~ To Landor
If there be one poet my heart entwines
Let me praise brave Landor’s rhymes.
For humor runs all through his verse,
And though he may not be the first
To feel those thoughts and put them down-
I like the way he turns them ‘round.
For when I hear him praise the dawn,
I know the sleepless night that brought it on.
And when I hear him praise old age-
I know the wisdom of that sage.
A master artist was he not,
Who in four short lines completes the thought? *
.This a generous tribute to a poet cursed by being relegated to the MINOR ROMANTIC POETS section of anthologies. I can dimly recall reading HEART'S-EASE long ago but I thank you for bringing it back. I found myself thinking, Oh, can you bring a third flower for me. No make that four, my friend needs one too. I like the way you don't puff up his accomplishment in your poem. You feel a bond with him and let that speak for itself. You express a genuine sympathy for his work - its humor, its graceful phrasing - that is more persuasive than special pleading. And it worked! I went to my library, found the Penguin anthology, looked him and read the THREE POEMS included. One of them was addressed to Wordsworth and showed his sharp critical insight, poet to poet (not minor poet to major poet) .
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Landor's lines are beautiful and you have honoured him with a fine tribute. Thank you Tom Billsborough