displaying for lyric measure. The writings of
Nathaniel Hawthorne more forcibly and piquantly evince
cylindrical flow, and strike at the object lesson
with less artificial, cadavre, fastidious touch;
but Mr. Shorthouse, speaking strictly, as to temper
and tempo is a trifle more rugged; and never
a shadow of suspense suffered he to stir a hand’s
breadth, that is, rest ’twixt poetic certainty
and doubt, lest the ultimate end should all-attainable
be or not. For freedom from this, and other literary
ambiguity, yet never manifesting anxiety of freeing
himself in prose from its insidious and arbitrary
restraint, I attribute his tragical, subtle, gentle
power of “connection,” liaison;
feeling for time; planetary time, be it lunar time,
sometimes unmistakably, solar time; disallowing, by
potency of sentimental touch, a sense of rupture,
to linger. A noble stream by mute comparison,
pursuing its course unwavering; interrupted but now
and again, to the vast expansive ocean of shapeliness,
of unity.
J. ATWOOD.SLATER,
Premium Holder & Medallist of the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Hill Side, Cotham Hill, Bristol.