CRITICISM ON JACK AND GILL.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 547, 11 October 1881, Page 3

CRITICISM ON JACK AND GILL.

BY NON EGO. " Jack and Gill went up the hill To get a pail of water ; Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Gill came tumbling after."

In conducting a criticism of this beautiful poem, we shall first attend to what imiy be called the rj'thinical and dynamical qualities oi the verse. Obst-rve the perfect measure " Jack—and Gill—went up the hill." Tho first part of the first foot is lacking , , but that is fully compensated in the next verse, which is hypercatalectic : "To gel —a pail—of wat —er."

The ek, in this instance, would exactly (ill the incomplete foot of the first verse thus producing a grand iambic dimeter and leaving the second verse a de ightful tripody. The next two verses display the same wonderful poetic structure : "Jack—fell down—and broke—his crown, And Gill—came tumb—ling aft —er." Observe the pleasing and highly musical effect produced by the addition of the fractional foot, er ; " And Gill—came tumb—ling aft—er."

Let us now turn our attention to wha are really the essential elements of poetry —the nature of the thought and the quality of the sentiment. First, the thought. All true poetry is highly imaginative. This is highly imaginative. Jack and Gill never went up the hill to get a pail of water. The poet imagined that they did, and in this consists, very largely, its poetry. Again, Jack did not fall down and break his crown, and Gill did not come tumbling after*. The poet simply imagined all this, and hence it is all the more poetic. Again, this is an upward flight of imagination : Jack and Gill went up the hill. They also went up to get water, which makes the conception still more striking. It would have been common-place and matter-of-fact to go down the bill for water. Notice that in the next line it is not the imagination that falls, but Jack—Jack fell down. Notice, too, tho result. He did not break the connection of the story ; he did not even break the flight of the poet's fancy ;ho simply broke his crown. We may suppose it was afterwards repaired. We have as good a right to suppose this as the poet had to imagine it broken at all. And now the final catastrophe : "And Gill came tumbling after."

This is perfectly harmonious. We should naturally have expected it. We may suppose that Gill was leaning on Jack, and that, therefore, when Jack fell, Gill by necessity, went tumbling after ; or we may suppose, that Gill loved Jack more than we can tell, and that, when she saw him fall and break his crown, in a fit of sheer desperation, she threw herself after him. Either hypothesis would fully account for the facts, but I am inclined to accept the latter, it being the more poetic and more thoroughly consonant with the pathetic nature of the scene.

Lastly, let us s'udy the sentiment;. " Jack and Gill went up the hill." Here we see tlmt Jack and Gill were industoius. It requires an effort to go up hill. This was probably a long, steep hill. At any rate we may suppose it was. If it was it would require all the more effort to go up it. We have nn evidence that Jack and Gill repined. It is not said that they went up the hill under protest. They appear to have gone up cheerfully; and wbata lesson of cheerful industry is here taueht us. The object of their going up the hill was to get a pail of water. What they wanted to do with the water is a matter of mere conjecture. We have sometimes thought that they wanted it to

drink, and have again supposed that lliey were getting , it for fi sick companion. Either purpose would have praiseworthy. It is not stated what became of the water, when they fell down. Perhaps it is not known. Pussili'y in the general overturn, it w;is spilled—but this would detract nothing from the honour due to them for going after it. The misfortune which overtook Jack and Gill is singularly impressive. It shows the uncertainty of all things earthly. Quietly returning down the hill, bearing the pail of water and suspecting no evil, suddenly they fell. It is not stated that a serpent tempted them. It is not even said that they slipped. The record is simply that thej r fell, we can only imagine the cause and say to our own hearts, whnt n fall!