trying to handle
cobweb to find out how any living thing could make
home of it. Of course the elephant Couldn't"
I quite agreed that the average elephant of my
acquaintance would have found the average cobweb
rather insecure in which stretch his weary
length.
3Do you remember he went on, what Buchanan
said about those lines?-
And still she bowed herself and stopped
Out of the circling charm
Until her bosom must hare made
The bar she leaned 7Vdym.
He said those lines were bad, and that the third and
fourth were quite without merit and almost aOith0a
n,eaningl Fancy that
Until her bosom must haze made
The bar she leaned
almost aOithoM meaning! Suffering Centipedes!" he
cried Indignantly. @That man must have been brought
up the bottle!"
THINK may truthfuly say that from that point on
= listened to the old breathessly. Buchanan's
monograph 1.-THE Fleshly School OF Poetry has long
been favorite bit of literary excoration with me,
comparable Victor Hugos ncisive faying of Napo-
leon III, and to have it spring up at thus Of
the alkai desert through the medium of this beloved
vagabond, indeed experience. Instead of con-
versng with my friend, 1 turned myself into what
theatrical people call feeder" for the time being,
putting questions, and and then venturing
mark sufficiently suggestive to keep him going. His
voice as he gathered in strength, and waxed
tuneful and mellow, until, if l had closed my eyes,
could almost have brought myself to believe that it
was our much-loved Mark Twain who speaking
with that musical drawl of his shot through
and through with that lyrical note which gave
it such sweetness.
From Rossetti my new-found friend jumped
to Whistler,-to whom he referred as i'm
& my,'-thence to Watts, and from Watts to
~ Ruskin from Ruskin he to Burne-
a. Jones, and then harked
F-S-2 back to Rossetti again.
~ RoSsett seemed to
. ES, e69ss@zS1~-- become obsession with
s-sss s+-Ex< him. only it Rossetti
4s@4> = the Poet instead of Ros-