Page:The paradise of birds; an old extravaganza in a modern dress (IA cu31924013467364).pdf/11



who attempt to deal in poetry with the incidents or theories of the present day, propose to themselves a difficult, some may say an idle, task. The press and rapidity of modern events, and the ease with which ideas are circulated, seem to throw the powers of literature more and more into the hands of the journalist. The words or actions of men are reported through a hundred daily sources, and yet what is engrossing to-day is forgotten to-morrow, so that allusion in poetry runs the double risk of appearing vulgar or obsolete. So much the author would premise with regard to a poem written in a time of profound peace, and sent to press before