SPECTATOR COMPETITION—No. 13
Report by Guy Kendall
MR. HERBERT READ, in his book on Wordsworth, expresses the opinion that the poet's abrupt flight from France in 1793 was due to the fact that he was in danger of arrest owing to his friendship with a prominent Girondiste. A prize of £5 was offered for fifteen lines of a description of his trial before a revolutionary tribunal as it might have appeared in " The Prelude" if the arrest had in fact taken place.
To judge by the comparative scarcity of competitors this subject must have been found difficult. Indeed, after setting it, I was beset with doubts whether it could be done in fifteen lines, and, with the instinct of one who has some forty years of school-examining behind him, sat down to write a " version." It soon became evident that the task was not impossible, though obviously not easy to accomplish convincjngly. Since " The Prelude " contains at least nine-tenths of reflection to one of narrative, room must be found for some echo of Wordsworthian philosophy or reflective poetry.
For the narrative there is an obvious model in Book X, 48-93.
For the reflective element there were various opportunities, some of which were neatly taken by competitors. For instance, the poet might reflect on the President of the tribunal as essentially sansculotte, being: " Stript of Nature's inborn kindliness," which leads to the idea of Nature in the vernal wood or lake- mirror, and so he occupies half a dozen lines. No one thought of the device of using proper names, e.g., of the Girondins: " Of Vergniaud, Brissot, Fauchet, Valaze," which make a resounding line. Then Wordsworth's disappointment in the transformation of revolutionary idealism into vindictive savagery must appear, and in this the best entries did not fail. It was a little shocking to find what a high proportion of entrants could not write the Wordsworthian blank verse correctly. Two of them fell astonishingly into the manner and method of Mr. Christopher Fry, sprung rhythm, short lines and all. Whether this was quite intentional the examiner felt doubtful, for each of them began with a normal line ; but when one came to a pair of lines such as: " So there awaiting me was the freedom-loving comrade of my youth, Renewing his close vows with me, forever unto death," it was clear that we were a long way from the prosody of "The Prelude."
R. B. Browning conceived an interesting simile: " Whose utter selfishness cried out to Heav'n As basely as the cuckoo as it flies From wood to wood . . ."
So far as I know, Wordsworth never dwelt on the immoral aspect of the bird that to him was " a wandering voice " ; but as a fellow- hater of the monotonous -bird I applaud the writer's sentiment. There was one obvious problem—how did the poet survive the trial ? And this was solved with various ingenuity. The only competitor who attempted parody managed it easily: " I was acquitted and so still survive Or else I had not written ' We are seven ' " (which one infers that the author, J. Sackville Martin, would rather Wordsworth had not done). But, on the whole, the parody hardly succeeded. There was a touch of perhaps unintentional satire in the contribution from D. I. Beaumanoir-Hart: " Gravely I turned And then declaimed my poems. . . ."
The sequel was: " We rate you mad—but harmless to the State. Poet, the court acquits" you. I was free."
A remarkable tour de force was presented by R. Kennard Davis, who prefixed one entry with the statement that " Wordsworth's style being strictly inimitable, I have composed what follows from actual lines taken from ' The Prelude.' " It begins: " An insignificant stranger and obscure, Dragged by a chain of harsh necessity I stood mid those concussions, unconcerned Tranquil almost, and careless as a flower."
The examiner can hardly be expected to verify all the lines, which contrive paradoxically to end with: "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive."
But the same competitor coupled with it an original piece which was on the whole the best sent in, though Margaret Usborne might have shared the prize but for one short line and a falsely accented " tribunal." Douglas Hawson's entry is also commended.
FIRST PRIZE
(R. KENNARD DAVIS) O Friend, thus haled by sudden midnight voice Before that dread tribunal, what sustained In face of very Death—no friend to aid, No heartening English voice !—my lonely spirit ? Surely some influence from my native hills, The strength of old Helvellyn, Grasmere's calm, The joy that sings o'er Rotha's sparkling flood, Long since within my bosom stored, and fused With thoughts of humble shepherd folk, deep-eyed And dauntless-hearted ; these against the rage Of the blind city's wanton malice, these Stood staunch as Switzer guards, to shield my soul. An hour they questioned me ; then, whether moved By something in my mien, or in contempt Of youth-and ignorance, they bade me go.
Previous page
