OCR Text |
Show BYRON A TRAGIC FIGURE. "The more I think of Byron," says 1 '1 John Davidson in the London Out- look, "the more clear it becomes to ( mc that he is, first, second and third, 1 a t!.iyic figure. He was the child of a loveless marriage, that constant ' 'j source of huge armies of discordant ! natures. His upbringing was tragic; 1 his marriage was tragic; his loves were tragic; his death, which at first I thought only tragic-force, is actual IH tragedy. Byron and Napoleon, con- EH temporaries, were the analogies and , , iH complements of each other. Byron is IH the passive tragedy of the imaginative ! , jH temperament as poet, using cxprcs- sion; Napoleon is the active tragedy IH of the imaginative temperament as warrior and world-compellcr, employ- , jH ing deeds. . Byron inevitably ends in jH an abortive attempt at action in JH Greece; Napoleon, as inevitably, in an abortive attempt at expression (the HI dictated memoirs) in St. Helena." wM Arguing forcibly, if not convincing- : ly, against the custom of taking a ' bath, still happily prevalent in certain , , quarters, a writer relates the savory i story of a Kentish farm worker whose . ! ' horny hand he grasped. "Good Kent I J dirt," said the man, catching a critical I'i glance. "Haven't had time to wash your hands before tea?" was the ques- , tion. "Wash my 'ands!" exclaimed ; the man. Then he became explana- , 1 ' tory. "I never washes my 'ands. IM When they gets 'ard I iles 'em." i , |