To the Editor of the "Nonri-Cinna Dany News"
Sin=It is dim cult to reply to "Ega" witha serene equanimity of temper. He apparently takes such delight in' hhis own rant that he begins with an, "outburst" and seems ever more and niore reluctant to leave off. might as easily have left his' prose (or, does he call it verse?) une written as I did not have him in mind when I wrote my letter, Had "Ega" merely quoted certain passages from authorities in support. of his contention, I would have accepted them with only a moderate growl, But when he seizes the opportunity to indulge in an unpro-Voked tirade against me and my own views, he must be prepared for a candid reply.
T do not doubt that he has made: the best possible use of is natural gifts, but it is certainly not fault if he has not made his way in the eld of poetry. He writes Uke a man who is so obsessed with the idea that he is the superior of all those whom he meets that he is ensily led to overlook the fact that! 4 poem, which-bears within itself its own right to existence, will not dic, IL may even forever haunt all those who like "Ega" refuse to be drawn, into that purer atmosphere which overlies the dust and smoke of petty. rivalries and material interests, 'No one will' deny that. contemporary verse adequately interprets the finer spirit of science and. the rift of social progress. but it is me conceivable that the transmission of one's noblest feelings should—be made through the medium of loosely' constructed lines without any regard to rhythm and harmony. And that 4s what I have endeavoured to emphasize. In a period which tends to new experiments in versification, the dividing tine between real conquests novel territory and sheer nonsense becomes hazy and "Ega" has siflorded us a living exemplification of the truth "of my" contention, Throughout his" fetter, one recognizes a hostile spirit and the necossity for utterance without any regard for the question whether his opinion is justified, or whether may have equal value for the im= partial world, He overcomes nothin; beeomplishes" nothing, in fact rectly understands nothing.
Pati Shanghai, May 3, Both Sides in the Right To the Editor of the "Nonru-Cuna Darcy News"
Sin—I was interested to read the otters of JIN-T, and B.G.A, which appeared in the correspondence columns of your issues of Monday and Tuesday Inst, May say that T think both the gentlemen are right and they should got together, Who can quarrel with thi states verne which yotuscs to confer aénae "of Jaw" and pocticy gr sub I should say that "free verse" of that sort, unconformed to the principles of' booties and not subdued to sense of law and harmony, may be called "tree but should "hover be called "verso." T cannot imagine that publisher with a reputation would countenance such wild unharnessed The matter bolls down to this. Poetry has form. A composition without form may be anything on earth but it is not poetry, As to What kind of form is another matter, Tambie pentameters have been used commonly by English poets for cen-uries and some people think they are worn out, but T don't know. It depends upon who makes use of them. "And there is no lack of form the controlled cadences of, say H. Auden or Day Lewis, once read an essay, dealing with modern poetry, by G. M. Young, which appeared in the "London Mer-jury" and has since been published with a collection of other essays. The author is a confirmed unrepentant Victorian and {ook the strongest objection to modern poets, quoted, rather unfairly because he quoted' it out of its context, a line written by Day Lewis. The line was this: "Down arterial roads riding in April." Bir, Young argued, why hadn't the pact written, "Riding in April down arterial roads," the same words are used, there is no altera~ tion to the sense and in the second form the line seans, The answer of! course is obvious, The line as Day Lewis wrote it is not meant to scan. And in its context, read with the lines which precede and follow it, is more expressive and indeed more beautiful, more musical as it stands. The verse is in a definite form and the line must conform, which it does, It has cadence. There are {wo stra: plies and the voice falls away first from "Down" and then from "ri—."
And there is real beauty of sound the combination of words "arterial roads" and "April.
'After all, the departure from the Jsigid form' of verse, each line consisting of so many "feel." is not so modern. A whole lot of Matthew 'Arnold is diMeult to scan, and it is thard to say whether portions of the authorized version, particularly from the book of dsalah, should properly' bbe called poetry or prose. Imaging Jo well-wisher rewriting the whole of the Psalms Inthe form of metrical verse and urging them to be sung {in churches, to the tune of "Onward Christian Soldiers." think that perhaps (oe much stress Inid on the form of verse and too Uitle on the Ideas which are express sed, It is for the poet to select that arm which is best suited to convey. Luis' ideas. Free verse and metrical [verse are not antagonistic or mutually exclusive, they are just forms. Re-ritable modern poets use both as it suits them. John Masefleld writes doggerel, because to say what he wants to say, with the stress he wants} to put on it, that is the best form. [Kipling wrote doggerel, "Mere ideas and words" are not' poetry, but ideas are indispensable, Poetry without ideas may be pretty, but it dead. Shelley is sometimes ver-}bose, sometimes even clumsy, it Jalmest. as though sometimes he feouldn't be bothered to go through what he wrote and polish it off, but Shelley lives because of his ideas. Somehow the spirit of the man shines through his verse. Tt seems that he was" bursting with ideas which had to find expression. That Irrepressible, eternal ego, Shelley. who was {uit of faults but whom we must admire, broke through conven tion, material handicaps, everything. scattering verse around him, and shone and" stilt shines "burning! {through the inmost vell of heaven."
Shelley is @ classic example of a ent poet of the past. And there great modern poets. "Men who feel a duty to their generation to Jsay something that is in their minds. They. have chosen their own. form and they have said what they want to say. Already they are praised by their own generation and they will live. bie D. M. P. Cours. Shanghai, May 4.
Essay in Self-Satisfaction the Editor of the Norrit-Cuixa Datty News"
Sin—May T be permitted to thank J.MLT, for his candid reply? His letter seems to invite an answer in return which would be far from "candied," but fulminations of this mature soon become boring, especially to cute has raised—especially as th swer to most of them would appear to be obvious.
T should like, however, to point out that my "tirade" against J.M.T. and his "own views" was not, as he sug-Bests, unprovoked—sinee he chose to put them on display in that haven for those whose works would otherwise seldom see the light of print—and was certainly not unjustified. The "Ir Parenthesis" column has just closed on interesting duel between myself and certain poetasters on a point similar to that treated by J.M When he comes out and lays dows what' he considers to be cardinal rules on this point I am, 1 suggest, provoked to reply, which T did in, T hope, no uncertain terms.
Poetry' is a subject which means uch to me, hence that reluctance to leave off" writing about it which for some reason, deplores. He set up his lance and T flung my, windmill at it.
T'don't wish to take up too much of your valued space, but I would ike, im conclusion, to briefly indicate my partial agreement with J.M.T. on several points in his letter:—"That a poem, which bears within itself its own right to existence, will T would merely stress that word poem.'
"Obsessed with the idea he is the superior of all those he meets." Not quite; T have met one or two people Who appeared to be my equals. In any event, was not writing to all those T meet but to J.MT.
"A hostile spirit." I most certainly am—to poor verse, archaic poetic gymnastics, wilful " verbicide and] Severe anaemia of thought, "Delight in his own rani"—except that the use of the word "rant"
"high-flown, extravagant or_bom-Dastie speech or utterance: a piece of turgid declamation" OOD.) " sounds strange, coming from JMET. Apart from that, T imagine no one got the jek out of my leier that I did—are we to presume that SMT. read his own "letter with feelings of great pain?
Boa, Shanghai, May 4.
An Instructive Letter To the Editor of the Nosru-Cuixa Dany News"
Sin—Mr. D. M. Cours' views on the "subject are instructive and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.