William Price James

“ A vigorous and unconventional poet, a pioneer in the modern phase of literary Imperialism, and one of the rare masters in English prose of the art of the short story, Mr Kipling had already by the opening of the 20th century won the most conspicuous place among the creative literary forces of his day. ”

“ In 1909 appeared an important volume of New Poems.
Mr Watson's poetry falls chiefly into the classes above indicated—critical, philosophical and political—to which may be added a further class of Horatian epistles to his friends. This classification indicates the high character and also the limitations of his poetry. It is contemplative, not dramatic, and only occasionally lyrical in impulse. In spite of the poet's plea in his “Apologia” that there is an ardour and a fire other than that of Eros or Aphrodite, ardour and fire are not conspicuous qualities of his verse. ”

“ As dramatist Mr Barrie brought, to a sphere rather ridden by convention, a method wholly unconventional and a singularly fresh fancy, seasoned by a shrewd touch of satirical humour; and in Peter Pan he proved himself a Hans Andersen of the stage. In literature, the success of “Thrums” produced a crop of imitations, christened in derision by W. E. Henley the “Kailyard School,” though the imitations were by no means confined to Scotland. In this school the Auld Licht Idylls and A Window in Thrums remained unsurpassed and unapproached. ”

“ Except in his political verse there is more thought than passion. Bearing trace enough of the influence of the romantic epoch, his poetry recalls the earlier classical period in its epigrammatic phrasing and Latinized diction. By the distinction and clarity of his style and the dignity of his movement William Watson stands in the true classical tradition of great English verse, in a generation rather given over to lawlessness and experiment. ”

“ In this volume the Ballads of the “Bolivar” and of the “Clampherdown,” introducing Mr Kipling’s poetry of the ocean and the engine-room, and “The Flag of England,” finding a voice for the Imperial sentiment, which—largely under the influence of Mr Kipling’s own writings—had been rapidly gaining force in England, gave the key-note of much of his later verse. In 1898 Mr Kipling paid the first of several visits to South Africa and became imbued with a type of imperialism that reacted on his literature, not altogether to its advantage. ”

“ To the end Henley was no classical scholar, but his knowledge and love of literature were vital. Afflicted with a physical infirmity, he found himself in 1874, at the age of twenty-five, an inmate of the hospital at Edinburgh. From there he sent to the Cornhill Magazine poems in irregular rhythms, describing with poignant force his experiences in hospital. Leslie Stephen, then editor, being in Edinburgh, visited his contributor in hospital and took Robert Louis Stevenson, another recruit of the Cornhill, with him. ”

“ Stevenson wrote that he had not received the same thrill of poetry since Mr Meredith’s “Joy of Earth” and “Love in the Valley,” and he did not know that that was so intimate and so deep. “I did not guess you were so great a magician. These are new tunes; this is an undertone of the true Apollo. These are not verse; they are poetry.” In 1892 Henley published also three plays written with Stevenson—Beau Austin, Deacon Brodie and Admiral Guinea. In 1895 followed Macaire, afterwards published in a volume with the other plays. Deacon Brodie was produced in Edinburgh in 1884 and later in London. ”

“ The effect of this story was somewhat marred by the comparative failure of the scenes in society remote from Thrums. In 1902 he published The Little White Bird, a pretty fantasy, wherein he gave full play to his whimsical invention, and his tenderness for child life, which is relieved by the genius of sincerity from a suspicion of mawkishness. This book contained the episode of “Peter Pan,” which afterwards suggested the play of that name. In the meantime Mr Barrie had been developing his talent as a dramatist. ”

“ These vigorous verses in soldier slang, when published in a book in 1892, together with the fine ballad of “East and West” and other poems, won for their author a second fame, wider than he had attained as a story-teller. ”

“ The year 1904 produced Peter Pan, a kind of poetical pantomime, in which the author found scope for some of his most characteristic and permanently delightful gifts. In 1905 Alice-Sit-by-the-Fire and in 1908 What Every Woman Knows were added to the list. ”

“ During the years 1890-1892 he contributed articles to the National Review, Spectator, Illustrated London News, Academy, Bookman and Atalanta, which were collected and republished in 1893 as Excursions in Criticism. ”

“ In 1901 he published a second volume of collected poetry with the title Hawthorn and Lavender, uniform with the volume of 1898. In 1902 he collected his various articles on painters and artists and published them as a companion volume of Views and Reviews: Art. ”