SPECIAL ARTICLE

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18147, 9 August 1924, Page 11

SPECIAL ARTICLE

AND THE SEA. 0 APPRECIATION ■ ■ • (By Cyrano.)

tf W to have fallen under the spell X Conrad feel that by his 'KtSd loses <v t g~,t wnter BDOb since I read "Al- ***? SS"«nd "The Nigger of ."^Usbs 5, * at here was a man v^^'» tl,e p aintingof 1 chara6 ; *■ &«* hose p*" o ™ ll * and *** Y, .Med to the stature of life. life, but down-lit up by a gleam "£5, «* life to us is fiDer for !fJdStfnS is *e »veep of, his Folly," that !Vrrcnous tale of tropical island life, SS in 1895, onwards through Stt of the Islands," "Lord iw.» and other books, to the populaS'tbt came with "Chance" in 191-i 2-iW■■ increased in 1915 by "Vic ' forj" All these books of his, with of merchant captains and jeaaen, Malays and traders, are an K<ra^ißM y achievement for a man ,}» vu born in Central Europe of Pdish parentß, did not come under influences until he was nearly IBM, and waa not drawn into litem:toß antd he- reached an age before 'liiih joiny writers have become fam.oßo. There is nothing more fascinating ; ; jathe history of the making of books ii»'the story of this foreigner, a. capj»jn in a sailing ship under the Eng'Eshflag, writing "Almayer's Folly" on jia long voyages, more to amuse himrif than with hope of fame or fortune. That Conrad had to wait long for nei popularity as he won, and that he irifl never be popular in the "bestleDtr" sense, is not surprising. He • does not tell a plain tale plainly, and Mmetimes he lias to be read with dose concentration. His genius lies • ; largely in his power of analysis, and Ml piling up of small effects until a .mountain is ■ made. He likes a .great deal of elbow-room in his story-telling, ail the narrative ranges , slowly ovei toiHg of action and reflection.. Probasly!So,gets his line, of detail and ;ea!j|M-from his Slav,origin. Hence, : t«i'may come what on a superficial be'described as his pessi-tilbkt-He broods over -tjhe tragedy of Kfft. , Ooittad,-however, is not pessimistic/jfyhas something English or Britjjh.tiat^distinguishes him from the Basnaa. school. I suggest that he

got from bifl adopted country, which ho of his wholes Dme morality. S» might have disclaimed any inte'ni otbeing a moralist, hut a moralisr. hit He h&s strongly developed the Jljgli& (or British) sense of duty, tho MWirtioa that conduct is three-parts of,life;- He was a most conscientious 'irtaijibot chatter about art for art's aktiaiet have appealed to him. In labwikjjwi get the idea that amid Ima&sttrg often unhealthy , worshij, ■ <£S«id<f?nnßhes out hr that. moral "wtaftf-"Songs Before Suhrisey'— the Ha'ftst all men perish, but not .man, tail flii they, who die "before their ttroiejire won" are 1 sufficiently rewarded by their enlistment in the 'eata. Comparison with Thomafi E«dy is heritable. Both men hav.3 tho tra* 'sense" of tragedy/ but Conrad iis lets bitterness and more hope. 'There is much meanness of character hj Conrad's books, but he seems to ba ' les impressed by the meanness of life, lore impressed by its Mobility, than is Har<Jy, Like Scott he was anjpertteof the essential dignity of man. w books. Impress you as coming from aipan with a wise and serene mind, who, while he is moved by "the doubtM doom.of humankind," has not lost „#»;Jaith.sn man. You feel that loy-. t »% and; devotion may go down into \ the depths, but that they are worth

"fCiHaad $d several service's to litem- . tofc' He was-a master of the short *tay. Be. widened the scope of the awelijtby taking the reader to strange K« ana lands, and by making tho swage as' wtill as the white man.a livu* «&M*sta.f. His wonderful gift of "apis *as lavished as freely on t - «iiy rover as pn one of his silent W indomitable Bea captains. He ' *|™* as a servant of litera- '*"*> ** its master. His range of ttjWrters was wide, and manv of jw*. are men and women outside the wnwaiMj of ordinary life. Under ~Mfl o f, hia wou , lerfnl progc _ a FJ» toalt up, so wi would suppose, ™»™»ffe ftora the best models—««taunant life of the tropics glows, „ SL» once friend and foe, "■» «r rages. Through it there is • LS* J* mystery and fate, of «*mh rf wan with destiny, of powers J™™* «e superhuman and W5, to ». «o not subdue his spirit. 21H* always be a matter for SV 1 ' is fu » a»d Mghly colpure. It must be , WflerivaUve, but it does not show JjMWr fads a quotation in Conrad, lt *&* be add «d that one «ftL e U P° D * vea Phrases from feE^f 8 - style stands em<m its own feet. BMnU that the English » Ko have fed their sea for a years, who have sent across explorers and pioneers to ffhSlV? 6 ! 68 ' of who SStSLP* , ai ß hti est of 'navies 6WJW « oUeetion of merchant this people should have a* . «.I nthe ? r gI««MMM literature, small body of With British interest in the QjWfc the opportunities that sea by *»*ia ftw- 3 ? tod sadors - Tw ° Barnes aost well-read men, *&* mA »!.• hCBe men wef e, they jPfi 1 ?* Hw»aa Melville hllW^ 1 b y "oapeteat critics, *Wtt^ d *° htUe of h ™ I AibLTu !!? «P»*>if--He was an Beruns in P atch « ♦ °* example. Conrad ' 2 *• .Mra■ fcT?*. above everybody "* **• SSrT- *»»» to be that "?»*jK S Bea reaU y well, a #*N*2!? eB ? rte - Th e* work dS!N^»itS? Ufc The y reflect Er*?-«lS!r * f , 80me ext ra- *** wiU b e quite 3^^JLS W * I 1 "do something for literature > j^*SSS£u% ' whett the Bri tisi. •JlfeWShl? 'W Conrad, it |*_ gtams—a man wno

of Nature and man, who had the old GreeK sense of tragedy, who was a poet in perception, and who was capable or fa.ihionh-g wonderful prose. Conrad's treatment of the sea may be divided roughly into two categories—his descriptions of the sea and ships in calm and storm, and his deiineation of human character under the sea's influence. His descriptions are marvellous in their colour and cadence. Do you remember the storm in "The Nigger of the Narcissus," when the ship was thrown on her team erds? "In the black sky the stars, coming out, gleamed over an inky sea that, speckled with foam, flashed back at them the evanescent and pale light of a dazzling whiteness born from that black turmoil of the waves. Remote in the eternal calm they glittered hard and cold above the uproar of the earth; they surrounded tie vanquished and tormented ship on all sides; more pitiless than the eyes of the triumphant mob. and as unapproachable as the hearts of men. The iev south wind howled exultingly under the sombre splendour of the sky." After the long agony of this storm, in which the sentences rise and fall and sound like the waves themselves, comes this mrfnrnfnl passage of bitter peace, with its symphony-like opening: On men reprieved by its disdainful mercy, the immortal sea confers in its justice the full privilege of desired unrest. Through the perfect wisdom of its grace they are not permitted to meditate at case upon the complicated and acrid savour of existence, lest they should remember and, perchance, regret the reward of a. cup of inspiring bitterness, tasted so often,- and 60 often withdrawn from befcrre their suffering but reluctant lips. They must without pause justify their life to the eternal pity that commands toil to be hard and unceasing, from eunrise to sunset, from sunset to sunrise; till the weary succession of nights and days, tainted by the obstinate clamour of sages, demanding bliss and an empty heaven, is redeemed at last by the vast silence of pain and labour ,_ by the dumb fear and the dumb courage of men, obscure, forgetful and enduring. Another mood of Nature is painted in the description of the voyage of the "pilgrim" ship across the Indian Ocean:

Every morning the «un, as if Eeeptng pace in his revolutions with the progress of the pilgrimage, emerged with a_ eilent hurst of light exactly at the 6amo distance astern of the ship, caught up with her *it noon, pouring the concentrated fire of his rays on the pious purposes of the men. glided past in his descent, and afcnk mysteriously into the sea evening after evening, preserving the same distance ahead of her advancing bows. The five .\ whites on board lived amidships. i6olated_from the human caTgo. The awnings covered the deck with a white roof from stem to stern, a.nd a faint hum, a low murmur of sad voices, alone revealed the presence of a crowd of people upon the great blaze of the ocean. Such were the days, still hot, heavy, disappearing 'one by one into the past, afl if falling into an abyss for ever open in the wake of the ship; and the ship, lonely under a wisp of smoke, held on her steadfast way, black and smouldering in a luminous immensity, as if scorched by a flame flicked at her from a heaven without pity. The nights ■ descended on her like k benediction.

Some admirers of Conrad, however, placo first "The Mirror of the Seas" essays in which he tells many of his own experiences, and sets forth more intimately his ideas of the relations between tho sailor, his ship, and the sea. For those who love the sea and ships it is a book to be read over and over again. There is in it so, much insight, tenderness, and beauty. More than any other writer Conrad' makes you feel that «. ship is a living thing, and that her death has about it something of high tragedy. There is a chapter on tho rescue of men from a derelict that is one of the imperishable things written «.bout the sea. Conrad, then a young officer, after seeing tho stricken ship disappear, knew the sea of ■ betraying- the generous ardour of youth as implacably as, indifferent to evil and good, it would have betrayed the basest greed or the noblest.heroism. My conception of its magnanimous greatness.was gone. And 1 looked upon the true sea—the sea that plays with men till their hearts are broken, and wears stout ships to death. Nothing can touch the brooding bitterness of its soul. . . . The promise it holds out perpetunlly is very great; but the only secret of its possession is ' strength, strength—the jealous, sleepless strength of a man guarding a coveted treasure within his gates." I may fitly end with hia remark that love of the sea "is a complex sentiment wherein pride enters for much, necessity for not a little, and the love of ships —the untiring servants of our hopes and our sjsLf-esteem—for the best ana most genuine part." Many have reviled the sea, but he believes there could hot be found a sailor "who has ever coupled a curse with the good or bad name of a ship. If ever his profanity, provoked by the hardships of the sea, went so far as to touch his ship, it would be lightly as a hand may without sin, be laid in the way of kindhesa on a woman."