STUDY AND STUDIO.
⁂ We may remind our subscribers that there are in connection with the Royal Academy of Music, Tenterden Street, Hanover Square, London, W., twenty-one exhibitions and scholarships, which in most cases entitle the winners to three years’ free instruction at the Academy. The next election for the Henry Smart Scholarship is for female candidates, and will take place at the Royal Academy of Music on Monday, September 25th, 1899. The subjects of examination will be organ-playing and composition. The John Thomas Welsh Scholarship will be competed for on Friday, September 22nd, 1899. Full particulars of these and other scholarships can be obtained of the Secretary, Royal Academy of Music.
Sea-Foam (Chefoo, N. China).—Many thanks for your modest and interesting letter. We regret the delay in offering criticism upon your poems, but can now say that they are very thoughtful, and are not marked by any of the blemishes in construction which we have often to point out to our correspondents. Blank verse, however, is a difficult medium for the novice, and we think “The Rainbow” is your most successful effort. The idea expressed in “Influence” is very good. On p. 2 you use “e’en yet” and “still” together. Only one of the expressions is necessary. You also use “lives” and “endeth” with the same nominative. You should either say “liveth” and “endeth,” or “lives” and “ends.” Never let your words be obviously shaped by the length of a line. “An unspoken thought” is striking. We should advise you to study the laws of versification, and to persevere, selecting some other metre, to begin with, than the ambitious blank verse.
One by One.—We repeat our apology to you. Your sketch of Teddie is pathetic, but shows, as you yourself observe, that you have not studied the laws of composition. On the first page there are far too many “ands,” and it is better not to write of “the joyous little birdies with their bright plumage and their sweet, sweet notes.” (We do not think that the English song-birds are remarkable for gay plumage.) You should procure Dr. Abbot’s little book How to Write Clearly, and read a good deal of good prose and poetry.
Louisa Gregory.—You need to study writing and spelling before you attempt to compose stories. We advise you daily to copy some extract for the sake of learning to spell, and also to practise writing in a copy-book, to teach you to form your letters correctly.