New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
wv vRITERS in the English period
wv icals-especially those writer's
w figuring in the realm Of the

J
wv icals-especially those writer's
figuring in the realm Of the
arts-love to sign their ini-
tials. Modestly down at the very end
you will find them. Somehow what one
has to say gets over quite as well as
though there were a great flare and to-
do at the start.
Here are few paragraphs clipped
out Of the English "Nation." The ini-
tials are III. M. To-:
"A writer in The Nation recently
mourned little because good prose is not
being written to-day. He was surprised by
this. He asked why it was that as poetry
('primroses and violetsD found abundance
Of nourishment even in such unlikely COM
post as these latter days, tcabbages and
potatoes (prose) made such miserable
growth.
~ don't know. must own the image Of
the potato confuses me, for l have
verses which looked remarkably spud-like.
II those potatoes were meant for violets,
then simple penny guide is what their
gardeners require. So here at least we see
the danger Of using flowers Of speech, when
violets and onions get mixed in the same
posy; to say nothing Of what botany will
do for US when we 60 to It in hurry for
literary symbols. Figures Of speech are
pregnant with possibilities * myself had
better take ever 50 much care here), and
those likely to show most distress over their
progeny are the unlucky fathers. For the
first demand on any literary expression is
its integrity to what we have in mind; and
II the image given for prose-wrfting is a
potato, it represents to me nothing but a
msconGeption Of the idea of what prose
should BE like. What is prose? Sodden and
numbering stuff, I suppose. And what is
poetry7 That fortunate lighting of an idea
which makes us think we have surprised
truth, and have seen that it is beautiful
"Yet, as to the truth, all of us know
those who delight to read authors that
make us irritable if we but glance at them,
and that what is the beautiful face of truth
to US has bcen knowa to excite ribald de-
rision from some ungracious souls. For in
stance, / would as soon read Garvice as
Scott; and when people of admitted learning
and excellent judgment tell me that good
prose is not being written to-day, also
am inclined to rebuke such ingratitude with
sudden heat
66rJ~HE trouble with what is known in the
Il textbooks as prose writing is that
everybody does it. 1t looks as though most
people write novels or pamphlets or both; it
is getting to be both now. Materials are
cheap, even at war rates, and we have de-
veoped consuming curiosity in life now
it Is rapidly diminishing. And the measure
Of excellence need not be high, if one may
!, go by what is popular. Look at the book
stalls The inducing cover picture on all the
current magazines is a 'fiapper. Everybody
not only writes prose, but tries desperately
to sell it. We live by taking in each others
magazines and books. Yet the real thing,
if we go to the authority of Aristotle,
Longinus, and the other Great Ito say moth
ing of our own eclectic and pure dscrimina-
tion), can be never more than a very little
now and then, because it happens to be of
genius; and that last essential gift for
con- juring with words is not distributed by
the generous gods from costermongers' bar
rows round the neighborhoods where babies