Then when it is too late, just to add to the pathos of the sad little tale, comes the Squire, conscious of the terrible mistake and ready to put Tom in the way of cleanliness, knowledge and happiness; Tom, of whom there remained only the husk and shell which made the Squire think the poor sweep was drowned.
To close the chapter and the sad part of the story, the dame sings the old, old song which the children could not understand but which they liked nevertheless, “for it was very sweet and very sad and that was enough for them.” We know what it means.
“When all the world is old, lad,
And all the trees are brown;
And all the sport is stale, lad,
And all the wheels run down;
Creep home, and take your place there,
The spent and maimed among;
God grant you find one face there,
You loved when all was young.”
V. Beauty. Tom, the Water Baby has in it much more of real beauty both in sentiment and expression than most prose and more than many a charming poem. There is little of ugliness in the story, and what there is, is so softened in the way in which it is presented that the impression is neither repulsive nor lasting. Kingsley’s work is highly artistic and this story is real literature.
Some of his descriptions are like beautiful pictures in color. Here is one from page 220:
“But soon the road grew white, and the walls likewise; and at the wall’s foot grew long grass and gay flowers, all drenched with dew; and instead of the groaning of the pit engines, they heard the skylark saying his matins high up in the air, and the pit bird warbling in the sedges as he had warbled all night long.”
Beginning at the bottom of the same page (220): “For old Mrs. Earth was still fast asleep; and, like many pretty people she looked still prettier asleep than awake. The great elm trees in the gold-green meadows were fast asleep above, and the cows fast asleep beneath them; nay, the few clouds which were about were fast asleep likewise, and so tired that they had lain down on the earth to rest, in long white flakes and bars, among the stems of the elm trees, and along the tops of the alders by the stream, waiting for the sun to bid them rise and go about their day’s business in the clear blue overhead.” Was there ever more attractive description of the mist patches that lie across the earth waiting for the morning sun to dissipate them?
The poor Irishwoman followed Tom in this manner: “She went along quite smoothly and gracefully, while her feet twinkled past each other so fast that you could not see which was foremost.”
The dragon-fly is described in this way: “It grew strong and firm; the most lovely colors began to show on its body—blue and yellow and black, spots and bars and rings; out of its back rose four great wings of bright brown gauze; and its eyes grew so large that they filled all its head and shone like ten thousand diamonds.”
This is Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby: “She was a very tall woman, as tall as her sister; but instead of being gnarly, and horny, and scaly, and prickly, like her, she was the most nice, soft, fat, smooth, pussy, cuddly, delicious creature who ever nursed a baby—and all her delight was to play with babies—and therefore when the children saw her, they naturally caught hold of her, and pulled her till she sat down on a stone, and climbed into her lap, and clung round her neck, and caught hold of her hands, and then they all put their thumbs into their mouths and began cuddling and purring like so many kittens.”