Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-17

American comments on the selection
of John Masefield as poet laureate of
England are colored in part by recollec-
lions of his world wanderings, in the
course of which he was humble
worker in New York City. He is called
poet of daily toll, yet credited with
the distinction Of being one of the fore
most of modern writers.
John Masefield. ex-sailor, ex-ship's
COOK, ex-saloon porter and ex-rOver over
the world" says the Chattanooga
Times, has been made poet laureate of
England. All of which is in perfect keep
ing with the trend of things in Merrie
England. All of which, again, means that
England's poet laureate will be read in
America by more than bakers dozen
for the. first time in many. many years.
To Americans, in the opinion Of the
Springfield Republican, there had been
special piquancy in wondering whether
| the governments ofi1cial recognition of
the muse would fall on man who once
tramped about America looking for jobs
| and worked in a New York bar room
This has come to psss." continues that
paper, land II the building that shell
tered the saloon is still in existence, or
perhaps the saloon itself in properly
| transformed state. there is now the
chance to distinguish it with a tablet
| proc)aiming. Here the poet laureate OF
| England once toiled for a modest
wage"
Emphasis upon his extraordinary life
story Is placed by the Newark Evening
News. with the added comment: MOT
that Masefield'S temporary sojourn in a
place of refreshmen: in Greenwich ave-
nue. was ANYTHING more than an Incl
dent in a life OF adventure that had
covered the Seven Seas and moved to
the land to add variety to the cravings
Of vagabondia. From such back
! ground came George Borrow and our
own Jack London, to the enrichment OF
| their powers. Manv spirited youth
has followed the same path with credit.
Masefield Is still In the middle
mites, still preoccupied with ships and
seas and hunting the fox on land. as
British as any son of Albion ever has
been. There mu:t be great work still
left for him"
His selection" as viewed by the New
York Times, makes of his life story
of the kind supposed to be peculiar to
American soil. While other Englishmsn
of letters called to this eminent place
have known poverty and obscurity, there
is none who endured them in so many
phas es and in So many parts OF the
earth. The Labor government has
chosen the most gifted and sympathetic
poet of daily toll" The Kansas City
Star feels that st is refreshing to the
rest of the world. perhaps even a part
of the literary world, that instead Of
hitting merely upon the safe course
and selecting a poet who would be sure
to say the right thing In the accepted
manner the British government and
the crown have been daring enough to
strike out into the OPEN"
He is the poet of the downtrodden. "
declares the Chattanooga News. with
the added statement: "Xiplin2, the
voice of the empire, said his prayer in
! occasional John Masafield said his
prayer in "A Conservation How fine it
| is to see a great nation crown with its
| lsurels man whose soul is stirred by
! such thoughts as in that fine poemP'
| The News quotes this poem, the CON-
Guiding lines of which are:
Others may sing of the wine and the
wealth and the mirth,
| The pcrtly presence CT potentates goodly
in girth!
Mine be the dirt and the dross, the dust
and scum of the earth!
Theirs b. the music, the color, the glory,
the gold;
Nine be a handful of ashes, mouthful
Of mould.
| or the manned, of the halt and the
! blind In the rain and the cold
OF these shall my songs be fashioned,
my tales be told" I:
sEnaland has gone back 10 Thomas