LITERARY EXCELLENCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 February 1939, Page 5

LITERARY EXCELLENCE

OBSERVATIONS BY HILAIRE BELLOC. . Why does time define and confirm literary excellence asks Mr Hilaire Belloc in a recent article. How does time work on this task? The answer is often given: “Because with the passing of time the adventitioius drops out. is forgotten, loses importance, and only the essential interests, those which are common to all mankind, remain." Now I cannot help believing that this answer, which has been so universally given, especially during the last century. is at fault. For the greatness of verse does not lie in its subject, but in its manner. The soul of verse is form. Men think that what is affirmed in such and such a great line appeals to them by its truth. That is—by its correspondence with experience. But indeed it is not.so. The great, verse strikes not by wisdom but by magic. Poetry lies in magic. That which purports to bo poetry but fails in magic has missed its aim. and is commonly as poetry, worthly. When Shakespeare wrote: “The Glimpses of the Moon," he rang the bell—and the operative word is "Glimpses." If he had written “Intermittent Appearances." he would have spoilt the dish.