A MESSAGE FROM MASEFIELD

New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 188, 29 January 1943, Page 5

A MESSAGE FROM MASEFIELD

Poet Laureate Speaks To New Zealand

WO o: three years ago, a tall young man with glasses, and very long hair, came into our office carrying a book of poems under his arm. The other day the same person called. again; this time minus some of his hair, which had been blitzed off in Bath. It was Robert Solway. He had just returned from a year’s service in the Merchant Navy. During his absence, Solway visited many countries, including Brazil. He saw the entry of Brazil into the war. When we questioned him, he was reluctant to speak of his experiences; but we managed to extract from him the story of his encounter with the Poet Laureate, John Masefield. "In spite of Mr. Masefield’s great success," Solway told us, "he is still a very simple man in his tastes. He does not court luxury and is, as his many books prove, a hard and industrious worker. In appearance, he is tall and _ slightly stooped, and has a saddened,. shy look about him." For four days the English } poet entertained Solway at his home at Burcote Brook, Abingdon, Berkshire. "The house, a two-story dwelling, stands behind a group of trees and is built of brick and covered with rough cast. When I called, Mr. Masefield expressed delight at meeting again a New Zealander. Asking eager and anxious questions about war-condi-tions here, he said that it was his desire, one day after the war, to visit us. "When afternoon tea was served," Solway told us, "I was handed a slice of delicious cake, containing plums of a

rare kind. The poet, eyeing me carefully said, ‘I don’t know how we acquired these plums, but I hope it was honestly.’ Mrs. Masefield said that she had had them given to her at a meeting held in Oxford. The room in which we sat was walled with books. Some of them were first editions of Yeats, Dowson, Synge and others. A model or two of some slender sailing ship built by Masefield’s own hands stood on a table. They were beautiful pieces of work, and a joy to behold. Masefield spoke sadly of the war. ‘It is a tragedy that so much of our young manhood is sacrificed on its altar, he said, ‘but one day it all will end." Before he left, Mr. Masefield asked Solway to take back a message to the people of New Zealand: "When you return to New Zealand, tell your friends and Government that I have admired its growing literature and_ advanced legislation for a considerable time. While I have never been to New Zealand (the nearest I got was Melbourne on the occasion of the Centennial Celebrations), 1 intend, it still alive, to try to visit it after the war. There is still so much to be done, and I hope that I will be able to fulfil my wish. Tell the New Zealand people to give more encouragement to the poets, artists, and young writers by getting them to recite or talk about their work over the radio or, better still, trom the stage. It will give them heart to do better work. The peace

will bring with it a revival of the Arts, and we will all be busy building the new and better Britain. England at the moment is like a jig-saw puzzle, with everyone trying to find out where he best fits in; but one day, this will be a forgotten thing, and sanity among men will come again. May New Zealand play an important part in the future development of Art."