Page:Magdalen by J S Machar.pdf/198

 Thereupon Jiří brought out from the corner a big bundle containing one thousand copies of The Free Citizen, which were just ready to be distributed. The paper was headed by a fine poem (the local young assistant teacher had written it secretly upon order), which apostrophized the elections, the famous elections, the July elections! Then there were references to the knights of Blaník, to the White Mountain, to the Hussites, the older and the more recent ones, to the new era in the history of the Bohemian land, and so forth,—two long, closely written columns.

Dexterously evolving his speech from that poem at the head of the paper, the trusty man fell to talking about poems and poets, about himself and about criticism. He said he was stern and unbending, and therefore he had enemies among the poets. But what was our poetry for anyway? Had any one