And Kipling is not read so much as a certain American
writer who discovered that by writing verse in prose form he could
make the public forget their prejudice against poetry and indulge
their natural pleasure in rhythm and rime.
A striking proof of all that I have been writing is to be found in
so-called magazine verse. Sneers at magazine poetry are unjust
because they are unintelligent. It is quite true that most of it
consists of the highly individualistic lyric of which I have
spoken above. But in comparison with the imaginative prose of the
typical popular magazine, it presents a most instructive contrast.
The prose is too frequently sensational or sentimental, vulgar or
smart. The verse, even though narrow in its appeal, and sometimes
slight, is at least excellent in art, admirable in execution, and
vigorous and unsentimental in tone. Regarded as literature, it is
very much more satisfactory than the bulk of magazine prose.
Indeed, there is less difference between the best and the worst of
our magazines than between the verse and the prose in any one of
them.
And if this verse is too special in its subject-matter to be
altogether satisfactory, if so little of it appeals to the general
reader, is it not his fault? He neglects the poetry from habit
rather than from conviction based on experience.
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