Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-13
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES &. TRACEWELL.

One viii ind in Robert Bridges poem.
"The Testament Of Beauty, nothing
startling. either In thought or treatment,
but simply q noble tradition upneio.
That Is something.
Poetry creates excitement and exal-
tation in the mind Of the reader, and
If it secures neither OF these enectS, u
Is either poor poetry or the reader Is not
fitted for poems.
The trouble comes when standardized
educational processes insist on pouring
noetry unrestrainedly into all types OF
minds, into those untitled to receive 1t
as well as those which naturally nave q
An reading, In q sense, Is an unnat-
ural process. One does not otoen stop
to realize this, reading and writing are
so firmly fixed In the thought habits OF
the civilized world.
thing most unnatural IN the slgnt OF q
hearty. rneat-eating animal, sitting still
in a chair. O small book clasped in its
paws. or hands. From time TO time,
during this silent, almost nlotionleSs
process, a smile may light the face OF
the reader and occasionally an tnvolun-
tary exclamation may escape him.
He Is the reader, sight so common
In the world that no one stops to realize
that IL is the result OF scores OF years
of training education, If you will. Saw
ages do not read; even hundreds OF
thousands of persons subjected TO clViIi-
cation do not read line.
Illiteracy is much more common than
many people like to think. Added to
the large numbers of those who cannot
read is the annual list of those who give
I'D reading, except on the most desul-
tory scale.
Give up reading2
Surely. There are thousands of per-
sons every year who calmly and untn-
tentionally release themselves from the
bonds fastened upon them by their days
of enforced compulsory schooling.
Reading was the thing to do, they were
taught, but when manhood or woman
hood came, with its trials and tribula-
lions, its own problems, they found that
books were not necessary, per Sc, in the
tasks which they faced.
Gradually they gave them up, until
by the age of 80 or 35 years they ma
themselves in an almost non-reading
state, especially in comparison with
their school days Many of them would
be astounded at the accusation that
they had accepted q release from a
thing which they believed they liked:
They had been pressed for time, they
would declare; they had been very busy,
and the new books were so many, they
found it dificult to keep up with
them" They surely had as much ap-
probation for a good book as ever. but
life has a strange way of making one do
what one does not like, and preventing
one from doing what he cares for.
And so on and SO on, but whatever
the reasons. and whatever the cause, the
net result is that many thousands OF
persons every year, or over q period OF
wears, give over the serious reading OF
good books, and sit for the remainder
of their lives far from the edge Of the
literary sea which seethes and bubbles
around the world.
r \
Particularly do most 'grown-ups"
forego poetry, except the occasional
jingles which strike the large public
fancy in q broad way.
Yet even here it Is significant that
the two latest issues of the Modern
Library-that good collection Of mod
erately priced books instituted to please
the sophisticated taste-are Homer
"Iliad" and Odyssey"
Here is much hope for those who may
be bemoaning the hard fate OF true
poetry. The canny publishers OF this
particular series Of books have repu-
tation for issuing widely read books
1t is said that If book put into the
Modern Library edition does not sell
well, 1t is withdrawn. 1t will be inter-
esting to know the fate OF Homer, but