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waters； then followed the grip of that incapacitating later style。
Much later； English has been so used as to become flaccidit has
been stretched； as it were； beyond its power of rebound； or
certainly beyond its power of rebound in common use （for when a
master writes he always uses a tongue that has suffered nothing）。
It is in our own day that English has been so over…strained。 In
Crabbe's day it had been effectually curbed； hindered； and hampered；
and it cannot be said of Crabbe that he was a master who takes
natural possession of a language that has suffered nothing。 He was
evidently a man of talent who had to take his part with the times；
subject to history。 To call him a poet was a mere convention。
There seems to be not a single moment of poetry in his work； and
assuredly if he had known the earlier signification of the word he
would have been the last man to claim the incongruous title of poet。
But it is impossible to state the question as it would have
presented itself to Crabbe or to any other writer of his quality
entering into the same inheritance of English。
It is true that Crabbe read and quoted Milton； so did all his
contemporaries； and to us now it seems that poetry cannot have been
forgotten by any age possessing Lycidas。 Yet that age can scarcely
be said to have in any true sense possessed Lycidas。 There are
other things； besides poetry； in Milton's poems。 We do not entirely
know； perhaps； but we can conjecture how a reader in Crabbe's late
eighteenth century； looking in Milton for authority for all that he
unluckily and vainly admired； would well find it。 He would find the
approval of Young's 〃Night Thoughts〃 did he search for it； as we who
do not search for it may not readily understand。 A step or so
downwards； from a few passages in 〃Paradise Lost〃 and 〃Paradise
Regained；〃 an inevitable drop in the derivation； a depression such
as is human； and everything； from Dryden to 〃The Vanity of Human
Wishes；〃 follows； without violence and perhaps without wilful
misappreciation。 The poet Milton fathered； legitimately enough； an
unpoetic posterity。 Milton； therefore； who might have kept an age；
and many a succeeding age； on the heights of poetry by lines like
these …
Who sing and singing in their glory move …
by this； and by many and many another so divineMilton justified
also the cold excesses of his posterity by the example of more than
one group of blank verse lines in his greatest poem。 Manifestly the
sanction is a matter of choice； and depends upon the age： the age
of Crabbe found in Milton such ancestry as it was fit for。
Crabbe； then； was not a poet of poetry。 But he came into possession
of a metrical form charged by secondary poets with a contented
second…class dignity that bears constant reference； in the way of
respect rather than of imitation； to the state and nobility of Pope
at his bestthe couplet。 The weak yet rigid 〃poetry〃 that fell to
his lot owed all the decorum it possessed to the mechanical defences
and propsthe exclusions especiallyof this manner of
versification。 The grievous thing was that； being moved to write
simply of simple things； he had no more supple English for his
purpose。 His effort to disengage the phraselong committed to
convention and to an exposed artificedid but prove how surely the
ancient vitality was gone。
His preface to 〃The Borough； a Poem；〃 should be duly read before the
〃poem〃 itself； for the prose has a propriety all its own。
Everything is conceived with the most perfect moderation； and then
presented in a form of reasoning that leaves you no possible ground
of remonstrance。 In proposing his subject Crabbe seems to make an
unanswerable apology with a composure that is almost sweet。 For
instance； at some length and with some nobility he anticipates a
probable conjecture that his work was done 〃without due examination
and revisal；〃 and he meets the conjectured criticism thus： 〃Now；
readers are； I believe； disposed to treat with more than common
severity those writers who have been led into presumption by the
approbation bestowed upon their diffidence； and into idleness and
unconcern by the praises given to their attention。〃 It would not be
possible to say a smaller thing with greater dignity and gentleness。
It is worth while to quote this prose of a 〃poet〃 who lived between
the centuries； if only in order to suggest the chastening thought；
〃It is a pity that no one； however little he may have to say； says
it now in this form！〃 The little； so long as it is reasonable； is
so well suited in this antithesis and logic。 Is there no hope that
journalism will ever take again these graces of unanswerable
argument？ No： they would no longer wear the peculiar aspect of
adult innocence that was Crabbe's。
A COUNTERCHANGE
〃Il s'est trompe de defunte。〃 The writer of this phrase had his
sense of that portly manner of French； and his burlesque is fine；
butthe paradox must be riskedbecause he was French he was not
able to possess all its grotesque mediocrity to the full； that is
reserved for the English reader。 The words are in the mouth of a
widower who； approaching his wife's tomb； perceives there another
〃monsieur。〃 〃Monsieur；〃 again； the French reader is deprived of the
value of this word； too； in its place； it says little or nothing to
him； whereas the Englishman； who has no word of the precise
bourgeois significance that it sometimes bears； but who must use one
of two English words of different allusionman or I gentleman
knows the exact value of its commonplace。 The serious Parisian；
then； sees 〃un autre monsieur；〃 as it proves anon； there had been a
divorce in the history of the lady； but the later widower is not yet
aware of this； and explains to himself the presence of 〃un monsieur〃
in his own place by that weighty phrase； 〃Il s'est trompe de
defunte。〃
The strange effect of a thing so charged with allusion and with
national character is to cause an English reader to pity the mocking
author who was debarred by his own language from possessing the
whole of his own comedy。 It is； in fact； by contrast with his
English that an Englishman does possess it。 Your official； your
professional Parisian has a vocabulary of enormous； unrivalled
mediocrity。 When the novelist perceives this he does not perceive
it all； because some of the words are the only words in use。 Take
an author at his serious moments； when he is not at all occupied
with the comedy of phrases； and he now and then touches a word that
has its burlesque by mere contrast with English。 〃L'Histoire d'un
Crime；〃 of Victor Hugo； has so many of these touches as to be； by a
kind of reflex action； a very school of English。 The whole incident
of the omnibus in that grave work has unconscious international
comedy。 The Deputies seated in the interior of the omnibus had
been； it will be remembered； shut out of their Chamber by the
per