This greater God than the beast-god Pan,
As He watches the reeds in Time's river,
Counts for best poet that perfect Man
Who holds lightly his song, at its loftiest strain,
So he live a man's life!—and at all cost and pain
Is a reed among reeds in the river.
R.A.
"THE GREAT GOD PAN"
Original Sketch for Illustration to Mrs. Browning's Poem in the Cornhill Magazine, 1861[ToList]
"AN EVENING IN A FRENCH COUNTRY HOUSE"
Illustration for Mrs. Adelaide Sartoris's story, "A Week in a French Country House," published in the Cornhill Magazine, 1867
By permission of Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co.[ToList]
In a letter to his mother Leighton expresses a warm admiration for these lines by Mr. Robin Allen.
In the autumn of 1863 the following letter to his mother mentions a notable visit to Compiègne. The charming story Mrs. Edward Sartoris wrote, which appeared some years later in the Cornhill Magazine, "A Week in a French Country House," owes its local colour to this home at Compiègne to which Leighton refers. It belonged to Mr. Edward Sartoris' brother-in-law, the Marquis de l'Aigle. For this story Leighton made two admirable illustrations—"An Evening in a French Country House" and "Drifting." Leighton is supposed to have suggested the character of Monsieur Kiowski, the Polish artist in the story; and the figure in the boat holding the rudder in "Drifting" he certainly meant to represent himself, while the figure singing is Adelaide Sartoris—drawn, as shown by the head-dress, from the sketch Leighton made in 1856. (See [List of Illustrations].)