Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-02
once he came, penniless sailor-lad'

once he came, a penniless sailor-iau
/ ~ and America was none too good tc
him. We let him work in bar in the
| day and grope, half-starved. at high'
for the education that he eventually go'
by the candle.lght in his garrett We
called him "Macey" then.
! More than twenty years afterward-
| that was two years ago--John Maseneio
some were calling him the greatest Nv
ing English poet without rebuke-came
| again. This time the author OF me
Everlasting Mercy" and The WIDOW
in the Bye Street needed no introduce
tion, and halls were stormed by those
who wished to hear and see him.
Well, he's here again, Masefleld Is, and
this time little Identification tag hangs
from his wrist. But that's for the Boone
and not for Americans now. Masefieid
has come direct from the dugouts where
Haig's men are entrenched. He's tne
official historian OF the Somme and Gal
lipoli campaigns. and the slender chaln
on the slender wrist tells more Brapnl-
cally than words the kind of danger the
poet turned historian has been running
Maseficld in the flesh Is "A pleasant
surprise, one might almost say shock
You know his pictures and what tney
lead you to expect--a little, undersized
man, wstful. almost dsspated, remin-
iscent Of the consumptivc or the dope
ilend, tousled and unken1pt.
ut here he stands six feet at leastF
and 1.-THE. The eyes. penetrant, seem
to search the very soul or things, the
mouth is firm and strong under close
nf
tache, the chin. the chin of fighter,
who yet knows the quality Of mercy,
the face spiritualized and sensitive TO
degree.
HE'S A PLEASANT SHOCK
When he talks to you Masefield bends
courteously. esieged on all SIDES Tor
interviews, he is yet gracious ana abso-
lutely unassuming. Sailing the high
seas at fifteen, singing out the beer
and bouncing out the buns from
lower New York saloon at seventeen
Masefield must yet have been 10 the
manner born. His is that inherent de-
meanor which: is no servant OF clrcunl-
stance. lie is man and n gentleman
as well, as one of the hnest creatures
who has ever written poetry
But | am not writing poetry now
be rold me at his hotel. 81 have writ
ten. YES. the book on Gallipoli. but l
have been concerned with things other
than poetry.
"rwo wears ago-you were not at war
then-I was here, 1t is quite true, but I
do not wish to say too much about 1t,
as a sort of official detective to see just
how the German propagandists were
doing their work. ] found them at 1t
hard. Damnable stuff they were spread
ing.
But now you are at war and their
propaganda does not count so much.
I see a tremendous spirit of enthusiasm
here. 1t Is impossible, of course, to have
the very deep realization OF war that we
English and the French have. For when
there are no tremendous casualties war
is little more than a large excitement
But you already have as many men
in the field as we had at Gallipol, and
If what you want is to see some fighting
it is quite likely you will get some of
it," The rich cadence of his poetry
is in his voice, 1t is full-throated and
vigorous and tender and vibrant
What do / think is one of the most
moving spectacles OF lse war? He
turned the question over in his mind for
IL minute and let wander the intense
Stno VI lle DtlIutlu eye Wllil which he
fixes his interrogators.
1t was at the Bellevue-Stratford A
throng of diners, some in decollete, some
III swalloWtails, with here and there a
touch of khaki as Il reminder or the grim
war, went by in continual stream.
The orchestra was playing one of
those "triste" valses that tear the emo
tions.
The stretcherbearers," Masefield said,
Il can see them now. They are far out
on the battlefield bringing in the wound
ed. The air is filled with the screeching
Of the shells and the awful groans of
men.
HELP y. NJ. C. A." HE SAYS
Here come the stretcher bearers. II
is muddy-soft, thick mud. They sink
into 1t, first up to one ankle and then
up to the other About them every
where shells are falling, They are in
danger, On and on they come.
blowing through the mud, bringing in
their wounded. Yes, if am to say the
one thing that seems to me the finest
Of all the fine things in this war think
it is the stretcher bearers"
The picture held you and you felt
that this man had his art of painting
word pictures in broad, vivid strokes
not been so true, must surely have
welded the brush.
What do You think Is the best yyav
for patriotic Americans who will never
see the battlefields to do their bit ?" The
question brought him back--gentle,