 | Quo Musa Tendis? |  |
79
DESINE PERVICAX.
81
Labenti Calamo.
Adieu, dear pen! thy merry quips
And facile cranks have had their day;
Thy not unprofitable “slips”
Have passed in printer's ink away.
And facile cranks have had their day;
Thy not unprofitable “slips”
Have passed in printer's ink away.
Nor less thy days of serious verse
On love, and art, and such high themes
Have suffered the primeval curse,
And died into the realm of dreams.
On love, and art, and such high themes
Have suffered the primeval curse,
And died into the realm of dreams.
We are but frauds, the pair of us:
And if a while you've masqueraded
As quill from wing of Pegasus,
That little fancy's gone and faded.
And if a while you've masqueraded
As quill from wing of Pegasus,
That little fancy's gone and faded.
You're dying, pen: but I am not:
You're old; I'm barely middle-aged;
And, while you comfortably rot,
I shall be otherwise engaged.
You're old; I'm barely middle-aged;
And, while you comfortably rot,
I shall be otherwise engaged.
82
I've done my best at stringing rhymes,
And found it pleasant, goodness knows;
I've shunned some errors, spared some crimes,
And now I'm going back to prose.
And found it pleasant, goodness knows;
I've shunned some errors, spared some crimes,
And now I'm going back to prose.
Yes, prose is what I wrote at first,
And prose is what I'll live by writing,
It's not by any means the worst
Of trades, nor yet the least exciting.
And prose is what I'll live by writing,
It's not by any means the worst
Of trades, nor yet the least exciting.
For, mark you, writing is an art,
As all but daily hacks acknowledge;
It ought to form the highest part
Of men's curriculum at College.
As all but daily hacks acknowledge;
It ought to form the highest part
Of men's curriculum at College.
It's easy when you've got to scan,
And got to rhyme before you print,
To make a stanza, where a man
Shall see of art at least a hint.
And got to rhyme before you print,
To make a stanza, where a man
Shall see of art at least a hint.
But when you're writing prose as pure
As Jourdain talked, but didn't know it,
You'll have to make, you may be sure,
Some efforts easier for a poet.
As Jourdain talked, but didn't know it,
You'll have to make, you may be sure,
Some efforts easier for a poet.
A sentence, lacking rhyme and measure,
But none the less a work of art,
Costs greater pains, gives greater pleasure
Than much that's dearer in the mart.
But none the less a work of art,
Costs greater pains, gives greater pleasure
Than much that's dearer in the mart.
83
Your half unfinished statuettc,
Or humble tune which 'scapes e'en stealing,
A sketch you make and then forget,
Has more of art, and more of feeling,
Or humble tune which 'scapes e'en stealing,
A sketch you make and then forget,
Has more of art, and more of feeling,
Than some correct colossal bust,
Or operatic morceau fine,
Which wins encomiums loud and just,
Or picture hanging on the line.
Or operatic morceau fine,
Which wins encomiums loud and just,
Or picture hanging on the line.
So such a humble work in prose,
Which says what has been said before,
Or article, or letter shows,
To those who know their business, more
Which says what has been said before,
Or article, or letter shows,
To those who know their business, more
Of true artistic worth, my pen,
Than poetry that's capped and quoted,
Wherever cultivated men
Praise that to which they're all devoted.
Than poetry that's capped and quoted,
Wherever cultivated men
Praise that to which they're all devoted.
I mean to reappear as one
Whose prose is better than his verse:
Farewell, my friend through days of fun!
Farewell, deft liner of my purse!
Whose prose is better than his verse:
Farewell, my friend through days of fun!
Farewell, deft liner of my purse!
We've lived right gaily you and I:
We've had some sport, and made some money:
And, if we could not make folks cry,
We were occasionally funny.
We've had some sport, and made some money:
And, if we could not make folks cry,
We were occasionally funny.
84
We've argued too in verse: we've tried
To prove, disprove, deny, assert;
We've blustered, whispered, laughed and sighed,
But never yet did any hurt.
To prove, disprove, deny, assert;
We've blustered, whispered, laughed and sighed,
But never yet did any hurt.
Yet both were certain all the time,
As any candid friend could be,
That though we might succeed in rhyme
We could not rise to poetry.
As any candid friend could be,
That though we might succeed in rhyme
We could not rise to poetry.
The curtain falls: the play is done:
But I am in another piece:
I've got to dress: the band's begun
It's time for our discourse to cease.
But I am in another piece:
I've got to dress: the band's begun
It's time for our discourse to cease.
I go to fly at higher game:
At prose as good as I can make it:
And, though it brings nor gold nor fame,
I will not, while I live, forsake it.
At prose as good as I can make it:
And, though it brings nor gold nor fame,
I will not, while I live, forsake it.
Farewell! I've other work to do:
Another way of reaching men:
But I shall still remember you
You've served me well: adieu, dear Pen!
Another way of reaching men:
But I shall still remember you
You've served me well: adieu, dear Pen!
August, 1891.
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