THE UOANOKE NEWS, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1893.
A FIT OF INSPIRATION.
The Way
It Suppliod
For Poom.
a Wished-
You could not very well coneeiye a
less sentimental name than John
Thomsi.s Augustus Iiroivnri(j(f. Hut
names, like appearances, are deceptive,
and tha yoinijf man who bore the one
quoteil was amoii; the most senti
mental of creature:!. Ilis weakness if
weakness it wasexpressed itself in
the particular form of poetie effusion.
From the early n of six lvo liad dab-
Dlccl in verses, and by the time lie was
twenty-one he must have invoked the
muse to the e;:Unt of several reams of
foolscap. Hut hitherto the inappre
eiative obduracy of editors and pub
lisher had prcw-nted his eil'orts from
seeing the i' .!.t of priii!; indeed, the
farthest, he hud ever il on the road to
puMii ;i t i i i v. as to pay the Authors1
Aliiauce Limited) twenty i.'umeiis for
brii'int; out or, as it p-nved, not
bri!ij,'iuf oat a volume of his poems.
The v.o'-ihy i'.rnwnri;,'?', Iiowcvcr,
w;..s not so e'lsily ih uutci! ir put out
of cone-it. with l.tsuself. iie remem
bered Wordsworth and Keats, and how
the literary fraternity of their day hud
snubbed tUem at. the outset. True
genius, he modestly cnsoled himself,
though often scouted in its initial
stutfe, was .sure to find recognition in
the end; and lie, Augustus lirow tirij,';:,
only had to wait for ultimate success.
Once (jive him an opening anil he
would rush thri.uh it irresistible as
the ocean through a breach in a data.
This opening, the one thin;; neeiiful
for him. he trieil for u lout;, Ion;? time
in vain to ;et; but at length a favor
able opportunity presented itself. I'.y
the kindness of a friend he was (riven
an introduction to the editor of a popu
lar monthly magazine; and this editor,
a good-natured man, in an unusually
good-natured moment, commissioned
him to write some verses on the death
of a leading minister of he crown,
which had just then occurred. The
editor did, icdeed, reserve to himself
the right of rejecting the verses if they
were not up to the mark; but this
caused Hrownrigg no uneasiness what
ever. "Up to the mark, forsooth!"
lie was granted a week in which to
write the verses. One day in this week,
viz., the Saturday preceding the Tues
day on which the verses were to be
sent in, the poet took as a holiday, hav
ing some time buck made an engage
ment with an old school-fellow, who
was then in town for a few days, to
lunch with him at the "Cri." and then
go on to a matinee of "Ilcnrv VIII."
lie came up, therefore, from Ealing,
where he lived, to keep his engage
ment, and, after a copious and elab
orate lunch, repaired with his friend
to the Lyceum, finding himself almost
too drowsy to enjoy the piece.
When it was over, nothing would sat
isfy his friend but that they should go
and split anothsr bottle of champagne
at a neighboring restaurant, which
they accordingly did. And it was get
ting quite late in the evening when
Brownrigg hurried off to catch the
train for Ealing, which should get
him home in time for dinner and thus
save him the outpourings of paternal
displeasure, which always greeted him
when he was late for that meal.
It was the dead season in London
just then. Hence very few passengers
were about. The platforms of the Un
derground railway were almost de
serted. And the smoking compart
ment, into which our friend betook him
self at Gloucester road, presented the
unusual spectacle, at that time of day,
of being entirely empty.
Hrownrigg was glad of this. For the
ffect of the champagne and of a good
-. igar had been to puthira into adream
ily poetical frame of mind, in which ho
relished the idea of lying drowsily back
in the corner of the carriage and
brooding over the verses in self-absorbed
solitude. Ko, as the train moved
out, he surrendered himself to the
dreamy languor, half closing his eyes,
and waiting for poetical thoughts to
fall and entrance him.
He had cot been long in this lethar
gic state, feeding his mind with high
inspiring thoughts on the great sub
ject which engrossed him, when actual
tines and verses began to shape them
selves in his brain, and gradually to tlx
themselves there in the tangible form
of articulate words.
They seemed to come to him with nc
effort at least, no conscious effort
on his purt, but, as it were, spontan
eously; until live completed verses
verses, too. such as he had never hoped
to write had riveted themselves in his
memory. This, then, was
poetic inspiration. No racking of the
brain for ideas; no beating about for
rhymes; no paltry drudgery with pen
and ink; but a simple surrendering of
one's self to dreamy mcditativeness and
a leaving of all tho rest to the heaven
ly muse!
If "Ealing Broadway" had not. been i
a terminus I'.rownrigg would infallibly
have been carried beyond his destina-
tion. For, as it was, he had In be
roused by u porter before he could !
awuko from the dreams of poetry to j
the facts of practical life. He rubbed
his eyes, shook himself and stepped
out of the train. Those verses dread
ful thought: had they vanished with
his dream? No! Thank
Heaven! The j were still clear and
fresh in his memory. He would com
mit them to paper at once in case they
might escape him. So, taking out his
pocketbook he wrote them down hasti
ly then and there, being more than
ever struck with the beauties of his
own muse as he saw them-in black and
' white. What a hit they would makel
Why, thoy were worthy of
Tennyson himself!
He said nothing to anyone about this
wonderful phase of Inspiration which
had overtaken him amid the prosaic
surroundings of the District railway.
But next day he posted the verses,
which pleased him more every time he
read them, to the editor of Mayfair,
expressing a hope that they mieht be
considered "up to the mark."
When they had been published and
made their hit he could tell them the
story of their creation, thus rendering
lueiu as iiileresuug to p-yvie .u'ists
Coleridge's famous fragment of "Kubla
Khan,"
A few days later he received a proof
(his lirst proof) of the verges, together
with a highly complimentary letter
from tho editor, in which that gentle
man bestowed ;reat praise on
lJrownrigg's effort and expressed his
conviction that it would be favorably
received by the public. The young poet,
elated thereby beyond all description,
read the proof through with loving
eyes at least a hundred times. 1 don't
think he altered anything except one
printer's error; in the first place, be
cause the verses seemed to him perfect
as they stood; in the next, because this
iirst proof had a sort of sanctity in his
eves, w hich would made it appear next
door to sacrilegious to cut it about with
j pen and ink.
I It is needless to say that he secured
a copy of Mayfair at the earliest possi
ble moment after its publication and
carried it about all day to the great
detriment of his work in his father's
counting-room. Hut the rebukes which
he incurred for Ids absurd mistakes in
business glided oft him us easily as
water from a duck's back. For was
not Ids fame as a poet now won'.' And
would he not soon bi aide to turn his
bade on mercantile pursuits forever?
Next morning, on coming down to
breakfast, he found King on his plate
a lei'.er from the editor of Mayfair.
Doubtless it was to congratulate him
on the success of Ids ode or, perhaps,
to solicit a contrib ition for the next is
Mie of the inag.i.ine. He opened it
eagerly. As he read, the look of self
saiUf action at once faded from his coun
tenance, giving place to an expression
of mingled bewilderment and dismay.
The communication ran thus:
"J. T. A. l)aor,-Ni:icc, Erg. Pear Sir: I have
Just received :'. letter from tho editor of the
Monthly Critic rcracstins me t'j Intortn liirn
how It was that I have publishou in Mayfair,
over your nan.e, precisely tho same verses on
the subject which Oliver Lovell, the well-known
poet, has contributed to the Critic for the same
month? I can hardly think that you have In
tentionally made a fool of me. Hut as the mat
ter Is a serious one, he good cnou?h to let me
have your explanation at once. Yours faith
fully, Hoiiatio Siskins."
Naturally poor lirowurigg could not
make head or tail of this astonishing
cpistla. So, instead of going to busi
ness that morning, he obtained leave of
absence from his father and betook
himself in a line state of mind to the
editorial ofllce of the Mayfair. On
sending up his card he was told that
Mr. Sinkins was just then engaged, but
would see him shortly. After a quar
ter of an hour's waiting he was ushered
into that gentleman's presence.
"Good morning, Mr. Brownrigg,"
said the latter, stiffly. "I'm glad you
are come. I've just had a call from
Mr. Lovell, who is waiting in the next
room now. Itut before you make your
apologies to him just tell me candidly
how you came to do such a thing!"
"I I composed the verses myself, I
did upon my honor," stammered out
the young man, eagerly. "And I can
assure you I am quite as much sur
prised at what has happened as you are
yourself."
"t'ome, come!" was the gravely in
credulous reply. "It is a serious matter,
Mr. Brownrigg; and 1 promise you that
your best way out of it will be a can
did admission of the truth and a full
explanation of everything."
"Hut I have nothing to admit and
nothing to explain," I'.rownrigg pro
tested, earnestly, almost crying with
Injured innocence. "I wrote the verses
myself, without any sort of assistance;
1 swear 1 did."
"Well," said the editor, after a short
pause, during which he had keenly
scrutinized Hrownrigg's excited face,
"if you have no better explanation to
givo me I shall leave you to settle
matters with Mr. Lovell j'ourself."
So saying he opened the door of an
adjoining office, and requesting Brown
rigg to follow him, briefly introduced
him to Lovell, and then left the rival
poets to fight it out
Oliver Lovell, a fiery-looking little
man at all times, was now rendered un
usually fierce of appearance by the ex
citement and wrath which possessed
him. lie glowered at Brownrigg for
some moments in withering bilence,
then burst out with:
"Now, young man, you will kindly
tell me, please, how tho devil you ob
tained a copy of my verses?" t
"1 i didn't; I composed them my
self," retorted Brownrigg, whose head
was literally swimming with bewilderment.
"Oh, indeed," cried the other, laugh
ing a savagely sarcastic laugh. "Per
haps you'll tell me next that you com
posed yours first, and that I copied
them eli?"
"I don't know when you composed
yours," our young friend answered
"lint I can tell you exactly when I
composed mine. It was last Saturday
evening in the train, as I was going
down to Ealing, and"
"In the train going to Ealing!" in
terposed Lovell, with a sudden start,
ami speaking very eagerly. "Eh!"
"Yes," said Brownrigg. And then he
proceeded with many protestations of
sincerity to give a full and particular
account, which our readers have
ready heard described.
Long before he had finished a light
broke on Lovell's countenance, and dis
pelled the lowering clouds of wrathful
indignation. lie burst into a hearty
tit of laughter, and, when at length he
could speak, exclaimed:
"liy .love! I see it all now. It
wasn't your fault; though, to be sure,
it's rattier a risky thing to fall into
such a lethargy that you can't dis
tinguish other people's voices from
your own impressions. But it's my
fault mostly, for reciting my verses
aloud in a railway carriage. And the
company's," he added, with a chuckle,
"for having their compartments open
at the top!" London Truth.
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