Wo rks by the s a me Au thor ESSAYS IRISH BOOK S AND IRISH P E O P LE FOR SECOND READING : A TT EMPTS TO PLEASE CRITICISM Tm; MAST ERS OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE TENNY SON : A Crlti cal St u dy THOMAS MOO RE (Eng li sh Men o fLetters) TOP OGRAPHICAL HIGHWAYS AND BYEWAYS m DON EGAL ANi) AN llu s ra ed b Hu h T h o m o T RXM . I t t y g s n FA I R HILLS F RELAND Illu s ra ed THE O I . t t b y Hu g h Th o mso n THE FA MOUS CITI ES OF IRELAND . llu strated b y H u g h Th o mso n BEAUTI FUL IRELAN D : ULSTER M I‘ ‘ER E IN . UNS . L ' ‘ sf s n CONN AUGHI . Illu s ra ed b A lex ander . t t y Wi llx ams P OLITICAL ' JOHN REDMOND S L AST YEARS THE IRISH SITUAT ION : 1 921 GA RDEN WISDOM FROM ONE GENERAT I ON T O ANOT HER By ST EP HEN GWYN N ' With a Frontzspi cce by Grace Henry T HE MAC MIL LAN C OMPANY NEW YORK 1 9 2 2 TO K . S. Y m s s leas o la d shi acce t a measure ou u t , o p e y u r y p , p ofresp onsibility ; you told me to writ e a b ook tha t wou ld m I nd too k mo e han Ihav e made ood a use you . fIu er r t g , erha s it has b een not all m au lt . Yet ime was when 0, p p y f t , u nde an condi ions in an env i onmen I cou ld hav e g r y t , y r t , s s s (3 tu rned you out p a sably amu ing comment ary as fast a N — h s w i was t s t e essence o it . a or e ould trot . T me hat i h f {E ha e e h i w m in a e a u e I v e r ach d t e po nt hen y m d, sk d to m s , C se S v u o li e a b e an hem rv es up recollections . a o r f f m y t , b ut n t e sha an irs con ac The li le kid ot h rp t g off t t t . tt t ethered ou t side my window wears a v ery different eacpression when clu t ching at green b ranches (a ros e ’ t ee s i ossib le o w i sink in whe edu ced r , fp ), fr m hat t s t o n r to chewin the c g u d. F R Yet i m memorie ma hav e some inte est or the C , f y s y r f 1 w Youn er Genera ion or who a e n ed b w in g t , f m I h v e d y rit g , 3m what use can they b e to you for whom I set o ut t o write — you who are ofno g eneration b u t recru it adoring comrades impartially from the sev enties to the t eens? Will you p erhaps t ake pleasu re in recognising the reactions of a formed ex p eri enced natu re to sudden challeng es which a b olished halfthe v alue ofex p erience and fo rced the whole disp osition to reshap e? You too u nde wen ou war-ime me am s s r t y r t t orp ho i . Was it the same sel ou came back to— since han Hea en o fy , t k v , y u hav e come back? Yo u thank Heav en a ai not , g n, do ! 32 6451 !i DEDICATION — b elong to my memo ries ; bu t you r war time incarnatio n s a a ter all ind somethin ha will make do e ; and Im y, f , f g t t It shall o in o his dedica ion whi ch at yo u lau gh. g t t t , ss ou We called it— how lon least is who lly addre ed to y . g ag o ? R THE BUREAUC AT . The world is most su rprising with duchess And masquerades in khaki o funiformed ’ But the strang est t ransformation we ve yet assisted at m Was When the L ady Kathleen beca e a bureaucrat . he P ari s s W first wo n rank Go , tell t s tudio , here she her , - a r k A blue eyed barefoot wonder , a g mine, and a c an ; Go tell the Texan cowboys With Whom she roped the steers , - Or any bold Tahiti an who watched her w ander years . She came from hig h Bohemia and took the town b y m stor , E W a es m f geria , ith n inter t in states en and re orm An — s f c d then a blue blou ed a tory hand , the idol of her mates ’ no he fke s o m e But w s a s stati tics up f r Parlia ent s debat s . As as a vag rant tinker , as vivid as the blue Of g entian on the uplands When Sp ring is bursting throug h , With feet that on the pavement from dancing scarc e fa re r in , S fi m a ain he tempts her r ends to te p t her to be herself g . DEDICATION vii W u read e spread out flowers before her, young s mmer sp s the sun , We call the world to witness that playtime has beg un . ’ ” D o we firml a d u on t g , plead ; but y, n snatching p her hat , ” I a w fo r it s must , she s ys , the Bureau is aiting ” Grat . ’ Tw as not so bad before thi s : in w inter and the dark S f P ark he le t the world behind her wi th eter in the p . But no w when Sp ring comes flo o ding throug h windows and throug h doors , P an et a a— w o ffice i y may p ss piping do n corr dors . ’ J ust fo r a demonstration that she s alive and free S ’ w B he ll maybe take the hig hroad ith some austere C. But till the bo mb explodes there and lays the building fi at , Oh what a happy Bureau with Kathleen fo r its Crat ! C o nt e nt s T he A g eing o fa Po e t A n A rtist and His Wo rk A Po et u nder a C lo u d A L o v er o fJ astice A Scho lar A n Eig hteenth C ent ury G arderier GARDEN W ISDOM G THE AGEIN OF A POET. m w Y study is a pleasant roo , and its windo looks on to rough g rass in which white narcissus is growing , and beyond that bluebells show up against the grey stone wall , overtopped b y masses of yew and other deep greens of conifers in the big place next door . But the U m l ks n . roo oo west , and can get no mor ing sun p till now Ihave been well content with a ht e of wood that I cut and brought in myself; but this May mo m fire ing is no time for a , yet chilly , for even now it is - only eight by the sun ; day light saving gives u s eighty fi v e . minutes extra in Ireland , not a mere sixty So on this day Ihave taken a little table into the garden and set it in the sun , where boughs of blossom ing apple make a few light bars of shadow ; and Iam determined that here shall be my study in future when - ' the skies are kind here in the garden square which , all a ° for that Marvel chose to s y , is no dead and stand l ’ ing poo of air , but simply a place in the lee of 2 GARDEN WISDOM masonry over which and abo ut which swirl air currents - - - from the three miles distant sea , or the three miles distant Dublin mountains—strong enough to keep plenty of life and movement in this ba ckwater So I wrote in the first days of May I come back to the page from which other and more urgent writing m c alle d me ; but I come back in December , after y — first spell for many months of real town life life in ms f alw a sm k heated roo , li e shut in ys by o y housetops , w fo r u l fed by fog gy airs . To n is the yo ng they on y are strong enough to enjoy it . The French are right man when age begins should get out into the country , back land cra c cu to the , to his s p of soil where he can o py himself leisurely with the processes of nature , free , for is re er es i s .