Under the laughing stars, early and late,
Sat shamefast at this birth and at themselves.
The keeper of the house of life is fear:
In the rent lion is the honey found
By him that rent it; out of stony ground
The toiler, in the morning of the year,
Beholds the harvest of his grief abound
And the green corn put forth the tender ear.
William Sharp offered to include “The Touch of Life” in the body of the book, and “The Arabesque” in the Notes. He received this reply:
Dear Mr. Sharp,
It is very good of you, and I should like to be in one of your pleasant and just notes; but the impulse was one of pure imitation and is not like to return, or if it did, to be much blessed. I have done so many things, and cultivated so many fields in literature, that I think I shall let the “scanty plot” lie fallow. I forgot to say how much taken I was with Beaconsfield’s lines (scarce a sonnet indeed) on Wellington. I am engaged with the Duke, and I believe I shall use them.
I think the “Touch of Life” is the best of my snapshots; but the other was the best idea. The fun of the sonnet to me is to find a subject; the workmanship rebuts me.
Thank you for your kind expressions, and believe me,
Yours truly,