The Commonplace 21 



These writers invariably write the common- 

 place, and touch it into life and meaning. One 

 of the greatest of these writers, to my thinking, 

 is Stevenson, simple, direct, youthful, tender, 

 and heartsome. His life was with nature; his 

 work touches the elemental. 



O Stevenson! On far Samoa's tropic shore 



You moored your slender bark, 



And there in calm secludedness did live 



To write the spirit of your gentle soul 



And over all the world to pour 



The fragrance from the tropic of your heart. 



And thence you passed beyond, 



Passed not with the proud acclaim 



Of pageant and tempestuous bells 



That drown themselves in blank forgetfulness, 



But fell away as falls the wind at eventide ; 



And all the trees on all the isles and shores 



Bowed their heads in solitude. 



Nature poetry. 



I like to think that some of our poetry is 

 also leading us nature-ward in a very practical 

 way, since it is becoming more personal and 

 definite, and brings us into closer touch with 



