New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-10-18
By John KENDRICK BANGS


eyes gave my real feelings away ! swallowed hard,
and stared, and the old chuckled as he went on
aThev were a great bunch, that crowd, be- observed
reAectively, "and ! don't suppose the world realizes
vet what we owe to them and their influence. Buruc-
Tones. William Morris, MADDOX Brown, Holman Hunt,
and Rossett-I suppose you know your Ros@tt Ike a
book17
tried TO convey the impression that ! was not with
ont due familiarity with and appreciation Of my Ros-
settj: but / began 70 feel myself getting into deeper
water than had expected
@There's a lot Of fine things in poetry and in paint
we'd never have had it hadnt been Tor those fellows,
the old man went on "Of there's ot ot minds
so calouscd over with the things Of the past that they
can't see the beauty in anything that takes em out 4
a rlt even if its really old and only seems ~ BE- new
That's always the way with any new movement and
the fellow that starts in at the head u the procession
gets a lot Of abuse Take poor old Rossctt Pr M
stance how the critics did hand it 70 him, especially Bl
chanan-the idea Of a man ike Robert Buchanan even
daring 10 criticize Rossetti's Blessed DamozeH rs
preposterous It's like elephant trying 10 handle
cobweb to find out how any living thing could make
a home Of it. OF course the elephant couldn't
| quite agreed that the average elephant " my
acquaintance would have found the average o1aeb
a rather insecure retreat in which 10 stretch DID, cary
length
@Do YOU remember" be went on ~what Buchanan
said about those lincs!-
And still she bowed herself and stopped
Out Of the circing charm
Until her bosom must hare MGde
The bar she teamed on 1ldyH.
He said those lines we're bad and that the third nd
fourth were quite without merit, and almost ,H.a
meaning Fancy that
Until her bosom must haze made
The bar she teamed on raytr-
almost syithom Drcquiugl Suffering Cenupcie Ire
cried Indignantly "That man must have been br -,
up the bottle.
THINK may truthfuly say that from that pa.r. ID
| listened to the old man breathlcssly Bucaara1s
monograph on ~The Feshly School Of Poetry has long
been favorite bit Of literary excoration with re,
comparable to Victor Hugo's incisye Aaying Of \ara-
leon H. and to have It spring up at me thus orr u
the akal desert, through the medium Of this beloved
vagabond was indeed experience Instead 81 COM
vcrsinq with nv friend | turned myself into what
theatrical people call ~feedcr" for the time being,
putting questions, and now and then ventunnc re-
mark sufficiently suggestive % keep him going HIS
voice as he ran on gathered in strength, and naNci
tuncfil and mellow until if | had closed my eyes, J
could almost have brought myself 70 believe thar It
was our much-loved Mark Twain who was spelng
with that musical drawl Of his, shot Chr sch
and through with that lyrical note which gave
u such rare sweetness.
From Ross.tti my ncw-found friend jumped
20 Whstlcr-to whom he referred as JIM
"a my. thence 10 Watts and from Wa'ts 20
- Ru,kin; from Ruskn he ran on 20 Barae-
Jones, and then harsed
w. back 20 RosSe-ti again.
ROssctti now SCENE. 20
become an obscssion with
S.. -~. him: only il was Ros,-ti
the Poet instead OF Rs-
sctt the Painter % whom
he referred In few
moments the sul'ue- FEEL.