IMPROMPTUS
TO WILLIAM WATSON
ON HIS CORONATION ODE
(These lines were first published on the day the King was to have been crowned.)
In this high ode with its great shadow-kings,
More real than real things;
In this proud pageant of imperial verse
That nobly doth rehearse
England's true glories, for the world to read,
The King is crowned indeed!
"LIFE IS THE HAMMER"
(SIDNEY LANIER)
Life is the hammer that strikes
From the bell of the poet's heart
Art.
And whether he lives or dies
The music in widening rings
Sings.
"THE CRITIC SCANNED THE POET'S BOOK"
The critic scanned the poet's book
And ranged it calmly in its place—
A soul that felt its music shook
As if a bolt struck down through space;
And in that soul, like flower from seed,
The music turned to lofty deed
That sanctified a race.
