MR. WATSON'S NEW POEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 687, 11 December 1909, Page 9

MR. WATSON'S NEW POEMS.

\V,./-For.some/year?i'-nwr'-'Mr.'-'. William Watson's. ,;'r.Eilence ,has- regrets-'of .;--;•;criticism.'- 1 '- Occasionally,/indeed, oW'-has read ;; expressions aliiib'st" of arinoyancej-that. Mr. Wat-' j;:.:Bon,:should,fwithhold:, : his.:voico v £6'long;' as if, ,:';:in these day<s,\.when ; the;: Gospel/of the 'Strenu- 1 r:'bus-Life:is' :I so'-faithfully maintained by stock-;;.-;brokers; iehgineers,' -:and //novelists, it; .were' ~; .scarcely A)a?donable,; for-'.-.a poet: to keep him-' ; ;:'!:self:iapart;.from-the,modern-vehement standard I /-i bf:..conduct.;-' ::.;;are/somathing;:more,,than .an .amusement will v,, fair to.- welcome the-publication of Mr.: Wat-. .;/ son s v/New one of-,the■ plea'santest; '■:-. /and7/,most..-- refreshing: 1 'events;'v\that'" could #napptayn,.;literature. r o-day;;aiid:yet, while we V^haye^sorely.missed -his ; song/.opiate;'manylofi ; /v.ns.'j.firbbably,: - have. tempered'/'our : regrets- by :H:rcfleetlng;^that,:^ih;:Mr;''.;Watson;. 1 w,e| I have a- :. /poM:.whb v :.refuses*?to..fsiag' -'uiitil; he" Ts•■altb-.-;-gethermdyvt6^ngr..who;.pre|ors.to-meditate w/tte I ;P.opular;;;eaT , "tihg;ih'g; n : whose' rpieasureS is • -f«s'?S'"?-.:(to.:'quote;-from -Ms■'■ "New/.Poems") /Jin iva!k.'<delicately: in:;.TicK' ~. -orocadfl.V: than/fin: regular/ explosions: of hews-' : ;,;paper'.'applause.;V ;,:;-;.:S ."',/ .•,;,-;•-.:■;•".,, • -'.'..• v:- 1 ;.:;;^;T^re v renb.on^writing?tb-day :' ; :;.'H' 3n ''/ o f'; ill 'j;art/ i and/calling;:as* Mr.vWatsbri. &/ ; -n 'li 1 ? 18 . tlu^; Passed {through 'the cloud' .■:,??;, d«ractloiis rude"j-when'th'e'auste're digni- , : ties. : verse /.did /not (square' with . the .;rlavounte ./eccentricities of .the' moment.:'- But v; aow; his;,:siSg!o-niinded ; -:deyotibni to/the/seVere- : /. ''. *™°P."M/?f;. poetry • has - it? /reward; ,'and now, ;if • : ' s?''S s ¥vS 66 'W: n ? b,^t 'P oo ' l ' o traditions of' ■; the,inghshrlanguage carried: into 'our own dav. ;v '-^^ at «rallr;^bbkv,fbrt them-; irii/the: work : of, /^iWilhams^ateohUs^S^:^;^-^-^?/''^';^^^^;.::' ;;^^?ok^: .- ; ;pbefcry,|]and;attemptihga it/is' ■; -. hard; to.,avoid, the; unphilosbphift'aiscriiriinatioh betwMK;ma«er^aM:::marincr:.«For,- ; without ; ;; ■. doubt/ i; tto, ; phief, valuehiA; :wliat /-Mr.': ;;,; eays is. ahvays that/it is- so 'perfectly 'said ;'-.it lis . always.cbnsumniate.art'.-;:'^ve';do:not: get much .ferment f or/the/.brairi -from- his poetry. His is ; as/glass/ ~h 1 it'is invigorat-;:/-imr /and•,ennobling.'vSßut>:Jfs''-;work ; :is -Bnished : .:. ; .when : it'as; ; ' .'"W.va/ s P.le.nd.id;;arid;..firiely,pr'opdrtioried /room'. : /:/vW,e seldoini meet.the /thought 'm-.lit. /Watson's ::/ff em s raptiireVwhich/the ri t h° u ? fl . t ;io?^Shel-ley;:or:::Blnke,' ; 'Donnet or '''.'era-'' ;,;;^sflaye,.varflnses r ~ ,;expenence.rt;pur,jexperience- ;with/-hiin ..is l -a ,:; purely_.aes,thetic'.,:ojie','.:.'tlie ;-pleasure'and ;cxalta- : ': ;; .i l " ll ..l' f .'-,^yfng,;iu 1 -ari;ample,■ elaborate; b ::/;iul::stylyybuti ; we;;:altpgether : ; /we './.,,underra^;the,.value.pf.such'experience.:. r A very' show 1 ■•••;..tnat,;hisv»md;js-,continually occupied,:perhapsstyle;:TtThat/?I s .>nbti : : ;/Clear,'from v th6;evident;ihtens'aicaro with',-Wnich ; ( he,conMdMs;reVer'y,- / Hyord-Jei;puh ; ; :-irom- : the/fact; that-heiveryrfrequeiitly l in /'his ;/'/^? r ?^l! s l ll «:.oi'f : right;.whatr:in;his.6pinion," .«:the;yualities;of,a l good^tyle/are.: r .Many ofhis ./■• Poems, and;,.epigrams ;;h'aK' ! deal6'directly :;with ;//'"? ';!'J" s 'ness; of/ the pijet,/ and -allusions to the .>/ ™WH? { :k Pbetio;-/composition'-.Vafo'/ common' ~;/; . thTOUghoubliis,'wprks;S-: On / the-'whole, too, ffiK' I 2 :';°f:i:"' s . :Pbf tr y ; isvconcerned : with- aes- ,:; thetios,yind;, is. : thereforeVtwice;:rembved':from' ■.•*:'H;ftr'ano,this.-is-.-roughly:-tho,.betfer.'''poi'tibn.bf' : ; S'*l s :- p „ff' ' : K/J s;a . tendency less noticeable in /.;,. th f e;.- Aew; Poems"' than : irf / the■ preceding ■ ;/Tplium3SJ:.-:,wliioli''..V do; 1 ;; nevertheless, Contain •;. enough ..poems-thafcomo .straight out of the ,;,;general i Jieart-/of:.nattire.;to make/'the reputa: ; ;.;-J}° n /-. o . t na.lf,a;dbzen ii minbr'singers.'/And-were :; ,..that not.so,::we/cannot:expect,everything ; from ,; :■* poet 'ovenof :Mr.,.Watson's eminence; with' a onp'minds"''and:sehscs'-with such ; ; :. .a, noble JuTtterance, wo.liavo assuredly'no reason v: Tor,dissatisfaction. 1 ''■;;:•; /'',: ,-:■•:'.'-.. ; ':':^ e^^H' loft y^ I »'-mes/'suit-Mr:: Watson' :i '-'^S^' S / o;s W' :i Ht B'y e him the likeliest ■'"S r - usl ?e.AiS 'particular 'skill/with - ~wbrds^ t <One r remembers ) ;certainly, a few dclici--11 'SS^^-wV^' to /... .instance. .-.Mr.-Watsbn's:, ch,aracteristic''. utter-- ; ;ance, fane ; would .think naturally,of the elegies :;and I( the;ode ,we.hayo./already mentioned, or of :;-;,tho:- ; Hymn ; tp ; the:Sca";or-''The Father of the ; :v,J;,orestj;..or,-Qi ; ;some. other : spacious. and gravely 9^<F il 'i !e: '?:' no:-need to doscribe (in. : "'-« « I m- t o;pra Sy of Sllc fe- a master of :\;';^ T ;,tW«sM.--..We-must,;not insist;'on-his.aus"-' /;■-■ terity : top: much; there ; are .sensuous splendour '■ ,: :/« l mrhisvpoetry 1 though'never- :;;;' barbarick,pearl ( aii(l.goltl.'' /It,does;/not/.•■:'.; ;- ' i ':!;'/".''.'.''',':.'- , ''. ,:: -:-froni insensate ! height,: : '-' : ' :. < ;;Wltb prodigies,:-ftithlight;v- • .- night,' ,;;y;Magnflcently;fall"£w; ..^ ;//;/. ; v .,-;•:," ° !, :;/but.:Mr4;Watson prefers 1 : the , gorgeou?//phrase severity.' Verbal ~/bba,Uty,./however,;,-never Vpredominates; Mr. .hayo;all-his.wprdsVstrictly: sub:;;.;6rdinatp.;tp;v.tho: general/beauty.'• His verso' is' :',- bxtravagnnce,, in,,the;,ordering of his thought, /rftnerp is;usuiilly;K:a;--Strong /tendency/towards //epigram,..even .in.,thD';lpnger/;poems; and his ..;. thought is, in consequence ■ admirably direct and ;:,:clenr. -This:is. more'.than'ever manifest in ths : : --.J, N.cw Poems, . .wherein /; constantly, , having' .-.'..placed .before ,us iii a-clean: Hellenic .light the ;; ;idt|a, .or .contrast: of idea's, which animates him, ,'.;.heT:very;. wisely, refrains'/from-pushing, the --con-' ../elusion forward,•/vnth/.air- immense gain, of ; :impressiv.eness.: Thus we -have inmost of his ,;work a state,;rather,than a dynamic, strength. No oho could>Writo as;:Mr..Watson does with- ,', out having felt mit'hty,;passions:/but tho poems ~ /.themselves /are hot passionate, 1 they are symbols '../'of/passioir.-;;;There-.are,times when Mr- Wat-, ;; son s.',rich;.brbcado,bf woi-ds liangs rather stiffly, /and /sceihsia-cumbrotis/garmeut; ■ but more ,often;it Is ,rbyal; robe forrbyal -tliough't. When . -we;-TiM''-Bis-'rPbe'm's;';w6;,;-adihir6' the/splendid, digilili6d!'£rbcessi6n'bf^imajery, 1 but .we-are not / excited.''Byyit;:;Vet-.i)i:these,/days;-with'so much 1 bf. thpitiirbulent, so little of the. majestic about us,:th'fire/'are few- things-for which we should ■■'-.. bo ;moro-:tliankfur-thnii;;;for.:tlie/;stately,-iiispira-: ■■■.'• tibn?6f;-Mri;-Wh : tsfln's)pbehis'.and'. -ges- '-. 'ture'sSiif^words.;^;.:/;-:^;;"v>;■;'-• ,■: ../ -i ;./■ -.-• ,-i'.. .. ,'■ :;Ifii'-the/''New Poems":.-'there-is .not so much ': of-the'gorgeous'language./perhaps, as in r.ome

.of :the,;.: preceding' -volumes,'■"though ; _-,the, words orb'always used in such : a'ivay. as : to 'express all the. meaning but of them. .But'in the severities; .of stj-lo; Mr. Watson is- here .'better than ; over. : A-;naked speech- is by. rib 'means, to bo; found here;"it is. a ,song ' whose maker kn.bws-.that it must always (in his own .words) ."forbear nil-light.and-easy accost." Nowhere to-day. shall we find English.made', so: expressive.with, so; little tormenting; and,, indeed, Mr.'Watson .has rather hard things to say of the ''phrase-tormenting" fantastic chorus, those who "prance on language,"'and "turn-, ble their. thoughts in'a heap before us:",. Nothing bould.be less like tumbling than/the way Mr: Watson's: thought emerges;, it'-is carven, not.; outpoured, ■ thought. Take,' for instance, this lync, "In Dreams":—. '.:.':'•■

; "In.dreams tho .exile cometh homo; . - : In" dreams tho lost is found;:, . ..Jn dreams the.captivo's feet may roam •". "■ Tho world around. •"In dreams-thou niay'st a monarch bo, -'■'•:' And sit upon a throne.: Give thanks that this befalleth .theo. '.■■'•. .In dreams alone." .. Is that not as clean and as sharp:as if the words were onyx wrought with n keen, tool? And there are many poems in tho volume before us 'showing the. same high economy of .artistic -method, both for tho - diction anil ; for the-restrained contrasting of ideas.- In a fine sonnet-on '-Leopold of Belgium," the restraint becomes fierce ill,its intensity, far nioro terri&leOthan. any :scoiirgo of invective:— EmuaTm him. Time! Forget him n0t..0 Earth! Trumpet his name, and flood his deeds with '..- -day."'- ■ '.'■'-■.. , The finest poem in the book is, in our opinion, the first,-; "The, Blacksmith." - In this, the thought is .not of marble, but, as befits the subject, of.fire-. The- blacksmith becomes a tremendous I 'cosmic symbol;- tho : imagery is memorable,-: throughout, and the verses ring like ii hammered • anvil. •■: x We quote' threo stanzas:—.;''. :::.:■.;.'--• :. '■:.■."Like, a' mighty' Enchanter ■:■'■' '.'Mid demons ho stands— : ..:; 'Mid .Terrors infornal:.' , •"'. .T.he.slaves.of lis . hands. ; ; ."As a 1 pine-bough in winter, :" .- ! '-•: ~ AH . fringed with wild hair, ■" . : Hi's arm, too, is-shaggy, •v;'. His arm, too, is bare.: •■•"■: •.,; -~:':,', And the bars'on his anvil, : ; :..: They struggle l and groan ' ~ .Like a sin being fought -with,. ; : /: .That's bred in the..bone." '.-: After, poetry: like: that,' we anustvforbear to prose.any. longer;about poetry,—"The Nation.".