,,essays ,,on ,,censorship ,,and ,,art  
,by ,john ,galsworthy              ,je  
vous dirai que l'exces est toujours un  
mal4                                    
--,,anatole ,,france    ,,table ,,of    
,,contents3           ,,about           
,,censorship           ,,vague          
,,thoughts ,,on ,,art     ,,about       
,,censorship  ,since1 time and again1 it
 has been proved1 in this country of    
free institutions1 that the great       
majority of our fellow-countrymen       
consider the only ,censorship that now  
obtains amongst us1 namely the          
,censorship of ,plays1 a bulwark for the
 preservation of their comfort and      
sensibility against the spiritual       
researches and speculations of bolder   
and too active spirits--it has become   
time to consider whether we should not  
seriously extend a principle1 so        
grateful to the majority1 to all our    
institutions4  ,for no one can deny that
 in practice the ,censorship of ,drama  
works with a smooth swiftness--a lack of

 delay and friction unexampled in any   
public office4  ,no troublesome         
publicity and tedious postponement for  
the purpose of appeal mar its           
efficiency4  ,it is neither hampered by 
the ,law nor by the slow process of     
popular election4  ,welcomed by the     
overwhelming majority of the public2    
objected to only by such persons as     
suffer from it1 and a negligible        
faction1 who1 wedded pedantically to    
liberty of the subject1 are resentful of
 summary powers vested in a single      
person responsible only to his own      
'conscience'--it is amazingly1          
triumphantly1 successful4  ,why1 then1  
in a democratic ,state1 is so valuable a
 protector of the will1 the interests1  
and pleasure of the majority not        
bestowed on other branches of the public
 being8  ,opponents of the ,censorship  
of ,plays have been led by the absence  
of such other ,censorships to conclude  
that this ,office is an archaic         
survival1 persisting into times that    

have outgrown it4  ,they have been known
 to allege that the reason of its       
survival is simply the fact that        
,dramatic ,authors1 whose reputation and
 means of livelihood it threatens1 have 
ever been few in number and poorly      
organised--that the reason1 in short1 is
 the helplessness and weakness of the   
interests concerned4  ,we must all      
combat with force such an aspersion on  
our ,legislature4  ,can it even for a   
second be supposed that a ,state which  
gives trial by ,jury to the meanest1    
poorest1 most helpless of its citizens1 
and concedes to the greatest criminals  
the right of appeal1 could have debarred
 a body of reputable men from the       
ordinary rights of citizenship for so   
cynical a reason as that their numbers  
were small1 their interests unjoined1   
their protests feeble8  ,such a         
supposition were intolerable6  ,we do   
not in this country deprive a class of  
citizens of their ordinary rights1 we do
 not place their produce under the      

irresponsible control of one not        
amenable to ,law1 by any sort of        
political accident6  ,that would indeed 
be to laugh at ,justice in this         
,kingdom6  ,that would indeed be cynical
 and unsound6  ,we must never admit that
 there is no basic ,justice controlling 
the edifice of our ,civic ,rights4  ,we 
do1 we must1 conclude that a just and   
well-considered principle underlies this
 despotic ,institution2 for surely1     
else1 it would not be suffered to       
survive for a single moment6  ,pom6     
,pom6  ,if1 then1 the ,censorship of    
,plays be just1 beneficent1 and based on
 a well-considered principle1 we must   
rightly inquire what good and logical   
reason there is for the absence of      
,censorship in other departments of the 
national life4  ,if ,censorship of the  
,drama be in the real interests of the  
people1 or at all events in what the    
,censor for the time being conceives to 
be their interest--then ,censorships of 
,art1 ,literature1 ,religion1 ,science1 

and ,politics are in the interests of   
the people1 unless it can be proved that
 there exists essential difference      
between the ,drama and these other      
branches of the public being4  ,let us  
consider whether there is any such      
essential difference4  ,it is fact1     
beyond dispute1 that every year numbers 
of books appear which strain the average
 reader's intelligence and sensibilities
 to an unendurable extent2 books whose  
speculations are totally unsuited to    
normal thinking powers2 books which     
contain views of morality divergent from
 the customary1 and discussions of      
themes unsuited to the young person2    
books which1 in fine1 provide the       
greater ,public with no pleasure        
whatsoever1 and1 either by harrowing    
their feelings or offending their good  
taste1 cause them real pain4  ,it is    
true that1 precisely as in the case of  
,plays1 the ,public are protected by a  
vigilant and critical ,press from works 
of this description2 that1 further1 they

 are protected by the commercial        
instinct of the ,libraries1 who will not
 stock an article which may offend their
 customers--just as1 in the case of     
,plays1 the ,public are protected by the
 common-sense of theatrical ,managers2  
that1 finally1 they are protected by the
 ,police and the ,common ,law of the    
land4  ,but despite all these           
protections1 it is no uncommon thing for
 an average citizen to purchase one of  
these disturbing or dubious books4  ,has
 he1 on discovering its true nature1 the
 right to call on the bookseller to     
refund its value8  ,he has not4  ,and   
thus he runs a danger obviated in the   
case of the ,drama which has the        
protection of a prudential ,censorship4 
,for this reason alone1 how much better1
 then1 that there should exist a        
paternal authority 7some1 no doubt1 will
 call it grand-maternal--but sneers must
 not be confounded with argument7 to    
suppress these books before appearance1 
and safeguard us from the danger of     

buying and possibly reading undesirable 
or painful literature6  ,a specious     
reason1 however1 is advanced for        
exempting ,literature from the          
,censorship accorded to ,plays4  ,he--it
 is said--who attends the performance of
 a play1 attends it in public1 where his
 feelings may be harrowed and his taste 
offended1 cheek by jowl with boys1 or   
women of all ages2 it may even chance   
that he has taken to this entertainment 
his wife1 or the young persons of his   
household4  ,he--on the other hand--who 
reads a book1 reads it in privacy4      
,true2 but the wielder of this argument 
has clasped his fingers round a         
two-edged blade4  ,the very fact that   
the book has no mixed audience removes  
from ,literature an element which is    
ever the greatest check on              
licentiousness in ,drama4  ,no manager  
of a theatre1--a man of the world       
engaged in the acquisition of his       
livelihood1 unless guaranteed by the    
license of the ,censor1 dare risk the   

presentment before a mixed audience of  
that which might cause an 'emeute' among
 his clients4  ,it has1 indeed1 always  
been observed that the theatrical       
manager1 almost without exception1      
thoughtfully recoils from the           
responsibility that would be thrust on  
him by the abolition of the ,censorship4
  ,the fear of the mixed audience is    
ever suspended above his head4  ,no such
 fear threatens the publisher1 who      
displays his wares to one man at a time4
  ,and for this very reason of the mixed
 audience2 perpetually and perversely   
cited to the contrary by such as have no
 firm grasp of this matter1 there is a  
greater necessity for a ,censorship on  
,literature than for one on ,plays4     
,further1 if there were but a           
,censorship of ,literature1 no matter   
how dubious the books that were allowed 
to pass1 the conscience of no reader    
need ever be troubled4  ,for1 that the  
perfect rest of the public conscience is
 the first result of ,censorship1 is    

proved to certainty by the protected    
,drama1 since many dubious plays are    
yearly put before the play-going ,public
 without tending in any way to disturb a
 complacency engendered by the security 
from harm guaranteed by this beneficent1
 if despotic1 ,institution4  ,pundits   
who1 to the discomfort of the populace1 
foster this exemption of ,literature    
from discipline1 cling to the           
old-fashioned notion that ulcers should 
be encouraged to discharge themselves   
upon the surface1 instead of being      
quietly and decently driven into the    
system and allowed to fester there4     
,the remaining plea for exempting       
,literature from ,censorship1 put       
forward by unreflecting persons3 ,that  
it would require too many               
,censors--besides being unworthy1 is1 on
 the face of it1 erroneous4 ,special    
tests have never been thought necessary 
in appointing ,examiners of ,plays4     
,they would1 indeed1 not only be        
unnecessary1 but positively dangerous1  

seeing that the essential function of   
,censorship is protection of the        
ordinary prejudices and forms of        
thought4  ,there would1 then1 be no     
difficulty in securing tomorrow as many 
,censors of ,literature as might be     
necessary 7say twenty or thirty72 since 
all that would be required of each one  
of them would be that he should secretly
 exercise1 in his uncontrolled          
discretion1 his individual taste4  ,in a
 word1 this ,free ,literature of ours   
protects advancing thought and          
speculation2 and those who believe in   
civic freedom subject only to ,common   
,law1 and espouse the cause of free     
literature1 are championing a system    
which is essentially undemocratic1      
essentially inimical to the will of the 
majority1 who have certainly no desire  
for any such things as advancing thought
 and speculation4  ,such persons1       
indeed1 merely hold the faith that the  
,people1 as a whole1 unprotected by the 
despotic judgments of single persons1   

have enough strength and wisdom to know 
what is and what is not harmful to      
themselves4  ,they put their trust in a 
,public ,press and a ,common ,law1 which
 deriving from the ,conscience of the   
,country1 is openly administered and    
within the reach of all4  ,how absurd1  
how inadequate this all is we see from  
the existence of the ,censorship on     
,drama4  ,having observed that there is 
no reason whatever for the exemption of 
,literature1 let us now turn to the case
 of ,art4  ,every picture hung in a     
gallery1 every statue placed on a       
pedestal1 is exposed to the public stare
 of a mixed company4  ,why1 then1 have  
we no ,censorship to protect us from the
 possibility of encountering works that 
bring blushes to the cheek of the young 
person8  ,the reason cannot be that the 
proprietors of ,galleries are more      
worthy of trust than the managers of    
,theatres2 this would be to make an     
odious distinction which those very     
,managers who uphold the ,censorship of 

,plays would be the first to resent4    
,it is true that ,societies of artists  
and the proprietors of ,galleries are   
subject to the prosecution of the ,law  
if they offend against the ordinary     
standards of public decency2 but        
precisely the same liability attaches to
 theatrical managers and proprietors of 
,theatres1 in whose case it has been    
found necessary and beneficial to add   
the ,censorship4  ,and in this          
connection let it once more be noted how
 much more easily the ordinary standards
 of public decency can be assessed by a 
single person responsible to no one1    
than by the clumsy 7if more open7       
process of public protest4 ,what1 then1 
in the light of the proved justice and  
efficiency of the ,censorship of ,drama1
 is the reason for the absence of the   
,censorship of ,art8  ,the more closely 
the matter is regarded1 the more plain  
it is1 that there is none6  ,at any     
moment we may have to look upon some    
painting1 or contemplate some statue1 as

 tragic1 heart-rending1 and dubiously   
delicate in theme as that censured play 
,the ,cenci1 by one ,shelley2 as        
dangerous to prejudice1 and suggestive  
of new thought as the censured ,ghosts1 
by one ,ibsen4  ,let us protest against 
this peril suspended over our heads1 and
 demand the immediate appointment of a  
single person not selected for any      
pretentiously artistic feelings1 but    
endowed with summary powers of          
prohibiting the exhibition1 in public   
galleries or places1 of such works as he
 shall deem1 in his uncontrolled        
discretion1 unsuited to average         
intelligence or sensibility4  ,let us   
demand it in the interest1 not only of  
the young person1 but of those whole    
sections of the community which cannot  
be expected to take an interest in ,art1
 and to whom the purpose1 speculations1 
and achievements of great artists1      
working not only for to-day but for     
to-morrow1 must naturally be dark       
riddles4  ,let us even require that this

 official should be empowered to order  
the destruction of the works which he   
has deemed unsuited to average          
intelligence and sensibility1 lest their
 creators should1 by private sale1 make 
a profit out of them1 such as1 in the   
nature of the case1 ,dramatic ,authors  
are debarred from making out of plays   
which1 having been censured1 cannot be  
played for money4  ,let us ask this with
 confidence2 for it is not compatible   
with common justice that there should be
 any favouring of ,painter over         
,playwright4  ,they are both            
artists--let them both be measured by   
the same last6  ,but let us now consider
 the case of ,science4  ,it will not1   
indeed cannot1 be contended that the    
investigations of scientific men1       
whether committed to writing or to      
speech1 are always suited to the taste  
and capacities of our general public4   
,there was1 for example1 the well-known 
doctrine of ,evolution1 the teachings of
 ,charles ,darwin and ,alfred ,russet   

,wallace1 who gathered up certain facts1
 hitherto but vaguely known1 into       
presentments1 irreverent and startling1 
which1 at the time1 profoundly disturbed
 every normal mind4  ,not only did      
religion1 as then accepted1 suffer in   
this cataclysm1 but our taste and       
feeling were inexpressibly shocked by   
the discovery1 so emphasised by ,thomas 
,henry ,huxley1 of ,man's descent from  
,apes4  ,it was felt1 and is felt by    
many to this day1 that the advancement  
of that theory grossly and dangerously  
violated every canon of decency4 ,what  
pain1 then1 might have been averted1    
what far-reaching consequences and      
incalculable subversion of primitive    
faiths checked1 if some judicious       
,censor of scientific thought had       
existed in those days to demand1 in     
accordance with his private estimate of 
the will and temper of the majority1 the
 suppression of the doctrine of         
,evolution4  ,innumerable investigations
 of scientists on subjects such as the  

date of the world's creation1 have from 
time to time been summarised and        
inconsiderately sprung on a ,public     
shocked and startled by the revelation  
that facts which they were accustomed to
 revere were conspicuously at fault4    
,so1 too1 in the range of medicine1 it  
would be difficult to cite any radical  
discovery 7such as the preventive power 
of vaccination71 whose unchecked        
publication has not violated the        
prejudices and disturbed the immediate  
comfort of the common mind4  ,had these 
discoveries been judiciously suppressed1
 or pared away to suit what a           
,censorship conceived to be the popular 
palate of the time1 all this disturbance
 and discomfort might have been avoided4
  ,it will doubtless be contended 7for  
there are no such violent opponents of  
,censorship as those who are threatened 
with the same7 that to compare a        
momentous disclosure1 such as the       
doctrine of ,evolution1 to a mere drama1
 were unprofitable4  ,the answer to this

 ungenerous contention is fortunately   
plain4  ,had a judicious ,censorship    
existed over our scientific matters1    
such as for two hundred years has       
existed over our ,drama1 scientific     
discoveries would have been no more     
disturbing and momentous than those     
which we are accustomed to see made on  
our nicely pruned and tutored stage4    
,for not only would the more dangerous  
and penetrating scientific truths have  
been carefully destroyed at birth1 but  
scientists1 aware that the results of   
investigations offensive to accepted    
notions would be suppressed1 would long 
have ceased to waste their time in      
search of a knowledge repugnant to      
average intelligence1 and thus          
foredoomed1 and have occupied themselves
 with services more agreeable to the    
public taste1 such as the rediscovery of
 truths already known and published4    
,indissolubly connected with the        
desirability of a ,censorship of        
,science1 is the need for ,religious    

,censorship4  ,for in this1 assuredly   
not the least important department of   
the nation's life1 we are witnessing    
week by week and year by year1 what in  
the light of the security guaranteed by 
the ,censorship of ,drama1 we are       
justified in terming an alarming        
spectacle4  ,thousands of men are       
licensed to proclaim from their pulpits1
 ,sunday after ,sunday1 their individual
 beliefs1 quite regardless of the       
settled convictions of the masses of    
their congregations4  ,it is true1      
indeed1 that the vast majority of       
sermons 7like the vast majority of      
plays7 are1 and will always be1         
harmonious with the feelings--of the    
average citizen2 for neither priest nor 
playwright have customarily any such    
peculiar gift of spiritual daring as    
might render them unsafe mentors of     
their fellows2 and there is not wanting 
the deterrent of common-sense to keep   
them in bounds4  ,yet it can hardly be  
denied that there spring up at times    

men--like ,john ,wesley or ,general     
,booth--of such incurable temperament as
 to be capable of abusing their freedom 
by the promulgation of doctrine or      
procedure1 divergent from the current   
traditions of religion4  ,nor must it be
 forgotten that sermons1 like plays1 are
 addressed to a mixed audience of       
families1 and that the spiritual        
teachings of a lifetime may be destroyed
 by ten minutes of uncensored           
pronouncement from a pulpit1 the while  
parents are sitting1 not1 as in a       
theatre vested with the right of        
protest1 but dumb and excoriated to the 
soul1 watching their children1 perhaps  
of tender age1 eagerly drinking in words
 at variance with that which they       
themselves have been at such pains to   
instil4  ,if a set of ,censors--for it  
would1 as in the case of ,literature1   
indubitably require more than one       
7perhaps one hundred and eighty1 but1   
for reasons already given1 there should 
be no difficulty whatever in procuring  

them7 endowed with the swift powers     
conferred by freedom from the dull      
tedium of responsibility1 and not       
remarkable for religious temperament1   
were appointed1 to whom all sermons and 
public addresses on religious subjects  
must be submitted before delivery1 and  
whose duty after perusal should be to   
excise all portions not conformable to  
their private ideas of what was at the  
moment suitable to the ,public's ears1  
we should be far on the road toward that
 proper preservation of the status quo  
so desirable if the faiths and ethical  
standards of the less exuberantly       
spiritual masses are to be maintained in
 their full bloom4 ,as things now stand1
 the nation has absolutely nothing to   
safeguard it against religious progress4
  ,we have seen1 then1 that ,censorship 
is at least as necessary over           
,literature1 ,art1 ,science1 and        
,religion as it is over our ,drama4  ,we
 have now to call attention to the      
crowning need--the want of a ,censorship

 in ,politics4  ,if ,censorship be based
 on justice1 if it be proved to serve   
the ,public and to be successful in its 
lonely vigil over ,drama1 it should1 and
 logically must be1 extended to all     
parallel cases2 it cannot1 it dare not1 
stop short at--,politics4  ,for1        
precisely in this supreme branch of the 
public life are we most menaced by the  
rule and license of the leading spirit4 
,to appreciate this fact1 we need only  
examine the ,constitution of the ,house 
of ,commons4  ,six hundred and seventy  
persons chosen from a population        
numbering four and forty millions1 must 
necessarily1 whatever their individual  
defects1 be citizens of more than       
average enterprise1 resource1 and       
resolution4 ,they are elected for a     
period that may last five years4  ,many 
of them are ambitious2 some             
uncompromising2 not a few               
enthusiastically eager to do something  
for their country2 filled with designs  
and aspirations for national or social  

betterment1 with which the masses1 sunk 
in the immediate pursuits of life1 can  
in the nature of things have little     
sympathy4  ,and yet we find these men   
licensed to pour forth at pleasure1     
before mixed audiences1 checked only by 
,common ,law and ,common ,sense         
political utterances which may have the 
gravest1 the most terrific consequences2
 utterances which may at any moment let 
loose revolution1 or plunge the country 
into war2 which often1 as a fact1 excite
 an utter detestation1 terror1 and      
mistrust2 or shock the most sacred      
domestic and proprietary convictions in 
the breasts of vast majorities of their 
fellow-countrymen6  ,and we incur this  
appalling risk for the want of a single1
 or at the most1 a handful of ,censors1 
invested with a simple but limitless    
discretion to excise or to suppress     
entirely such political utterances as   
may seem to their private judgments     
calculated to cause pain or moral       
disturbance in the average man4  ,the   

masses1 it is true1 have their          
protection and remedy against           
injudicious or inflammatory politicians 
in the ,law and the so-called democratic
 process of election2 but we have seen  
that theatre audiences have also the    
protection of the ,law1 and the remedy  
of boycott1 and that in their case1 this
 protection and this remedy are not     
deemed enough4  ,what1 then1 shall we   
say of the case of ,politics1 where the 
dangers attending inflammatory or       
subversive utterance are greater a      
million fold1 and the remedy a thousand 
times less expeditious8  ,our           
,legislators have laid down ,censorship 
as the basic principle of ,justice      
underlying the civic rights of          
dramatists4  ,then1 let ,censorship for 
all be their motto1 and this country no 
longer be ridden and destroyed by free  
,institutions6  ,let them not only      
establish forthwith ,censorships of     
,literature1 ,art1 ,science1 and        
,religion1 but also place themselves    

beneath the regimen with which they have
 calmly fettered ,dramatic ,authors4    
,they cannot deem it becoming to their  
regard for justice1 to their honour2 to 
their sense of humour1 to recoil from a 
restriction which1 in a parallel case   
they have imposed on others4  ,it is an 
old and homely saying that good officers
 never place their men in positions they
 would not themselves be willing to     
fill4  ,and we are not entitled to      
believe that our ,legislators1 having   
set ,dramatic ,authors where they have  
been set1 will--now that their duty is  
made plain--for a moment hesitate to    
step down and stand alongside4  ,but if 
by any chance they should recoil1 and   
thus make answer3 ,we are ready at all  
times to submit to the ,law and the     
,people's will1 and to bow to their     
demands1 but we cannot and must not be  
asked to place our calling1 our duty1   
and our honour beneath the irresponsible
 rule of an arbitrary autocrat1 however 
sympathetic with the generality he may  

chance to be6  ,then1 we would ask3     
,sirs1 did you ever hear of that great  
saying3 ',do unto others as ye would    
they should do unto you6'  ,for it is   
but fair presumption that the           
,dramatists1 whom our ,legislators have 
placed in bondage to a despot1 are1 no  
less than those ,legislators1 proud of  
their calling1 conscious of their duty1 
and jealous of their honour4 #aiji4     
,,vague ,,thoughts ,,on ,,art  ,it was  
on a day of rare beauty that ,i went out
 into the fields to try and gather these
 few thoughts4  ,so golden and sweetly  
hot it was1 that they came lazily1 and  
with a flight no more coherent or       
responsible than the swoop of the very  
swallows2 and1 as in a play or poem1 the
 result is conditioned by the conceiving
 mood1 so ,i knew would be the nature of
 my diving1 dipping1 pale-throated1     
fork-tailed words4  ,but1 after all--,i 
thought1 sitting there--,i need not take
 my critical pronouncements seriously4  
,i have not the firm soul of the critic4

  ,it is not my profession to know      
'things for certain1 and to make others 
feel that certainty4  ,on the contrary1 
,i am often wrong--a luxury no critic   
can afford4  ,and so1 invading as ,i was
 the realm of others1 ,i advanced with a
 light pen1 feeling that none1 and least
 of all myself1 need expect me to be    
right4  ,what then--,i thought--is ,art8
  ,for ,i perceived that to think about 
it ,i must first define it2 and ,i      
almost stopped thinking at all before   
the fearsome nature of that task4  ,then
 slowly in my mind gathered this group  
of words3  ,art is that imaginative     
expression of human energy1 which1      
through technical concretion of feeling 
and perception1 tends to reconcile the  
individual with the universal1 by       
exciting in him impersonal emotion4 ,and
 the greatest ,art is that which excites
 the greatest impersonal emotion in an  
hypothecated perfect human being4       
,impersonal emotion6  ,and what--,i     
thought do ,i mean by that8  ,surely ,i 

mean3 ,that is not ,art1 which1 while   
,i1 am contemplating it1 inspires me    
with any active or directive impulse2   
that is ,art1 when1 for however brief a 
moment1 it replaces within me interest  
in myself by interest in itself4  ,for1 
let me suppose myself in the presence of
 a carved marble bath4  ,if my thoughts 
be ,what could ,i buy that for8 ,impulse
 of acquisition2 or3 ,from what quarry  
did it come8  ,impulse of inquiry2 or3  
,which would be the right end for my    
head8  ,mixed impulse of inquiry and    
acquisition--,i am at that moment       
insensible to it as a work of ,art4     
,but1 if ,i stand before it vibrating at
 sight of its colour and forms1 if ever 
so little and for ever so short a time1 
unhaunted by any definite practical     
thought or impulse--to that extent and  
for that moment it has stolen me away   
out of myself and put itself there      
instead2 has linked me to the universal 
by making me forget the individual in   
me4  ,and for that moment1 and only     

while that moment lasts1 it is to me a  
work of ,art4  ,the word impersonal1    
then1 is but used in this my definition 
to signify momentary forgetfulness of   
one's own personality and its active    
wants4  ,so ,art--,i thought--is that   
which1 heard1 read1 or looked on1 while 
producing no directive impulse1 warms   
one with unconscious vibration4 ,nor can
 ,i imagine any means of defining what  
is the greatest ,art1 without           
hypothecating a perfect human being4    
,but since we shall never see1 or know  
if we do see1 that desirable            
creature--dogmatism is banished1        
,academy is dead to the discussion1     
deader than even ,tolstoy left it after 
his famous treatise ,what is ,art8      
,for1 having destroyed all the old      
,judges and ,academies1 ,tolstoy1 by    
saying that the greatest ,art was that  
which appealed to the greatest number of
 living human beings1 raised up the     
masses of mankind to be a definite new  
,judge or ,academy1 as tyrannical and   

narrow as ever were those whom he had   
destroyed4  ,this1 at all events--,i    
thought is as far as ,i dare go in      
defining what ,art is4  ,but let me try 
to make plain to myself what is the     
essential quality that gives to ,art the
 power of exciting this unconscious     
vibration1 this impersonal emotion4  ,it
 has been called ,beauty6  ,an awkward  
word--a perpetual begging of the        
question2 too current in use1 too       
ambiguous altogether2 now too narrow1   
now too wide--a word1 in fact1 too glib 
to know at all what it means4  ,and how 
dangerous a word--often misleading us   
into slabbing with extraneous           
floridities what would otherwise1 on its
 own plane1 be ,art6  ,to be decorative 
where decoration is not suitable1 to be 
lyrical where lyricism is out of place1 
is assuredly to spoil ,art1 not to      
achieve it4  ,but this essential quality
 of ,art has also1 and more happily1    
been called ,rhythm4  ,and1 what is     
,rhythm if not that mysterious harmony  

between part and part1 and part and     
whole1 which gives what is called life2 
that exact proportion1 the mystery of   
which is best grasped in observing how  
life leaves an animate creature when the
 essential relation of part to whole has
 been sufficiently disturbed4  ,and ,i  
agree that this rhythmic relation of    
part to part1 and part to whole--in     
short1 vitality--is the one quality     
inseparable from a work of ,art4  ,for  
nothing which does not seem to a man    
possessed of this rhythmic vitality1 can
 ever steal him out of himself4  ,and   
having got thus far in my thoughts1 ,i  
paused1 watching the swallows2 for they 
seemed to me the symbol1 in their swift1
 sure curvetting1 all daring and balance
 and surprise1 of the delicate poise and
 motion of ,art1 that visits no two men 
alike1 in a world where no two things of
 all the things there be1 are quite the 
same4  ,yes--,i thought--and this ,art  
is the one form of human energy in the  
whole world1 which really works for     

union1 and destroys the barriers between
 man and man4  ,it is the continual1    
unconscious replacement1 however        
fleeting1 of oneself by another2 the    
real cement of human life2 the          
everlasting refreshment and renewal4    
,for1 what is grievous1 dompting1 grim1 
about our lives is that we are shut up  
within ourselves1 with an itch to get   
outside ourselves4  ,and to be stolen   
away from ourselves by ,art is a        
momentary relaxation from that itching1 
a minute's profound1 and as it were     
secret1 enfranchisement4 ,the active    
amusements and relaxations of life can  
only rest certain of our faculties1 by  
indulging others2 the whole self is     
never rested save through that          
unconsciousness of self1 which comes    
through rapt contemplation of ,nature or
 of ,art4  ,and suddenly ,i remembered  
that some believe that ,art does not    
produce unconsciousness of self1 but    
rather very vivid self-realisation4     
,ah6 but--,i though--that is not the    

first and instant effect of ,art2 the   
new impetus is the after effect of that 
momentary replacement of oneself by the 
self of the work before us2 it is surely
 the result of that brief span of       
enlargement1 enfranchisement1 and rest4 
,yes1 ,art is the great and universal   
refreshment4  ,for ,art is never        
dogmatic2 holds no brief for itself you 
may take it or you may leave it4 ,it    
does not force itself rudely where it is
 not wanted4  ,it is reverent to all    
tempers1 to all points of view4  ,but it
 is wilful--the very wind in the comings
 and goings of its influence1 an        
uncapturable fugitive1 visiting our     
hearts at vagrant1 sweet moments2 since 
we often stand even before the greatest 
works of ,art without being able quite  
to lose ourselves6  ,that restful       
oblivion comes1 we never quite know     
when--and it is gone6  ,but when it     
comes1 it is a spirit hovering with cool
 wings1 blessing us from least to       
greatest1 according to our powers2 a    

spirit deathless and varied as human    
life itself4  ,and in what sort of      
age--,i thought--are artists living now8
  ,are conditions favourable8  ,life is 
very multiple2 full of movements1 facts1
 and news2 with the limelight terribly  
turned on--and all this is adverse to   
the artist4  ,yet1 leisure is abundant2 
the facilities for study great2 ,liberty
 is respected--more or less4  ,but1     
there is one great reason why1 in this  
age of ours1 ,art1 it seems1 must       
flourish4  ,for1 just as cross-breeding 
in ,nature--if it be not too            
violent--often gives an extra vitality  
to the offspring1 so does cross-breeding
 of philosophies make for vitality in   
,art4  ,i cannot help thinking that     
historians1 looking back from the far   
future1 will record this age as the     
,third ,renaissance4  ,we who are lost  
in it1 working or looking on1 can       
neither tell what we are doing1 nor     
where standing2 but we cannot help      
observing1 that1 just as in the ,greek  

,renaissance1 worn-out ,pagan orthodoxy 
was penetrated by new philosophy2 just  
as in the ,italian ,renaissance1 ,pagan 
philosophy1 reasserting itself1         
fertilised again an already too inbred  
,christian creed2 so now ,orthodoxy     
fertilised by ,science is producing a   
fresh and fuller conception of life--a1 
love of ,perfection1 not for hope of    
reward1 not for fear of punishment1 but 
for ,perfection's sake4 ,slowly1 under  
our feet1 beneath our consciousness1 is 
forming that new philosophy1 and it is  
in times of new philosophies that ,art1 
itself in essence always a discovery1   
must flourish4  ,those whose sacred suns
 and moons are ever in the past1 tell us
 that our ,art is going to the dogs2 and
 it is1 indeed1 true that we are in     
confusion6  ,the waters are broken1 and 
every nerve and sinew of the artist is  
strained to discover his own safety4    
,it is an age of stir and change1 a     
season of new wine and old bottles4     
,yet1 assuredly1 in spite of breakages  

and waste1 a wine worth the drinking is 
all the time being made4  ,i ceased     
again to think1 for the sun had dipped  
low1 and the midges were biting me2 and 
the sounds of evening had begun1 those  
innumerable far-travelling sounds of man
 and bird and beast--so clear and       
intimate--of remote countrysides at     
sunset4  ,and for long ,i listened1 too 
vague to move my pen4  ,new             
philosophy--a vigorous ,art6  ,are there
 not all the signs of it8  ,in music1   
sculpture1 painting2 in fiction--and    
drama2 in dancing2 in criticism itself1 
if criticism be an ,art4  ,yes1 we are  
reaching out to a new faith not yet     
crystallised1 to a new ,art not yet     
perfected2 the forms still to find-the  
flowers still to fashion6  ,and how has 
it come1 this slowly growing faith in   
,perfection for ,perfection's sake8     
,surely like this3 ,the ,western world  
awoke one day to find that it no longer 
believed corporately and for certain in 
future life for the individual          

consciousness4  ,it began to feel3 ,i   
cannot say more than that there may     
be--,death may be the end of man1 or    
,death may be nothing4  ,and it began to
 ask itself in this uncertainty3 ,do ,i 
then desire to go on living8  ,now1     
since it found that it desired to go on 
living at least as earnestly as ever it 
did before1 it began to inquire why4    
,and slowly it perceived that there was1
 inborn within it1 a passionate instinct
 of which it had hardly till then been  
conscious--a sacred instinct to perfect 
itself1 now1 as well as in a possible   
hereafter2 to perfect itself because    
,perfection was desirable1 a vision to  
be adored1 and striven for2 a dream     
motive fastened within the ,universe2   
the very essential ,cause of everything4
  ,and it began to see that this        
,perfection1 cosmically1 was nothing but
 perfect ,equanimity and ,harmony2 and  
in human relations1 nothing but perfect 
,love and ,justice4 ,and ,perfection    
began to glow before the eyes of the    

,western world like a new star1 whose   
light touched with glamour all things as
 they came forth from ,mystery1 till to 
,mystery they were ready to return4     
,this--,i thought is surely what the    
,western world has dimly been           
rediscovering4  ,there has crept into   
our minds once more the feeling that the
 ,universe is all of a piece1 ,equipoise
 supreme2 and all things equally        
wonderful1 and mysterious1 and valuable4
  ,we have begun1 in fact1 to have a    
glimmering of the artist's creed1 that  
nothing may we despise or neglect--that 
everything is worth the doing well1 the 
making fair--that our ,god1 ,perfection1
 is implicit everywhere1 and the        
revelation of ,him the business of our  
,art4  ,and as ,i jotted down these     
words ,i noticed that some real stars   
had crept up into the sky1 so gradually 
darkening above the pollard lime-trees2 
cuckoos1 who had been calling on the    
thorn-trees all the afternoon1 were     
silent2 the swallows no longer flirted  

past1 but a bat was already in career   
over the holly hedge2 and round me the  
buttercups were closing4 ,the whole form
 and feeling of the world had changed1  
so that ,i seemed to have before me a   
new picture hanging4  ,ah6  ,i thought  
,art must indeed be priest of this new  
faith in ,perfection1 whose motto is3   
,harmony1 ,proportion1 ,balance4  ,for  
by ,art alone can true harmony in human 
affairs be fostered1 true ,proportion   
revealed1 and true ,equipoise preserved4
  ,is not the training of an artist a   
training in the due relation of one     
thing with another1 and in the faculty  
of expressing that relation clearly2    
and1 even more1 a training in the       
faculty of disengaging from self the    
very essence of self--and passing that  
essence into other selves by so delicate
 means that none shall see how it is    
done1 yet be insensibly unified8  ,is   
not the artist1 of all men1 foe and     
nullifier of partisanship and           
parochialism1 of distortions and        

extravagance1 the discoverer of that    
jack-o'-lantern--,truth2 for1 if ,truth 
be not ,spiritual ,proportion ,i know   
not what it is4  ,truth it seems to     
me--is no absolute thing1 but always    
relative1 the essential symmetry in the 
varying relationships of life2 and the  
most perfect truth is but the concrete  
expression of the most penetrating      
vision4  ,life seen throughout as a     
countless show of the finest works of   
,art2 ,life shaped1 and purged of the   
irrelevant1 the gross1 and the          
extravagant2 ,life1 as it were1         
spiritually selected--that is ,truth2 a 
thing as multiple1 and changing1 as     
subtle1 and strange1 as ,life itself1   
and as little to be bound by dogma4     
,truth admits but the one rule3 ,no     
deficiency1 and no excess6  ,disobedient
 to that rule--nothing attains full     
vitality4  ,and secretly fettered by    
that rule is ,art1 whose business is the
 creation of vital things4  ,that       
aesthete1 to be sure1 was right1 when he

 said3 ,it is ,style that makes one     
believe in a thing2 nothing but ,style4 
,for1 what is ,style in its true and    
broadest sense save fidelity to idea and
 mood1 and perfect balance in the       
clothing of them8  ,and ,i thought3 ,can
 one believe in the decadence of ,art in
 an age which1 however unconsciously as 
yet1 is beginning to worship that which 
,art worships--,perfection-,style8  ,the
 faults of our ,arts to-day are the     
faults of zeal and of adventure1 the    
faults and crudities of pioneers1 the   
errors and mishaps of the explorer4     
,they must pass through many fevers1 and
 many times lose their way2 but at all  
events they shall not go dying in their 
beds1 and be buried at ,kensal ,green4  
,and1 here and there1 amid the disasters
 and wreckage of their voyages of       
discovery1 they will find something new1
 some fresh way of embellishing life1 or
 of revealing the heart of things4 ,that
 characteristic of to-day's ,art--the   
striving of each branch of ,art to burst

 its own boundaries--which to many      
spells destruction1 is surely of happy  
omen4  ,the novel straining to become   
the play1 the play the novel1 both      
trying to paint2 music striving to      
become story2 poetry gasping to be      
music2 painting panting to be           
philosophy2 forms1 canons1 rules1 all   
melting in the pot2 stagnation broken   
up6  ,in all this havoc there is much to
 shock and jar even the most eager and  
adventurous4  ,we cannot stand these    
new-fangled fellows6  ,they have no     
form6  ,they rush in where angels fear  
to tread4  ,they have lost all the good 
of the old1 and given us nothing in its 
place6  ,and yet--only out of stir and  
change is born new salvation4  ,to deny 
that is to deny belief in man1 to turn  
our backs on courage6  ,it is well1     
indeed1 that some should live in closed 
studies with the paintings and the books
 of yesterday--such devoted students    
serve ,art in their own way4  ,but the  
fresh-air world will ever want new      

forms4  ,we shall not get them without  
faith enough to risk the old6  ,the good
 will live1 the bad will die2 and       
tomorrow only can tell us which is      
which6  ,yes--,i thought--we naturally  
take a too impatient view of the ,art of
 our own time1 since we can neither see 
the ends toward which it is almost      
blindly groping1 nor the few perfected  
creations that will be left standing    
amidst the rubble of abortive effort4   
,an age must always decry itself and    
extol its forbears4  ,the unwritten     
history of every ,art will show us that4
  ,consider the novel--that most recent 
form of ,art6  ,did not the age which   
followed ,fielding lament the treachery 
of authors to the ,picaresque tradition1
 complaining that they were not as      
,fielding and ,smollett were8  ,be sure 
they did4  ,very slowly and in spite of 
opposition did the novel attain in this 
country the fulness of that biographical
 form achieved under ,thackeray4  ,very 
slowly1 and in face of condemnation1 it 

has been losing that form in favour of a
 greater vividness which places before  
the reader's brain1 not historical      
statements1 as it were1 of motives and  
of facts1 but word-paintings of things  
and persons1 so chosen and arranged that
 the reader may see1 as if at first     
hand1 the spirit of ,life at work before
 him4  ,the new novel has as many       
bemoaners as the old novel had when it  
was new4  ,it is no question of better  
or worse1 but of differing forms--of    
change dictated by gradual suitability  
to the changing conditions of our social
 life1 and to the ever fresh discoveries
 of craftsmen1 in the intoxication of   
which1 old and equally worthy           
craftsmanship is--by the way--too often 
for the moment mislaid4 ,the vested     
interests of life favour the line of    
least resistance--disliking and         
revolting against disturbance2 but one  
must always remember that a spurious    
glamour is inclined to gather around    
what is new4  ,and1 because of these two

 deflecting factors1 those who break    
through old forms must well expect to be
 dead before the new forms they have    
unconsciously created have found their  
true level1 high or low1 in the world of
 ,art4  ,when a thing is new how shall  
it be judged8  ,in the fluster of       
meeting novelty1 we have even seen      
coherence attempting to bind together   
two personalities so fundamentally      
opposed as those of ,ibsen and ,bernard 
,shaw dramatists with hardly a quality  
in common2 no identity of tradition1 or 
belief2 not the faintest resemblance in 
methods of construction or technique4   
,yet contemporary2 estimate talks of    
them often in the same breath4 ,they are
 new6  ,it is enough4  ,and others1 as  
utterly unlike them both4  ,they too are
 new4  ,they have as yet no label of    
their own then put on some one else's6  
,and so--,i thought it must always be2  
for ,time is essential to the proper    
placing and estimate of all ,art4  ,and 
is it not this feeling1 that            

contemporary judgments are apt to turn  
out a little ludicrous1 which has       
converted much criticism of late from   
judgment pronounced into impression     
recorded--recreative statement--a kind1 
in fact1 of expression of the critic's  
self1 elicited through contemplation of 
a book1 a play1 a symphony1 a picture8  
,for this kind of criticism there has   
even recently been claimed an actual    
identity with creation4  ,esthetic      
judgment and creative power identical6  
,that is a hard saying4  ,for1 however  
sympathetic one may feel toward this new
 criticism1 however one may recognise   
that the recording of impression has a  
wider1 more elastic1 and more lasting   
value than the delivery of arbitrary    
judgment based on rigid laws of taste2  
however one may admit that it approaches
 the creative gift in so far as it      
demands the qualities of receptivity and
 reproduction--is there not still       
lacking to this new critic something of 
that thirsting spirit of discovery1     

which precedes the creation--hitherto   
so-called--of anything8  ,criticism1    
taste1 aesthetic judgment1 by the very  
nature of their task1 wait till life has
 been focussed by the artists before    
they attempt to reproduce the image     
which that imprisoned fragment of life  
makes on the mirror of their minds4     
,but a thing created springs from a germ
 unconsciously implanted by the direct  
impact of unfettered life on the whole  
range1 of the creator's temperament2 and
 round the germ thus engendered1 the    
creative artist--ever penetrating1      
discovering1 selecting--goes on building
 cell on cell1 gathered from a million  
little fresh impacts and visions4  ,and 
to say that this is also exactly what   
the recreative critic does1 is to say   
that the interpretative musician is     
creator in the same sense as is the     
composer of the music that he           
interprets4  ,if1 indeed1 these         
processes be the same in kind1 they are 
in degree so far apart that one would   

think the word creative unfortunately   
used of both4444  ,but this             
speculation--,i thought--is going beyond
 the bounds of vagueness4 ,let there be 
some thread of coherence in your        
thoughts1 as there is in the progress of
 this evening1 fast fading into night4  
,return to the consideration of the     
nature and purposes of ,art6  ,and      
recognize that much of what you have    
thought will seem on the face of it     
heresy to the school whose doctrine was 
incarnated by ,oscar ,wilde in that     
admirable apotheosis of half-truths3    
,the ,decay of the ,art of ,lying4  ,for
 therein he said3 ,no great artist ever 
sees things as they really are4  ,yet1  
that half-truth might also be put thus3 
,the seeing of things as they really    
are--the seeing of a proportion veiled  
from other eyes 7together with the power
 of expression71 is what makes a man an 
artist4  ,what makes him a great artist 
is a high fervour of spirit1 which      
produces a superlative1 instead of a    

comparative1 clarity of vision4  ,close 
to my house there is a group of pines   
with gnarled red limbs flanked by       
beech-trees4  ,and there is often a very
 deep blue sky behind4 ,generally1 that 
is all ,i see4  ,but1 once in a way1 in 
those trees against that sky ,i seem to 
see all the passionate life and glow    
that ,titian painted into his pagan     
pictures4  ,i have a vision of          
mysterious meaning1 of a mysterious     
relation between that sky and those     
trees with their gnarled red limbs and  
,life as ,i know it4  ,and when ,i have 
had that vision ,i always feel1 this is 
reality1 and all those other times1 when
 ,i have no such vision1 simple         
unreality4  ,if ,i were a painter1 it is
 for such fervent vision ,i should wait1
 before moving brush3 ,this1 so         
intimate1 inner vision of reality1      
indeed1 seems in duller moments         
well-nigh grotesque2 and hence that     
other glib half-truth3 ,art is greater  
than ,life itself4  ,art is1 indeed1    

greater than ,life in the sense that the
 power of ,art is the disengagement from
 ,life of its real spirit and           
significance4  ,but in any other sense1 
to say that ,art is greater than ,life  
from which it emerges1 and into which it
 must remerge1 can but suspend the      
artist over ,life1 with his feet in the 
air and his head in the clouds--,prig   
masquerading as ,demi-god4  ,nature is  
no great ,mother who has borne us4  ,she
 is our creation4  ,it is in our brain  
that she quickens to life4  ,such is the
 highest hyperbole of the aesthetic     
creed4 ,but what is creative instinct1  
if not an incessant living sympathy with
 ,nature1 a constant craving like that  
of ,nature's own1 to fashion something  
new out of all that comes within the    
grasp of those faculties with which     
,nature has endowed us8  ,the qualities 
of vision1 of fancy1 and of imaginative 
power1 are no more divorced from        
,nature1 than are the qualities of      
common-sense and courage4  ,they are    

rarer1 that is all4  ,but in truth1 no  
one holds such views4  ,not even those  
who utter them4  ,they are the rhetoric1
 the over-statement of half-truths1 by  
such as wish to condemn what they call  
,realism1 without being temperamentally 
capable of understanding what ,realism  
really is4  ,and what--,i thought--is   
,realism8  ,what is the meaning of that 
word so wildly used8  ,is it descriptive
 of technique1 or descriptive of the    
spirit of the artist2 or both1 or       
neither8  ,was ,turgenev a realist8  ,no
 greater poet ever wrote in prose1 nor  
any one who more closely brought the    
actual shapes of men and things before  
us4  ,no more fervent idealists than    
,ibsen and ,tolstoy ever lived2 and none
 more careful to make their people real4
  ,were they realists8  ,no more deeply 
fantastic writer can ,i conceive than   
,dostoievsky1 nor any who has described 
actual situations more vividly4  ,was he
 a realist8  ,the late ,stephen ,crane  
was called a realist4  ,than whom no    

more impressionistic writer ever painted
 with words4  ,what then is the heart of
 this term still often used as an       
expression almost of abuse8  ,to me1 at 
all events--,i thought--the words       
realism1 realistic1 have no longer      
reference to technique1 for which the   
words naturalism1 naturalistic1 serve   
far better4  ,nor have they to do with  
the question of imaginative power--as   
much demanded by realism as by          
romanticism4  ,for me1 a realist is by  
no means tied to naturalistic           
technique--he may be poetic1 idealistic1
 fantastic1 impressionistic1 anything   
but--romantic2 that1 in so far as he is 
a realist1 he cannot be4 ,the word1 in  
fact1 characterises that artist whose   
temperamental preoccupation is with     
revelation of the actual inter-relating 
spirit of life1 character1 and thought1 
with a view to enlighten himself and    
others2 as distinguished from that      
artist whom ,i call romantic--whose     
tempera mental purpose is invention of  

tale or design with a view to delight   
himself and others4  ,it is a question  
of temperamental antecedent motive in   
the artist1 and nothing more4           
,realist--,romanticist6                 
,enlightenment--,delight6  ,that is the 
true apposition4  ,to make a            
revelation--to tell a fairy-tale6  ,and 
either of these artists may use what    
form he likes--naturalistic1 fantastic1 
poetic1 impressionistic4  ,for it is not
 by the form1 but by the purpose and    
mood of his art that he shall be known1 
as one or as the other4 ,realists       
indeed--including the half of           
,shakespeare that was realist not being 
primarily concerned to amuse their      
audience1 are still comparatively       
unpopular in a world made up for the    
greater part of men of action1 who      
instinctively reject all art that does  
not distract them without causing them  
to think4  ,for thought makes demands on
 an energy already in full use2 thought 
causes introspection2 and introspection 

causes discomfort1 and disturbs the     
grooves of action4  ,to say that the    
object of the realist is to enlighten   
rather than to delight1 is not to say   
that in his art the realist is not      
amusing himself as much as ever is the  
teller of a fairy-tale1 though he does  
not deliberately start out to do so2 he 
is amusing1 too1 a large part of        
mankind4  ,for1 admitted that the       
abject1 and the test of ,art1 is always 
the awakening of vibration1 of          
impersonal emotion1 it is still usually 
forgotten that men fall1 roughly        
speaking1 into two flocks3 ,those whose 
intelligence is uninquiring in the face 
of ,art1 and does not demand to be      
appeased before their emotions can be   
stirred2 and those who1 having a        
speculative bent of mind1 must first be 
satisfied by an enlightening quality in 
a work of ,art1 before that work of ,art
 can awaken in them feeling4  ,the      
audience of the realist is drawn from   
this latter type of man2 the much larger

 audience of the romantic artist from   
the former2 together with1 in both      
cases1 those fastidious few for whom all
 ,art is style and only style1 and who  
welcome either kind1 so long as it is   
good enough4  ,to me1 then--,i          
thought--this division into ,realism and
 ,romance1 so understood1 is the main   
cleavage in all the ,arts2 but it is    
hard to find pure examples of either    
kind4  ,for even the most determined    
realist has more than a streak in him of
 the romanticist1 and the most resolute 
romanticist finds it impossible at times
 to be quite unreal4  ,guido ,reni1     
,watteau1 ,leighton were they not       
perhaps somewhat pure romanticists2     
,rembrandt1 ,hogarth1 ,manet mainly     
realists2 ,botticelli1 ,titian1         
,raphael1 a blend4  ,dumas pere1 and    
,scott1 surely romantic2 ,flaubert and  
,tolstoy as surely realists2 ,dickens   
and ,cervantes1 blended4  ,keats and    
,swinburne romantic2 ,browning and      
,whitman--realistic2 ,shakespeare and   

,goethe1 both4 ,the ,greek              
dramatists--realists4  ,the ,arabian    
,nights and ,malory romantic4 ,the      
,iliad1 the ,odyssey1 and the ,old      
,testament1 both realism and romance4   
,and if in the vagueness of my thoughts 
,i were to seek for illustration less   
general and vague to show the essence of
 this temperamental cleavage in all     
,art1 ,i would take the two novelists   
,turgenev and ,stevenson4  ,for         
,turgenev expressed himself in stories  
that must be called romances1 and       
,stevenson employed almost always a     
naturalistic technique4  ,yet no one    
would ever call ,turgenev a romanticist1
 or ,stevenson a realist4  ,the spirit  
of the first brooded over life1 found in
 it a perpetual voyage of spiritual     
adventure1 was set on discovering and   
making clear to himself and all1 the    
varying traits and emotions of human    
character--the varying moods of ,nature2
 and though he couched all this         
discovery in caskets of engaging story1 

it was always clear as day what mood it 
was that drove him to dip pen in ink4   
,the spirit of the second1 ,i think1    
almost dreaded to discover2 he felt     
life1 ,i believe1 too keenly to want to 
probe into it2 he spun his gossamer to  
lure himself and all away from life4    
,that was his driving mood2 but the     
craftsman in him1 longing to be clear   
and poignant1 made him more natural1    
more actual than most realists4  ,so1   
how thin often is the hedge6  ,and how  
poor a business the partisan abuse of   
either kind of art in a world where each
 sort of mind has full right to its own 
due expression1 and grumbling lawful    
only when due expression is not         
attained4  ,one may not care for a      
,rembrandt portrait of a plain old      
woman2 a graceful ,watteau decoration   
may leave another cold but foolish will 
he be who denies that both are faithful 
to their conceiving moods1 and so       
proportioned part to part1 and part to  
whole1 as to have1 each in its own way1 

that inherent rhythm or vitality which  
is the hall-mark of ,art4  ,he is but a 
poor philosopher who holds a view so    
narrow as to exclude forms not to his   
personal taste4  ,no realist can love   
romantic ,art so much as he loves his   
own1 but when that ,art fulfils the laws
 of its peculiar being1 if he would be  
no blind partisan1 he must admit it4    
,the romanticist will never be amused by
 realism1 but let him not for that      
reason be so parochial as to think that 
realism1 when it achieves vitality1 is  
not ,art4  ,for what is ,art but the    
perfected expression of self in contact 
with the world2 and whether that self be
 of enlightening1 or of fairy-telling   
temperament1 is of no moment whatsoever4
  ,the tossing of abuse from realist to 
romanticist and back is but the         
sword-play of two one-eyed men with     
their blind side turned toward each     
other4  ,shall not each attempt be      
judged on its own merits8 ,if found not 
shoddy1 faked1 or forced1 but true to   

itself1 true to its conceiving mood1 and
 fair-proportioned part to whole2 so    
that it lives--then1 realistic or       
romantic1 in the name of ,fairness let  
it pass6 ,of all kinds of human energy1 
,art is surely the most free1 the least 
parochial2 and demands of us an         
essential tolerance of all its forms4   
,shall we waste breath and ink in       
condemnation of artists1 because their  
temperaments are not our own8  ,but the 
shapes and colours of the day were now  
all blurred2 every tree and stone       
entangled in the dusk4  ,how different  
the world seemed from that in which ,i  
had first sat down1 with the swallows   
flirting past4  ,and my mood was        
different2 for each of those worlds had 
brought to my heart its proper          
feeling--painted on my eyes the just    
picture4  ,and ,night1 that was coming1 
would bring me yet another mood that    
would frame itself with consciousness at
 its own fair moment1 and hang before   
me4  ,a quiet owl stole by in the geld  

below1 and vanished into the heart of a 
tree4  ,and suddenly above the moor-line
 ,i saw the large moon rising4          
,cinnamon-coloured1 it made all things  
swim1 made me uncertain of my thoughts1 
vague with mazy feeling4 ,shapes seemed 
but drifts of moon-dust1 and true       
reality nothing save a sort of still    
listening to the wind4  ,and for long ,i
 sat1 just watching the moon creep up1  
and hearing the thin1 dry rustle of the 
leaves along the holly hedge4  ,and     
there came to me this thought3 ,what is 
this ,universe--that never had beginning
 and will never have an end--but a      
myriad striving to perfect pictures     
never the same1 so blending and fading  
one into another1 that all form one     
great perfected picture8  ,and what are 
we--ripples on the tides of a birthless1
 deathless1 equipoised                  
,creative-,purpose--but little works of 
,art8  ,trying to record that thought1  
,i noticed that my note-book was damp   
with dew4  ,the cattle were lying down4 

,it was too dark to see4 #aiaa