MR. JOHN MASEFIELD

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 110, 12 May 1930, Page 9

MR. JOHN MASEFIELD

POPULAR APPOINTMENT

LONDON, 10th May. Mr. Masefield's appointment, was announced from the Lord Chamberlain's office in Buckingham Palace in this manner: "The King has graciously been pleased to appoint John Masefiold, Esq., B.Litt., to be Poet Laureate in Ordinary to His Majesty in the Room of Robert Bridges, Esq., 0.M., B.Litt., M.A., deceased." , Mr. Masefield 'was the "general favourite" for the post. Perhaps he is the only Poet Laureate who ever earned a living by handling pots of beer over a bar- in a public house. This was thirty years ago, when he was stranded in New York. Everybody appears thoroughly pleased with the appointment. Viewpoints are epitomised by Bernard Shaw, who says: "The King could not have appointed a- better man." The "Daily Express," in an editorial, says: "If we must have a Poet Laureate, then Mr..Masefield is as good as any of the half-dozen who might have filled the silences left by Mr. Bridges.'' Though frequently denied, the view still persists with the public that Kipling was ruled out for the post owing to his "Widow of Windsor" poem. It is generally believed, however, that he would not have accepted in any ease.