“But trust him still, Polly dear,” urged Jack. “I cannot know, neither can you, how things are yet awhile; only I do truly believe that Ivor is no man to change, or to be fickle in his likings. Whether you write or do not write, trust him still.”
(To be continued.)
LENT LILIES AND DOCK LEAVES.
[ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.]
STUDY AND STUDIO.
K. Bartlett.—We have attentively read the verses of your friend. It is always a difficult matter to decide from two or three specimens whether a girl should “give up writing altogether.” We cannot, however, say that there are indications here of poetic merit so great as to afford you the hope she may one day become a poet. The phrasing is that of a cultured woman, but there is no originality of thought or expression, and the form needs improvement. In “Springtime,” the best of the three poems, the author uses the second person singular and plural indiscriminately (“thee” and “your”). In the third poem, the conjunction “under unkind” is unmusical. “Flows” in the first poem, is not an apt expression for the outburst of the song of birds at dawn. No doubt the study of good poetry, and practice, would do much to improve your friend’s capacity for verse-writing, and there can be no reason, if she has leisure, why she should not persevere. While we cannot prophesy triumphant success, we can at least say that a measure of success in writing pleasant lyrics is fully possible.