VERSES OLD AND NEW.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 520, 29 May 1909, Page 9

VERSES OLD AND NEW.

"///'i;-., : "■£:':. : v. 1 (From Nidtzscbo,)';"■■' "iiK.'l-swing oh'a bough,, and; rest " ' /, : -ii My:tired, limbs in a nest," ■/..■ ' ; •■• ;!';!'■■ In the rocking home of a bird,■■■. >;-''f-Whcroin Tperoh as his guest, ;i:/;ii" .i// ; :;:In;the; South/;; .";. ; ;;/.;." r : ;i;i : ;i'/il gaze':dn -the ocean asleep,-. .:•; /:;;/,/ On/the purple;sail/of a boat;.i ; ...;: ■-. i;;;iOn'ithe harbour and tower steep, •"■.'■: :'ii:::.::On;the..rocks' that-stand .out ; of the deep,. i;;;/V'//.v./'In tho:Spnthl : ,/':\'v/ /■;•■: .'.• 1 r.:5 For I could nclongorstay,; ;:-;-v\:VTo;6rawlfin- ; slow : i'- , German way;/ i Si/': So' I called ;td the.birds.bado:the wind > '■. "■ Lift me up and bear me away ;;:-y.:::H;ITo the /i ...,'• f ::;'.'N6 reasons for me,' : if ~..'* *;' ~• ■-..:;.: Their,, end is too dull and too plain j.. ;;•:. But;a:pair,.of..wingS:and,ji:breeze, '..;;. '-■'.* With courage and health and easo,/ :'.::: And'games that chase disease. . >;/':;//:;/v;"Frpm the South!, ;/.; : ■/,-;■,;, ■. / ':. ; ':- Wisethoughts can,move without sonnd,. , .:':.: Bnt .I've songs, that' I : can't, sing alone; ;/i ; v So : birdies,pray gather around, .;./ : i. And listen to "what; I have-found • '-v.: \\.;'-in;tho;:South!: : •;•;■.;■: : ;v.//:,'...;.; "-'•' "You". are - merry ' lovers and false and gay,-. :':. Tin-frolics and sport you pass the day; . : "/;iv "Whilst in; the North, I shudder to say,. :.:-:,:: ~ «j .worshipped .'■ a - woinanj hideous and gray, ' i i "Iter name; was .Truth, so. I heard them- 6ay,; ■ "But I left' her there and I flew away.. -."j; '\y3y ;i/: v'Trf the; South !*;■,:,,;;,; "."/""i;;';.,-■'. ! .;" : ;'; ; ; '}S: .';\<—ra,Dj;,i"'in "The' Nation." : y^:' :^J-: 4 : :'. i'ADMBUL.BI^KE.v';. : ; •":.:;'.'' '■;£; ;;/"';. ',■:; ."-.. // (August; ■:H Tho: sixth- it was of August, as. .wo 'opened ', v : iV' : Lizard : Bay, / :-, :;;v Onr Admiral called his Captains where: he lay ; , , : ';. ; . And,."Sirs,", says he, "the end is;.come; I'll '■'"_'.''. sail';tho'.seas rio.more;; ■■.'.': .... -'■•. :,:,.i...Yet-I pray, the Lord'to grant me die.on shore.'. >■''-.}■. ':- ; : : --'. ;:;; ,--V: - ; 'J i"i'/..'-■ /'"" '■' Bear a'w.ay. ■; . , - ~/.. Eleven" ships .we were,;:from up. the. Straits v:i;u and .from'-Sale*,'.; ; ;... '¥■'■■■'■)■: All very foul with being long at sea'-,;•'. . -"And. our winter's block.of• Cadiz; -aye, we '...,.' sighed for our recall,' •'/ ': J And he, a twelvemonth sick, beyond.us all. : 1 ..-' \'.j"' ; : /."•'.'i.:.'/',::;/' . !;•;'■•■.'■.',• ; Bear aw.ay. ,-. ■':'■' ?Tffaß'-.iiot''a^..scpr6iofVweeks v agono,.Un;'Saiita' • '::■"-','. 'Cruzher/bay,':.;,"'. 'V ; ~. ' "i'-"' "',t ; . - We sank ; the .'Spanish-galleons where/they, lay: '■ ;i. All the;treasurerships ; of Spain, i.they are 'firefi '-:';:'■ or run ashore,.,- ' ' - '■■".-;',—But onr Admiral,shall hear a gun no more.. . •::■'.;';■."' "-.-■":'-!. ■:,'■,',■• ■'• ■; ' /. r :/, s.- ..-■ - Bear away. . - , _ "1-. am like .to pass before'; we maki the .■":-■.'':/ •■■■ Downs,. methinks," he said. ; : ".', ; .;./;"Let ;iriy. course be laid for ;'land:ere Ibe .:'■■■<■' ''-'',; sped.' ■'■-.••"• - ■■ '.'•■''..'':".■'■.'.'■'' ,;;. : .-.,. .Give; ye. God-speed;.. ■. . and see ye put, i;. i. i '■■■■■'•,-;ihis Highness in a -mind; r , ;.- \ : .7 ■: i. To 'have a:care for them: we'.left behind.", . :■.':•;■'; '■'~.; '■'■ ;fc,-' "•'/■.:•■'■ ■;' ■'■'■■■'■;: : ;-' '■ -i:, .^Bearavtay. !"■"'■■ : . : ' i. So the ;" ; Georgo ". stood in if or. Devon,, and red ■■';'.C-v.-came up tho day."'. i ';./. : _''-..' ■'■ : ::',WIiUB-sh6'.:held,.'.with' heeling decks, npon her ■■' ''..'•;■''-■ ';wayi'i': : -ivi v - : ..'--'V ."- ■■•■'. v .. -, ; : ' ..-As'we cracked on -sail for ; Plymouth, 60 we ' iV;.'' sought the Lord.the more ; .::: i.That He would grant our Admiral die on shore. ';;.'..;;'.Wi-v ; : - ■■■■.": ; ;'::'• .':'; Bear aT?ay. '■'■ ;.',■"■ '■'■■Andi'asi'Blak'eiJay iini.his.;cabin, -'twixt 'the v'i:/■;:.; : Mewstone-andithe.Eanie, .y, . - ' - -._:■' ■■','.' .He.- remembered 'not .his J victories nor his :.,'":'.. :':'■:'.'.fame;■"'''■-."•':'!■' ■.■:-•■ •i ■'. ■ NotiTromp nor: Tencriffe,: not the Dutchman .■■': '/.■": r. nor' the.Dori,.' '.- ; .' ; . ' ?--■ . -.But. the pleasant. English:,land. .' .to die ''"■■.'■';.'■ .*•'' ::. : iupom ; - 'V;: : '..- : i;''.■.'.^'.■;"-"::•..'" '- ■■'-'■: :••■"' ;'■■':' •'."'-.'.'.'.■.. y : :yr : y' '■;■. •' Bear aitay. ;,.,,; ..£' -had, thonshti thoi/Lprd'had hearkened na, ;.'.:, so lusty, did wd pray,'•-.-' .'■'-.>■' •• : -.- .; ; While onr ship from oil her.forefoot tossed tho ■.■■■■■■ ":.i'spray';...'.':-;;- : " .-...' ."""■.."■..""■ -:," -ii-' - ' -i ; ' •;'•■ And:,with every, stitch a-drawing,; at., seven- •.-.•-'■■'■■: knpts' or.more, .~■'"'.■ '---;.;".',£.,-.„.,. V. We came in : press'of.'sail'to/Plymouth',shore. - :■■.■'; '.•!;',;.,/,;'.;',.'.v^.;US l . ;•:;;.::; ■■.Though hevdrave, at,' the Canaries, through : ,-..'-' ; -''',.":.---'-'.Don:-Diego's'baltery smoke,.; ■'-'■■■■ .'■Though on.:Plyinonth, r Hop.,was.. ; naught'but ': ;.:.,;', -', cheering .folk, i'i y-i'',' '■'-, ■:'•"'.■■ , .; Though ho : saw .his'own;WestiCountry, yet. I.i >,:...:..-. he might not have his boon : ;'.•;. .—For'our Admiral's flag was struck .'.'■•> an i .:' i::..'; hour too soon. ■ ;.',; '-', ''■''■-'.*'••"; •;'Bear■ aw.ay.' '.• '.'.•"'■';,:''"' '"!'■"»"■'.'•'. -»"■'..'.";»''' ■''.• r -"''";,'.» , ''i''"''*'. ■'.. '•" ..'';- Much:pomp there was'and-stateliness'upon his '.':■- ■-■■,':-. : funeral day,:.•;■;; ; : ..- : fiuns a-nring' r from. the Towe r: all the -way; . i. :V,TJp.the.;river. then to with-many ■ ■':';, ;i;.'.barges more;' ; V;.' ;, : 4s he led'the line in fight, he went before. ■'<'■'.■■■■':":''.'■■■■'■:'■ . i/'-'-'lii-'i : .S'; ' :Bear a^ay. i;, Tet"better liked it seamen had'-he fared less .':.:'• solemnly,; ..",'"; S-'.-C-V-- .•■■■-,:■'■' ■■'.' And been buried in his hammock out at sea;. ...'; Since the Lord He ■ could "not grant ,that val.iiant.soul his .last demand ".':■■■ i i i';. He:had best .'a', kept.his body too from knd. f .'.• ."':' :':. : -y'y\ '.'*ii. y'''-'y\\ Bear aivay. ' 'For-yo shall ; -seek his honoured tomb ;in ;the :''.■/.. y :: .'.'.'- "Abbey many:a;:day: ■,:;.::',:;'"':- ,; •'■'."', ':'y ;'■'.'■ 'Ask-.: royal i.Charles ' whore he".hath flung that, .:;;.''::'clay!-/ •';':. ;;::':■ ..""='■•""■ ;;,: ■;"■: '—Aye,'.mark it, I, messmates,"when ,ye' think, to ■■■:■' .come and die ;. : •, ..' . i',. v Ye he certain of.a grave on land no more.;. . . ■yy ';.--:,;:' : yy:~ : y- ',;:>,;:'-':--"',;::' -Bear away. :' , -■•■.'.. V.. —D. K.: Broster, in; tho-"Spectator." , , ; ; DID BACON wi?ITE JOHNSON'S -,: ■■r'AfyiyyyyM-,^WO^KS'.?^--'vii V'i;\.: y : 'i: . :'k'■':':': Reviewing ithe.;latest'book froin the ahti- ■ ;'■:' '.;;■'', Bhakospearo School,' tlie/'Natiou" adopts a ; • inethbd that settle the question. The '':;;•:::.; "Nation".'says:—;i-; v :;,-;i;/ '-; •i:;;"-,; ■'"• '> - ■:,.. .'".We talked of. a' gentleman who ; was run- ;.; ning out his fortima in Lohdon;;and I said,- • :-;/W.e;must,:gethi i m out of it." ; All his friends : : must, quarrel; with him,. and that will soon.;.';drive:him f.way.';■' Johnson:,' Nay,' sir; we'll ..send -you to him. ,;-If your company docs not i;drive a man out of his house, .nothing.will.' .'•.;.;-.,.; ,'She is in tho right to -ilattcr Garriclc. .^ho; is in.,the' right for two;reasons: ;.';.. first;: because 'chei has. the 'world with; her, .'•- .who have been praising. Garrick these thirty, '-' years; and secondly, because;.sho is re-; ■'■/: "".warded;for. it;by .Garrick.,. ,Why-should she me ?... I can do nothing for .her;.-; Let ■•-':.; Jier;carry her praise to a better market.'"; ; ;,These; citationsiare" taken at random from ; ; the "Life.of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.," by ■'•■'; : James.Boswell; 'and the 'reader is requested '." tp'compare thorn with the following descrip..tion of Icolmkill:—"We were now treading ;';that /illustrious island,,.which was once, the . luminary of, tho Caledonian regions, whence ■savage clans and-roving/barbarians derived. '; ; .i tho benefits of knowledge,, and;tho blessings . ■of religion":.;To abstract the mind from all '.; local emotion would bo impossible if it wero ■■''■ .endeavoured,, and Would be foolish if it were /" ':'■:": possible. Whatever withdraws us from the .'•."'; ..power:of our, "sense's, '.whatever .makes the ,/' 'past, tho distant,'or the future, predominate ■■'■'; over the present, advances us;in.the dignity //of thinking'beings'.' .'■ ... Tlio man. is little toi be envied; .whose/patriotism would i not gain- force upon' tho -plain of Marathon, or /whose piety would not/, grow warmer ;: .'among the ; ruins of lona." Now this pass- ■ ..ngo'is an excerpt from tho "Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland," published un- . dor tho namo. of tho Samuel Johnson men-' .tionedaboyo; and it may .'be'said at once ■'.'•- that tbo ; contrast might easily have; been - . uiado creator. . "Johnson," the' talker, , was ■■'■.■'... tomptinies'Smoro direct and .mora'"colloquial than/in the passages cited; "Johnson," the /writer,: was often rnoro ponderous and antithetical than in tli9 .'description, of. lona. '-.'... And yet, .so: far as.the writer is'aware, no : one. has. pointed out. the'improbability of .the twoi"Johnsons". bciiig orio and tho same', person.. Yet the discrepancy between the ... npnkou,word; and.,,the' written word is ao.surcdly; /'.TTurthormore, tho rea- . .:•■; pdns'for.dduutingitho generally-received ac- .;; count.of. ".lolinson"' and/his.works aro not ".':'■. by any nieanslimited to 'such;.cvidoncc as lias ■ boon; given.' Johnson, ;Vvo'are ; told,iwas.tho ; ton of an c'xtrcmolyfoblishi and unsuccessful ,''7 provincial bookselbr, who endod in ,i'w!«ruptey, or something very, like it; and this . . offspring-'-of'-Ilia little; Lielilii'hl .shop becaiiic, bo the,story goes, a miraclo of.learning. Ho - w«b: almost blind—-ho Would run into people 'in tho strcete from defective vision—and yet ho was.o observer, of alt about.

him. Ho went to small local schools, then confessedly at ii low eub ot'.learning; left Oxford witnout taking his: degree, and—uocamo 0110 of tho greatest scholars in Jingland. Ho is represented,as a nipi of the inp'st atrocious manners; aud as conducting a conversation with his sovereign with tho dignity and composure of a duUo: ho ■ was a welcome guest at tho houses of nqblcmeiij and yet behaved at table in a fashion that wouldi.have disgraced a ravenous ploughboy. Ho was tho idlest man in London; and dovotcd years of his life to the toil and drudgery of dictionarymaking: he loathed tho name of Scotchman; and mndo a Scotchman his principal friend. On one occasion ho is represented as defending every articlo of tho Roman Catholio ; faith ;'-.■■ on/another 'as declaring that the Roman Catholic Church, in so far as it differed from tho English, was utterly and absolutely in tho wrong. On one'page no appears asharsli, brutal,-intolerant, and over--bearing; on another,as exercising the heroic virtr.es of'a'primitive saint. His biographer presents him as n typical English Tory, of tho'highest-, and.-driest kind, carrying tho doctrine 'of blind submission to an impossible .exaggeration—and also as drinking, to the next insurrection of the negroe3. Ho despised actors, and would not suffer any--0110 to say a word against Garrick. Surely these considerations must incline us to doubt the received theory of Jojinson, to suspect, at all events, that there were in reality, two Johnsons —one the bookseller's hack, son of tho bankrupt provincial tradesman, a man of a'certain rough capacity and racy directness of speech; tho other a courtly scholar, who, for some obscure reason, preferred to mask his identity under the namo of tho Grub Street scribbler. At least, wo should, do well to suspend judgment on this matter; more especially as the "Lifo" of Johnson, admittedly, and : incomparably tho best biography in the world, is said to_ have, been written by an idlo, drunken, dissipated Scottish laird, whoso conversation usually verged on-idioeyj whoso letters are the babblings of a sheer, unadulterated fool, and a fool of a very bad character. , : Ahd this drivelling Don Juan is. snpposod.tio have lived on terms of "tho . closest and most affectionate intimacy with tho .wisest man and the austerest moralist of.the-ajje.- . " ' , . . . ■■■.-■And''yet,: j n spito/of all.theso inconsistencies and discrepancies, which might bo multiplied almost to infinity, we aro all of us perfectly sure that there was one Samuel Johnson, and that James Boswell of Auchmlock wroto his life, and thus it is that wo aro not lively to bo much moved by tho arguments adduced by Mr..G.'G. Greenwood, authorof "In.re ; Shakespeare: Boccmng v. Greenwood. Rejoinder on behalf of the Defendant." .Mi'.'G.reenwoqd hap his list ofinconsistenoies,'.'' improbabilities; '.discrepancjes: and it is ■-submitted' that the' case agjmst William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon being.the author of "Hatnlet" is by no means so strong'ns the c.-iso against .the- son of.old, nnhappv Michael Johnson of LichficM being tlio author of the "Bnmhler," and the companion of the most brilliant and distinguished men of the time. The ■ fact is that with Shnkesnepre. as with Johnson, there, is no case at all for susnecting a.-mystery of nnT sort: though in either instance it is possible to'. fabricate '-pliantasmsl : ; arguments; wl'ich may seem to wear a delusive robe, of reality