EVENINGS WITH SWINBURNE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 592, 21 August 1909, Page 9

EVENINGS WITH SWINBURNE.

'"■;■■'•' Among the-contents, of the July'-."Biblio- '' ". philo"—-an3exceptionally interesting lmm- ' ■'■ ber—is "Two/ Evenings with Swiuburne," by ' Alice L. Bird and Ernest Rhys. Tho eycii- ' ' -ing of which Miss Bird writes was October 10, 1878,-and the company included,, in addi-tion-to. the poet and'other friends, Captain ■ ; ■ Richard ,Burton i; and-his .wife. >At r dinner Swinburne ; sat .silent because of .his 1 deaf- /. ,ness, but later he read :his "Only the Song of. ; . a Secret;, Birijj"; and;.told; how. it ;,;ivascom- [■ ' pOSe<3: ..■;■•.'. :[■ ".■'•;,■;•' '.'v-f ;'•''':■; . .•'i' -.. ''Going to. bed : early..-one, night,' he -sat ' ../dojrnto'wriW.the so'ng,:.;but, to hk amaze- :'. ment and,disgust, the, words .wouldn't, come. ;- He was savage,, and got into bed .uttering ; imprecations j in the".morning,- when he woke with restedwbraini he the , song off ; without a ; halt." ;Swinburn , e l adde.d'.that,he .;■ ; oomposed 'th& first three verses .of "A Vision :. ..'of Spring in Winter'-' in" sleep.' When' he ' awoke , ho jumped out of. bed, and scribbled them down, jincl in ' the morning he' expected ; to find nonsense. But,he left the verses'as : ~'■, he then wrote .them; and afterwards added : ■■ the remaining .four.:- '.- u .." ■'■-.'. . ■. ..••'..'■ Swinburne on that, occasion talked: much ' . of Tennysonr ; : ',■; '■''";' '.•': ■■'■••' .■... ■:\ "He'saidihis-ldylls were belowthe mark, that' 'IriMenioriam' is perfect in its way. Ho ':,. epeciallyj.'singled. out ■. : . ..".■ ;'?..- >, ', . ■ /r ßy night,we lingered.on.the lawn,'-; •;.• and hoi spoke witlr warmth of the fine'lines: ~ 'The-whito kirieglimmer's,and"the ; trees ■ ,■ ' - - . Laid thdir.-dark arms about'the; field.' .' : Hβ "said/vthere were , sbmo: beautiful' things , I'- •'. in 'Maud; , and ;that'any poet,/Shakespearo! .ihimkdf, :;migM have. been..proud. of-the fragment-beginning:, . " ■ . 'V ; ' '■ ' 1 ,'haye; led ,her liome, .my;"■'• love, '; my -only ■ ■• . "■' ■ ■ ,'.'■ ■ ;'-.■ '* . ~_■; ; But.'Tonriyson's. lovers, he said, had • ;■ iipbility.'.; , "Locksley . Hall" has r a "bldfc/' ■ ' ajid; , the. lover ,'.whined- arid'.'prophesied'' the girl's:misery.;...;.;..,..•:■•„ ■i-.:.., •,.■■■ '//'■:. ■i Among:: oth'erAsiatcment's-- by Srfiiiburne'Was thab.he: sole'mn oath: ... ,that'. he would^&vef.'s'gij.inVgpvto,'.o^^Shake-ppearean.:represeli't3tip'n.ra;t,-the theatre.. The last time'he Had; v gofip .Was-to sco/Ffichtor as OiJiello. " V'Hoi'thought 'Fecht^f./haiidsoine, .and admired h'im'; ; '.but -his 'treatnierit 'of the ■■■■' ''(Maotherilig..scene :.->■?;. "'•-' "When he ;camo t !toj:tlie ptatV'y'l/C . 'It, istfie cause';' it';is;i^.pause, , -ipy. -foul.' •,■■;-. ■ ■ v, perhaps /the ■: jpeare,'- ■ iFeohte'r'rtpok, and ' lookedantoitj^sayifigy^Jii'/his;own , 'faco was. " ■ reflected, 'It-is the'cause',-it. is''the-cause.' Bwinb'jrne said,-'l".wanted :to leap out of the box I was in and break his neck, arid then-to rush oil? off'the theatre,, fly as if ' .-ligHning were at ■ my'heels. .■'.,.'" , 1 . Before'going Swinburne told the story of Bheridan drunk outside theHousb.of "Commons, of the policeman finding him and asking his name, and of his giving it as "Wil- ; liam Wilbcrforce/' ;'.' I .would, rather," said Swinburne, "have' returned that answer thaii ■have written 'Hamlet'; if a. man could be •'. «o witty when ' drunk what must' he bo. ;;'■•. irhon sober?"./';"■ .-. \ v ■■''. JOHN DAYIDSON'S ■ LAST VOLUME Opening ' Mr. tDavidson's • posthumous volume (siiys thb' "Manchester Guardian's'? ■ ■revie«w-;bf ; :."FJfot , '- Street, ■■ and" Other Poems"),' it is not easy, to avoid .the expectatipiV that'.:here,•.'at, any rate/ somo suggestion /or • premonition; '■ somo .inevitable ttugury'or declaration'• of' his so deliberate fate'wo'uld obsess or intrude. Beyond the . testameiitary half-sheet' that serves for preface—s'b 'direct "and"unsparing; so businesslike . loo—the expectation :is not fulfilled. Ho 'tolls' us shortly ;in■' this:, prefaco "1 " t)>'>jght this might.be, my last book. . .} I «'hould' have concluded the volume with « eccpnd Testament in my own person, Jnisting 'that men 'shoujd, no longer _ degrade ■: ' themselves ■• under such appellations as Christian,-' Mohammedan; Agnostic, Monist, etol 'Men are the Universe, become wa-

scidiis; the simplest man should consider himself too great, to-bo called often any name." ■ But, if - one excepts "Cain, tho splendidly coloured. apologia to his progeny for ■-, Abel's jnurder,., finishing'. ..with,: such vigorous fatalism: "' ■.'_ -. ' • I have told tho truth V.no more remains to tell; God's curse is on.us, and we'inake it do. Our errant; life is not. unhappy;-fear, ■ .. . That harrows otb.org/is to us.unknown. ; Being closo to God' by reason- of His curse. Sometimes I'think-that U.od.Himself is cursed, For all His things gd'wroiig.;: We! cannot guess; He.is/yery God of ■We'Vfeel His power, 'His,inhumanity;','; Yet, 1 being inon,we 'fain would think Him good. 'jSinc'fc'Jiri- iruagihatipn^we : conceive ; ■ ■ ;A nioruiful, a graoious : God'-of ■men, , ; Y It 'may;, bo' that-our'..prayer and innocent vine •Will shame' < Him , into goodness .. in., the;: end. .. ; Meantime. His;vengeance is .upon .us, so, •••My :blessingand God's ,curs«: be with you all, there is-little enough suspicion of "grievance %: not of.- the-Hashing .demurreTs: of his last Testament. , ; ; ?Indeed there is ■both poignancy.: and sbmo-j.ratihca-rioii:in tlio 'reiiection- that-here is so" intensely a poet aiidvso shgntiy, r wio didactic preacher of a self-conscious universe, imponderable ; matter,- and cheiiiical 'analysis. It-is'full of the strength'of his , prime; v.'liio 'Feasf of St."Hilary" .'and riujejpassages-.scat-tered -here and- there show' .something.'ol.its .sweetness,- too—the"beauty"of 'the' world oxalted by a swift or tender thought, .infused by a "joio de vivre" that must spend jtselr in music, 'even if it be in tho jingoism of the '!Song for the Twenty-fourth of May. One has spoken of his prime-as though of something past and gone; but there'is a vein, a quality, running through, the book that is, indeed,-his , prime;.it is evasive, indefinable beyond this, .that/if', suggests—how doubtfully!—the mellowness of a spirit 'at leisure with itself." > There is in it no _ flippancy-*-Davidson ever took life 'and himself... seriously,— but , there is the .playfulness of a humour wHose sharp edge' is blunted by kindliness that almost giggles over the trap: pings'and symbols; the false face-values and: the ironic i contrasts ;of "life. It is at its lightest in -"Fleet Street," where he. encourages the bricks, envious of. 'the wonderfill, exalted destiny of Saturn's belts,' thus : Noble and faithful bricks, be not dismayed! I hear the shapeless fragments that make up Esthetic marvel -in-Saturn's girdles sigh Disconsolately.as they chafo and gnud _ Each other: "Such an envious fate ;■' As that of any single , solid brick . .-.-, In Fleet Street, London, well and truly laid, : ■A moulded, tempered necessary brick In. that mostjamous faubourg of the world Exceeds our merits!" ■-.':.. ...; .. ..;.' .:, .. -'■' In the'"Testament of-Sir Simon Simplex, , ' who, sees salvation in the'coming reign .of the.automobile, with tho assurance that '-'. : ' ■ ''things that Socialism supposed extinct, Degree, npbility.'and noble'.strife, . . :. - A form, a : style, and privacy-in lilo : ' '-'■ -.- Will reappear; and,' crowning nature's plan, 'The individual and the gentleman : -..-In England reassumes his lawful.place ■.-'' ; And vindicates the,greatness of. the race, / it "is-a •well-knit /satire. ' "The Crystal Palace," with its ';. . ' .■■'■':■'. '■'■'; . V dupes of,pleasure, 6adly gay,- ,-. '■'"■ yictims and not companions of delight,. is a: ciosely. arid riot unkindly observed pic.ture, full of shrewd, bold strokes. "Liverpool Street Station',' is a thing.of fine con-' , trasts. -On the one'hand ~ ... ■ From early-mom they hang about'The ■ bookstall, the, refreshm-ent-room; .., ~ They and think, as if'in doubt : ."::: •■;. Which train to go-by; now assume. A jaunty, air, and now,in gloom -.' . They.take the platform for a.stage./ ! And pace.it, meditating doom— .-. ' : Their own, the world's;, in baffled rage ! Condemning still thoMmperceptiye age;,', in the centre the. secluded. beauties <jf ■ Ep.ping Forest; and on the other- ha(iid the gutter-merchants of Ludgate Hill,. X '■- Thoir, eyes on fire, their wrinkles changed : To shadowed, sculpture in the brute, ■ . ; Effulgence of the, windows, ranged ■"• . Together closely, foot by; foot, • '-. . ' ; -Like-giant marionettes, as_ mute, . - As-quick and-os«echanical,-- : '-—-,-•: ' Fronting the. shops, they made their suit -. : . Bγ signs aloue; and;each and all ;-; Unhuman scem"ed," : Siist(<rer ? iisextiair-"";' ■?•" There is grimness 'here, but--noi.cynicisin.j It is human/through the 'same,-'gftriius' : .that_ JDnvidson extols,; suddenly . expanding on a" parrulous .railiyay companion, the snmplo of ihe 7 ■-■;' v ■■■'■:.-■.-: -■■■■■■.-.'■ ' . hearty breed, Jncorrigibly cheerful, who behold Themselves for ever in the lights. . And by tho pipe and bowl of Old King Cole . They have the.best of it! To sec ourselves , -As others see us may_ be go_od enouph; '.'But to .love others in ; their'vanities. •. And to portray the glorious counterfeit—, Mn- synipathetip ink that sympathy . . - ;Alone : can read aright—why, that's a gift, '-. .Vouchsafed to genius of the strain! His subtle touch is on the pulse of things— I the samo powerful hand-that can build .up such passages of:sheer music as this:— : The mounting larks, compact of joyful Ere, Kerider the coloured eurilight into song ; Adventurous and impassioned nightingales .'Transmute thoistorniy equinox they, breast ' With courage' high, for hawthorn thickets ■ ..bound, . .;. ■ !' ; ..', ' . ; -WJien : spring arrives,'into the melody . That floods the forest, aisles; the robin draws .Miraculously from the rippling brook - .The red wine of his.'lay'; blackbird' and .'■ thrush, ':'■' , ■ .-.- ■■■;'■ . ~ . :-. , ' ■ . ;Primo.artists of the woodland, proudly,take "All things sonorous for their.province, weave. . The. gold-veined thunder and the orystal ■showers, . The wind, the rivers, arid the choir of birds In the rich strains of their chromatic chords. Except that one-misses it is n considerable exception—tho more purely lyrical Davidson, it is scarcely an exaggeration to,say that in this volume he Has loft us of his best—and what legacy of poetic genius can bo-more precious? ~ •