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their myths the Northmen had set before them the poetic 
conception, that although wickedness might be paramount for a 
time, in the end justice and truth would prevail. The immense 
power of ideal creations in influencing mind and action, is shown 
by the power exerted over the citizens of Imperial Rome by the 
poetical legends and traditions of the foundation of the city. 
Similarly our sea heroes of a century ago fought for an ideal 
poetical England—the home of the brave and the free, the 
asylum for the downtrodden, the mother of great men. Soldiers 
follow their colours into the field and defend them until death, 
because of the memories and associations that cluster round 
them, and because they are the visible emblems of poetical ideas, 
The influence of poetry is great in swaying the heads and minds 
of men through a secondary medium, but that influence is far 
greater when brought directly to bear, e.g., in case of the 
Troubadours, the Minnesingers, or of the harpers and ballad 
makers of our own island. Imagination is greater than 
achievement; a poem is more potent than a king. Poetry 
throws an aureole of glory round even the carnage of a battle- 
field. The history of the Hebrew race is a proof of the impotency 
of nations when forsaken by the spirit of poetry. During 
eighteen centuries of decadence the Jews have not produced one 
poet. Without the refining influence of poetry, religion itself 
may develop into a gospel of destruction. It is to the dreams of 
poets and the influence of poetry that nations owe their emanci- 
pation from oppression. Poetry cannot exist in an atmosphere 
of tyranny. In imperial matters it is not common sense that 
rules. While timid caution wanders in fog, hope and enthusiasm 
reach the hill top and breathe adiviner air. The leaders, lovers, 
and guides of mankind have ever been the poets. As a civiliser 
and reformer, poetry has no peer. It is stronger than love of 
life, more potent than dread of death. It teaches us the drift 
and meaning of existence. It is the lullaby of childhood, the 
pain and epithalamium of mankind, the requiem of old age. 
The infancy of every nation has been cradled in poetry; the 
perfect manhood of any nation will be attained when its people 
live up to the highest conceivable poetical ideals. Then will the 
Millenium become a living reality. 
