THE POET'S FUNCTION AS INTERPRETER.

pEOPLE are apt to talk as if the poet had no function in the modern world, or at any rate as if his only function were to amuse and entertain, and as if the State, in its

higher and political aspect, had no need of him. The poet, we are told in effect, is an anachronism in an age like the present,—a mere survival from more primitive times. Those who argue thus are badly instructed, and are reasoning from the imperfect premises afforded by the early and middle Victorian epoch. For a moment the world was exclusively occupied with industrial and other utilitarian objects, and naturally enough the poet seemed out of place. He proved nothing, he made nothing, and he discovered nothing,—or at any rate nothing in the regions of science and invention. But this overshadowing of the poet's function in the State was not real, but merely accidental and temporary. Though people thought so for the moment, machinery is not every- thing ; nor is it the least true to say that the song of the singer is never something done, something actual. Tennyson put this with splendid insight when, in his plea for the poet, he reminded the world that- " The song that stirs a nation's heart Is in itself a deed."

While the possible need for a Tyrtus exists, and that need can never be wholly banished, the poet must always have a real use. But there are other functions no less real, and hardly less important, which a poet may perform in the modern State. He may act as interpreter to the nation, and show it, as only he can, the true relations and the true meaning of the different parts which make up the whole. The great difficulty of every nation is its inability to realise and understand itself. Could it do this truly a nation could hardly take the wrong road, and bring itself to ruin and confusion. But few nations have this faculty, and therefore they need so sorely an interpreter; one who by his clear vision shall show them what they are, and whither they tend. And for the mass of mankind, only the poet can do this. The ordinary man, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, apprehends very little and very vaguely, save through his senses and his emotions. Maps and figures, dissertations and statistics, fall like water off a duck's back when you talk to him of the British Empire, of the magnitude of our rule in India, and of the problem of the dark races; of the growth of the English- speaking people in Canada and in Australia ; and of how our fate, as a nation, is inextricably bound up with the lordship of the sea. He hears, but he does not mark. But the poet, if he has the gift of the interpreter, and without that gift in some shape or form he is hardly a poet, whether he works in prose or verse, can bring home the secrets of Empire and the call of destiny to the hearts of the people. Of course he cannot touch all, but when he does touch he kindles. He lays the live coal on men's minds; and those who are capable of being roused have henceforth a new and different feeling and understanding of what he tells.

Mr. Kipling's fascinating poem, "The Native Born," published in Monday's Times, is a reminder to us of how large a share he possesses of this interpreting power. His work is of extraordinary value in making the nation realise itself, especially as regards the Empire and the oneness of our kin. One of the great difficulties of the mere politician who knows himself but cannot interpret, is to get the people of this country to understand that when the Englishmen born over-sea assert themselves, and express their glory in and love for the new land, they are not somehow injuring or slighting the old home. When Englishmen hear of and but partly understand, the ideas of young Australia, young Canada, or young South Africa, as the case may be, they sadly or bitterly declare that there is no love of England left in the Colonies, and that the men of the new lands think only of themselves, and dislike or are indifferent to the mother- country. The way in which the pride and exultation of the "native born" is conveyed makes that pride and exultation misunderstood. When we hear people talk a language which we do not know, we are always apt to think that they are full of anger and contempt, and that we are the objects of this anger and contempt. Now the uninspired social analyst or the

:statistics politician might have preached and analysed for years, and yet not have got the nation to understand the true spirit of the "native born," and how in reality it neither slights -the old land nor injures the unity of the Empire. His efforts to prove that the passionate feeling of the "native born" should be encouraged not suppressed, fall, for the most part, on empty ears. He may convince a few philosophers, but the great world heeds him not. But if and when the -true poet comes, he can interpret for the mass of men and -make clear and of good omen what before seemed dark and lowering. Take the new poem by Mr. Kipling to which we have just alluded. The poet does not reason with us, or argue, or .bring proofs,—he enables us to enter into the spirit of the "native born," and by a flash of that lightning which he brings straight from heaven he makes us understand bow the men of Australia, and Canada, and Africa, feel towards the land in which they were born. Thus interpreted, their pride ceases to sound harsh to our ears, and we realise that the "native born" may love their deep-blue hills, their ice-bound lakes and snow- -wreathed forests, their rolling uplands, or their palms and 'Janes, and yet not neglect their duty to the mother-land or to the Empire and the race. Surely a man who can do this has done something, and something of vast importance for the -whole English kin. He has dropped the tiny drop of solvent acid into the bowl, and made what was before a turbid mix- ture, a clear and lucent liquor. But we must not write of the .poem and not remind our readers of its quality by a quotation. To show its power of interpretation, take the first three verses :

"We've drunk to the Queen, God bless her !

We've drunk to our mothers' land, We drunk to our English brother (But he does not understand) ; We've drunk to the wide creation

And the Cross swings low to the dawn—

Last toast, and of obligation,— A health to the Native-born !

They change their skies above them But not their hearts that roam ! We learned from our wistful mothers To call old England home,' We read of the English sky-lark, Of the spring in the English lanes, But we screamed with the painted lories As we rode on the dusty plains !

They passed with their old-world legends— Their tales of wrong and dearth- -Our fathers held by purchase But we by the right of birth ; Our heart's where they rocked our cradle, Our love where we spent our toil, And our faith and our hope and our honour We pledge to our native soil !"

The verses, and those that follow, are a positive initiation. As we read them our hearts beat and cheeks glow, and

as by fire we realise the feeling of the "native born,"— how he loves his own land, and yet gives his homage to

"the dread high altars" of the race. Let no one suppose when we speak thus of this particular poem that we imagine it is going suddenly to become a household word in England, Scotland, and Ireland, or that the world will immediately grasp its meaning. That is given to few poems. But without doing this, the poem, we believe, will have its effect on public opinion. Before it becomes popular in the ordinary sense, it will work its way into the minds,

first, of the more imaginative politicians and journalists and men of letters. Then through them and by various channels it will filter down and affect the mass of the people. What will happen will be not unlike that which happened in regard to the feeling of the nation towards the privates of

British Army. Mr. Kipling, in his capacity of interpreter, and by means of his "Barrack-room Ballads," made the nation appreciate and understand its soldiers infinitely better than they had ever done before. Indeed, it is not too much to say that by means of this process of interpretation he

changed the attitude of the nation. But though many thousands of people read how— "It's Tommy this an' Tommy that, an' 'chuck him out, the brute;'

But it's 'saviour of his country' when the guns begin to shoot," the change was for the most part wrought indirectly. When you let fly into a whole heap of balls, all are moved and

affected, though only one or two feel the impact direct. It is ,enough if the poet touches those who can influence the rest. Another example of Mr. Kipling's power of interpretation as a poet is to be seen in his sea-poems. "The Bolivar," "The Clampherdown," and "The Flag of England" are of incalculable value in making Englishmen realise that they have been and are still the lords of the sea, and what that priceless heritage means. You may talk to Robinson, the bill-broker, till you are black in the face about the command of the sea, and its political, commercial, and moral importance. He agrees no doubt, and seems quite intelligent, but in reality marks you not. If, however, you can get him to listen to what the four winds made answer when they were asked what and where is the flag of England, who knows but you may have lighted a flame of inspiration which will remain with him and make him realise the grandeur and high destiny of this realm of England. Take, again, the way in which Mr. Kipling has interpreted the native East for Englishmen and made them understand, as but few of them understood before, the gulf that stretches between the East and West, and realise that East and West, though each has its destiny, can never be one. Yet another example of Mr. Kipling's power of interpretation is to be found in the mar- vellous poem which he wrote on the American spirit, taking the Chicago riots as his "peg." The poet, as we pointed out at the time, was not quite as careful as he ought to have been to avoid wounding the feelings of our American kinsfolk, but for insight and exposition it was a work of rare genius. It interpreted a certain side of the American character to per- fection. And to do this at that moment was a most useful work, for over here men were bewildered and distracted by what was happening in the West. We have spoken above only of Mr. Kipling, but it must not be supposed that we regard him as the only poet who acts as interpreter to the nation. We chose him because he does so to such practical effect, and because his last poem is just now in men's minds. All true poets are, as we have said, interpreters, each in his own sphere. If they are not, they are mere embroiderers of melodious words. Mr. Watson, for example, has shown true inspiration in interpreting for us the great poets and the great movements of literature. His verses on Wordsworth, on Shelley, on Matthew Arnold, and on Burns are examples of what we mean. In those noble poems he brought many of us far nearer these mighty singers than we had ever yet approached, but before long the world will have an oppor- tunity of seeing how he can interpret for his countrymen the splendid pageant of their past, and as the lightning calls hill and vale out of the darkness, call up for an instant the mighty dead of England. No, as long as States are made and unmade, and men in their communities grope and wander, asking for the light, so long will the world need the poet's help. While there is anything to interpret and make clear to men who will act on what comes to them through their emotions but will remain cold to the mere teachings of reason, the poet and his art will survive. When we are all so coldly reasonable that we cannot be stirred by "Chevy Chase," then, but not till then, will the poet's occupation be gone. Meantime, let us remember that we lost America because we did not under- stand the feelings of the "native born," and thank heaven we have a poet-interpreter to help save us from another such treason to our race as that to which George III. and Lord North incited.