issr POEM ON ME. DAEWIN 133 



him, no one else exactly held the place Mr. Darwin 

 had held, to no one else did he so constantly refer ; 

 and dear as were other friends, notably Dr. Burdon 

 Sanderson, no one stood in the position to Romanes 

 of ' The Master.' 



There was no exaggeration in his expressions 

 of grief, or in the verses in which he poured out his 

 soul : — 



' I loved him with a strength of love ' 



Which man to man can only bear 

 When one in station far above 



The rest of men, yet deigns to share 

 A friendship true with those far down 



The ranks : as though a mightj' king, 

 Girt with his armies of renown. 



Should caU within his narrow ring 

 Of counsellors and chosen friends 



Some youth who scarce can understand 

 How it began or how it ends 



That he should grasp the monarch's hand.' 



^ To all those to whom a great friendship has been 

 given, a friendship, not on equal terms, but one in 

 which the chief elements on one side have been 

 reverence and gratitude, on the other affectionate 

 approval and esteem, to all these fortunate souls 

 these letters and verses will appeal. For it is no 

 small matter in a man's Hfe that he should have had 

 a passionate friendship for a great man, a real leader ; 

 and it is a still greater matter that the younger man 

 should have found his confidence, his devotion, his 

 reverence worthily bestowed. 



To Francis Darwin, Esq. 



18 Cornwall Terrace, Eegent's Park, K.W. . January 13, 1885. 



Dear Darwin, — I wtU think over the conversations 

 and write you again whether there is anything that 

 would do for pubhshing. 



' CJiarUs Darwin : a memorial poem. 



