Idle Hours in a Library

by William Henry Hudson

(The victor cried); the glorious prize is mine!

While fish in streams, or birds delight in air,

Or in a coach and six the British fair;

As long as Atalantis shall be read,

Or the small pillow grace a lady’s bed;

While visits shall be paid on solemn days,

When numerous wax-lights in bright order blaze;

While nymphs take treats, or assignations give,

So long my honor, name, and praise shall live!”

But though this book, as we shall hereafter find, is not without its significance for the student of the English novel, it is less interesting and important from our point of view than “The Power of Love: In Seven Examples,” to which for the present we will confine our attention.