Tell arts they have no soundnesse,
But vary by esteeming;
Tell schooles they want profoundnesse,
And stand too much on seeming;
If arts and schooles reply,
Give arts and schooles the lye.
So, when thou hast, as I
Commanded thee, done blabbing--
Although to give the lye
Deserves no less than stabbing--
Yet stab at thee who will,
No stab the soule can kill.
SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
L'ENVOI.
"L'Envoi," by Rudyard Kipling, is a favourite on account of its
sweeping assertion of the individual's right to self-development.
When Earth's last picture is painted, and the tubes are
twisted and dried,
When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it--lie down
for an aeon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall set us to work anew!
And those who were good shall be happy: they shall sit
in a golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comet's hair;
They shall find real saints to draw from--Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!
And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame;
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They Are!
RUDYARD KIPLING
CONTENTMENT
"Contentment," by Edward Dyer (1545-1607).
Pages:
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295