i 4 2 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



teach the literary man to become a poet by plucking for ever at only one of them, 

 the string of sentimentality of which the world wearies, or of eccentricity which 

 rouses because it jars. The poet is not the literary man. His quality is some- 

 thing beside and above his craft. He is not a purveyor of prettiness. His matter 

 must matter, his words must be deeds, and his ink his own blood. Poetry is an 

 essence thrice distilled, of theme, expression, and music : it is no occasional flower, 

 nor wandering strain, nor the pallid altar-fume of a cult of cloistered critics. 

 Poetry is the inscription of all experience, the tablet of the heart, the record of 

 things seen, the song of the thing done, the breath of action climbed to the summit, 

 thought on the peak, philosophy in music more divine, the perfected utterance of 

 humanity. On the peak, I say ; for it is only there that poetry is heard. 



