SPKINGS 51 



why the modern reader is apt to be disappointed in 

 them when he takes them up for the first time. 

 They appear minor and literal and tasteless, as does 

 most ancient poetry; but it is mainly because we 

 have got to the fountain-head, and have come in 

 contact with a mind that has been but little shaped 

 by artificial indoor influences. The stream of liter- 

 ature is now much fuller and broader than it was in 

 ancient times, with currents and counter-currents, 

 and diverse and curious phases; but the primitive 

 sources seem far behind us, and for the refreshment 

 of simple spring- water in art we must still go back 

 to Greek poetry. 



