Capped with a golden helm,
Sate in the ages, in his floating ship,
In a dead calm.
One finds Mr. de la Mare’s characteristic, unemphatic music again in the opening lines of Mrs. Grundy:
Step very softly, sweet Quiet-foot,
Stumble not, whisper not, smile not,
where “foot” and “not” are rhymes.
It is the stream of music flowing through his verses rather than any riches of imagery or phrase that makes one rank the author so high among living poets. But music in verse can hardly be separated from intensity and sincerity of vision. This music of Mr. de la Mare’s is not a mere craftsman’s tune: it is an echo of the spirit. Had he not seen beautiful things passionately, Mr. de la Mare could never have written:
Thou with thy cheek on mine,
And dark hair loosed, shalt see