appalling facts with which it deals;
even in those cases in which, as in
the tragedy of "King Lear," blind
fate seems relentlessly sovereign over
human affairs, the artist must disclose
in his attitude and method a sustained
energy of spirit. Nothing shows so
clearly a decline in creative force as
a loss of interest on the part of the
artist in the subject or material with
which he deals.

That fresh bloom which lies on the
very face of poetry, and in which not
only its obvious but its enduring charm
resides, is the expression of a feeling
for nature, for life, and for the happen-
ings which make up the common lot,
which keeps its earliest receptivity and
responsiveness. When a man ceases
to care deeply for things, he ceases to
represent or interpret them with in-
sight and power. The preservation

[[175]]

p174 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p175w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p176

v?