THE LANDSCAPE BEAUTIFUL 



done in other fields. In the field of land- 

 scape architecture criticism is almost 

 unknown; and this fact presents unquestion- 

 ably the greatest handicap vmder which 

 the art labors. The landscape architects 

 themselves appear to be not only blind to 

 this defect, but they seem almost to present 

 an organized opposition to every improve- 

 ment in this direction. 



Consider, first of all, the refinement to 

 which criticism has been brought in the 

 field of literature. The authenticated works 

 of Shakespeare may be printed in a com- 

 fortable pocket volume, but the books about 

 Shakespeare and his works would fill all 

 the Carnegie libraries between Hyannis, 

 Massachusetts, and Walla Walla, Washing- 

 ton. These treat every conceivable phase 

 of the poet's life and work, viewed from 

 every possible angle, from the Grecian 

 structure of his plays to the rambles with 

 Ann Hathaway on Sunday afternoons along 

 the shady field-paths of Warwick. Homer 

 has been dead some thousands of years. 

 His nation is dead, and the language in 

 which he wrote is dead; but there meet 

 daily in many classrooms thousands of bo3rs 

 and girls to discuss his qualities of style, 



140 



