'Turning now to my verse--to myself the more individual part of my
literary fruitage--I would say that, unlike some of the fiction,
nothing interfered with the writer's freedom in respect of its form
or content. Several of the poems--indeed many--were produced before
novel-writing had been thought of as a pursuit; but few saw the
light till all the novels had been published....
'The few volumes filled by the verse cover a producing period of
some eighteen years first and last, while the seventeen or more
volumes of novels represent correspondingly about four-and-twenty
years. One is reminded by this disproportion in time and result how
much more concise and quintessential expression becomes when given
in rhythmic form than when shaped in the language of prose.'
_Present Condition of English Poetry_
Shall we, or shall we not, be serious? To be serious nowadays is to be
ill-mannered, and what, murmurs the cynic, does it matter? We have our
opinion; we know that there is a good deal of good poetry in the
Georgian book, a little in _Wheels_.
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