The Washington herald., 1920-04-25

at NEVER enjoy myself quite so much a.
when I am right in the middle Of some
piece Of writing that is going we'll" This
Is the way Alfred Noyes told me how he
played. Frankly, you know" he con-
tinued smiIingly, 'I never thought before
how I did play, but, now that you ask me,
am sure that I never looked at my
writing as work, because love to write.
All artistic creation is a kind of play.
When regular work is mechanical motion II
is absolutely necessary to have a change,
but always feel that the recreative part
Of artistry is in the creating, where there
are quite as many surprises for the artist as
for his public. So far as know, this is
true Of all artistry. A stanza Of Matthew
Arnold illustrates what mean:
What poets take not (,ohsr they rske)
pleasure IN creotino,
The cord, is its turn, soiu not toke
Pleasure IN oostsnplstia0.'
The hardest work do is to write on q sub
ject am not interested In, and true labor
Is dissatisfaction with my work.
"All my out-of- door recreations are con-
nected with the sea or river, and always
get some, and perhaps the best suggestions,
from the time spent in the open. For an
indoor recreation chess is to me the king
Of games, for this reason-it combines both
logic and imagination. When you have been
using these faculties in your work, it Is
great fun to try them out in another direc-
;ion."
Mr.. Noyes's home is at rockingham, a
little seaside village in Sussex, about FIVE
miles from Newhaven, on the east coast of
England. The quaint old place has also been
the home Of Kipling and Burpe- Jones, and Is
the present home Of the portrait painter,
Nicholson.
Mr.. Noyes has only just arrived in this
country for another season of lectures at
Princeton. Shortly before leaving ENGLAND
he gave some lectures at the Royal Institu-
ton, London, one of which, on the Anglo
American bond Of literature, aroused con-
siderable interest all over the country.
1t is interesting to hear the word Co
operation" used by Mr.. Noyes. The word
has reached the other side, or did it start
thereI With him It means a unity OF the
English speaking peoples He very much
deprecates the propaganda that is being car
ried on In England in the newspapers with
an obvious American source, to bring about
distrust OF America, and he cited several
examples Of anti ti-Americart dispatches pur-
porting to come from this side, which were
calculated to prejudice the English mind,
especially il there existed any willingness
on the part of those who read, to believe
any statement Of such a character. He
urges a closer union between the English
speaking peoples, and says the process OF
unity is going on, not for the benefit of any
one particular nationality, but that the
light Of freedom may shine upon all men
equally" The English speaking race, he
feels, Is bound BY common traditions Of law
and freedom, by language and literature
and by the great unifying process, (which
is nothing less than the quiet evolution Of
an extra political League of Nations" He
is quite confident that the fusing element
between England and America is our COM
mon language and literature.
1t is strange how any conversation one
may start in these days, however trifing, is
so easily carried into a discussion of prob