"Still'd is the virgin rapture that was June, And poignant grows the charm of thy decay, Thou parable of greatness vanishing! For me, thy woods of gold, and skies of grey, "For me to dreams resign'd, there come and go, Twixt mountains drap'd and hooded night and morn, Elusive notes in wandering wafture borne, From undiscoverable lips that blow An immaterial horn; And spectral seem thy winter-boding trees, Thy ruinous bowers, and drifted foliage wet, Very fine also is Andrew Lang's song of harvesting time. The flowing classic metre has a very soothing effect, and its rhythm is admirably adapted to produce the feeling of rest that is desired, and very gently are our thoughts led on to the time when "our little life is rounded with a sleep.' "Mowers weary and brown and blythe, What is the word methinks ye know, "Autumn." William Watson. "Scythe Song." "Job." Endless over word that the Scythe Sings to the blades of the grass below? Sings the Scythe to the flowers and grass? Hush, ah hush, the scythes are saying, Hush, 'tis the lullaby time is singing, Hush and heed not, for all things pass, Hush, ah hush! And the Scythes are swinging And the dramatist of old says: "There is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth and wasteth away and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down and riseth not; till the heavens be no more they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." Shelley epitomises thus the whole matter, and explains the use the poet makes of the materials supplied by Nature: "He will watch from dawn to gloom The lake-reflected sun illume The yellow bees in the ivy-bloom, Forms more real than living man, This is what poet and painter alike should try to do, and expel forever the idea that art is the imitation of nature, and so create a new world of art, like yet very unlike, the world they see. It is important to consider this subjective view of nature in the poets; for the painter in words and the painter in colours work toward the same end, both seeking to inspire the thoughts and move the feelings of the people they appeal to in their different ways. The poets have the advantage of being able to relate a story, and are not limited to one action, or one period of time. The painters have the powerful attraction of colour and form. But both must strive to give the spirit if they would "The Poet's Dream." attain the rank of masters. So we find in painting, as in poetry, the greatest power will always be with those artists who have this sympathetic imagination, who are able to discern the poetical in the actual, the ideal in the real, the universal in the particular. They alone can produce those glorious "speaking" pictures, which continually reveal the ideas and feelings that possessed the artist, when his brush was touched by a power that he knew not of. CHAPTER V MODERN DUTCH ART alone. When he dies she THE seven Dutch artists we have already spoken of form a unique group, inasmuch as their paintings have this strong subjective "Art seeks phase, this revealing of nature, and of their the artist own feelings unconsciously inspired by nature, and because, in addition to this, they each see the subjects they paint in an absolutely different way from anyone who has preceded them. They have shown us new phases of art, they have expressed the ideas that possessed them in new and varied forms, and they have sadly takes her flight, though loitering yet in the land association. from fond And so we have the transferred their thoughts to canvas with ephemeral influence of the after glow in which are warmed for masterly execution in a large and noble man- the master's ner and dignified style, giving the impression memory. of power in reserve. As usually happens with strong and original characters, they have inspired others, who see more or less through a while their eyes; but they themselves are creators. They have caught a spark of the divine fire ple.” “Ten of genius, and stand splendidly alone. the worker and disci O'Clock." Whistler. |