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en elephas levi； who visited england in the sixties； & would have said anything） but the first effect of the elixir is that your nails fall out and your hair falls off。 i was afraid that i might have made a mistake and that nothing else might happen； so i put it away on a shelf。 i meant to drink it when i was an old man； but when i got it down the other day it had all dried up。
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Four YearsXIX
i generalized a great deal and was ashamed of it。 i thought that it was my business in life to bean artist and a poet； and that there could be no business parable to that。 i refused to read books； and even to meet people who excited me to generalization； but all to no purpose。 i said my prayers much as in childhood； though without the old regularity of hour and place； and i began to pray that my imagination might somehow be rescued from abstraction； and bee as pre？occupied with life as had been the imagination of chaucer。 for ten or twelve years more i suffered continual remorse； and only became content when my abstractions had posed themselves into picture and dramatization。 my very remorse helped to spoil my early poetry； giving it an element of sentimentality through my refusal to permit it any share of an intellect which i considered impure。 even in practical life i only very gradually began to use generalizations； that have since bee the foundation of all i have done； or shall do； in ireland。 for all i know； all men may have been as timid； for i am persuaded that our intellects at twenty contain all the truths we shall ever find； but as yet we do not know truths that belong to us from opinions caught up in casual irritation or momentary phantasy。 as life goes on we discover that certain thoughts sustain us in defeat； or give us victory； whether over ourselves or others； & it is these thoughts； tested by passion； that we call convictions。 among subjective men （in all those； that is； who must spin a web out of their own bowels） the victory is an intellectual daily recreation of all that exterior fate snatches away； and so that fates antithesis； while what i have called the mask is an emotional antithesis to all that es out of their internal nature。 we begin to live when we have conceived life as a tragedy。
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Four YearsXX
｛小｝｛说｝｛网｝
a conviction that the world was now but a bundle of fragments possessed me without ceasing。 i had tried this conviction on the rhymers； thereby plunging into greater silence an already too silent evening。 johnson； i was accustomed to say； you are the only man i know whose silence has beak & claw。 i had lectured on it to some london irish society； and i was to lecture upon it later on in dublin； but i never found but one interested man； an official of the primrose league； who was also an active member of the fenian brotherhood。 i am an extreme conservative apart from ireland； i have heard him explain； and i have no doubt that personal experience made him share the sight of any eye that saw the world in fragments。 i had been put into a rage by the followers of huxley； tyndall； carolus duran and bastien？lepage； who not only asserted the unimportance of subject； whether in art or literature； but the independence of the arts from one another。 upon the other hand i delighted in every age where poet and artist confined themselves gladly to some inherited subject matter known to the whole people； for i thought that in man and race alike there is something called unity of being； using that term as dante used it when he pared beauty in the convito to a perfectly proportioned human body。 my father； from whom i had learned the term； preferred a parison to a musical instrument so strong that if we touch a string all the strings murmur faintly。 there is not more desire； he had said； in lust than in true love； but in true love desire awakens pity； hope； affection； admiration； and； given appropriate circumstance； every emotion possible to man。 when i began； however； to apply this thought to the state and to argue for a law？made balance among trades and occupations； my father displayed at once the violent free？trader and propagandist of liberty。 i thought that the enemy of this unity was abstraction； meaning by abstraction not the distinction but the isolation of occupation； or class or faculty？？
call down the hawk from the air let him be hooded； or caged； till the yellow eye has grown mild； for larder and spit are bare； the old cook enraged； the scullion gone wild。
i knew no mediaeval cathedral； and westminster； being a part of abhorred london； did not interest me； but i thought constantly of homer and dante and the tombs of mausolus and artemisa； the great figures of king and queen and the lesser figures of greek and amazon； centaur and greek。 i thought that all art should be a centaur finding in the popular lore its back and its strong legs。 i got great pleasure too from remembering that homer was sung； and from that tale of dante hearing a mon man sing some stanza from the divine edy； and from don quixotes meeting with some mon man that sang ariosto。 morris had never seemed to care for any poet later than chaucer； and though i preferred shakespeare to chaucer i begrudged my own preference。 had not europe shared one mind and heart； until both mind and heart began to break into fragments a little before shakespeares birth？ music and verse began to fall apart when chaucer robbed verse of its speed that he might give it greater meditation； though for another generation or so minstrels were to sing his long elaborated troilus and cressida； painting parted from religion in the later renaissance that it might study effects of tangibility undisturbed； while； that it might characterise； where it had once personified； it renounced； in our own age； all that inherited subject matter which we have named poetry。 presently i was indeed to number character itself among the abstractions； encouraged by congreves saying that passions are too powerful in the fair sex to let humour； or as we say character； have its course。 nor have we fared better under the mon daylight； for pure reason has notoriously made but light of practical reason； and has been made but light of in its turn； from that morning when descartes discovered that he could think better in his bed than out of it； nor needed i original thought to discover； being so late of the school of morris； that machinery had not separated from handicraft wholly for the worlds good； nor to notice that the distinction of classes had bee their isolation。 if the london merchants of our day peted together in writing lyrics they would not； like the tudor merchants； dance in the open street before the house of the victor； nor do the great ladies of london finish their balls on the pavement before their doors as did the great venetian ladies even in the eighteenth century； conscious of an all enfolding sympathy。 doubtless because fragments broke into even smaller fragments we saw one another in a light of bitter edy； and in the arts； where now one technical element reigned and now another； generation hated generation； and acplished beauty was snatched away when it had most engaged our affections。 one thing i did not foresee； not having the courage of my own thought？？the growing murderousness of the world。
turning and turning in the widening gyre the falcon cannot hear the falconer； things fall apart； the centre cannot hold； mere anarchy is loosed upon the world； the blood？dimmed tide is loosed； and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned； the best lack all conviction； while the worst are full of passionate intensity。
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Four YearsXXI
…。网
the huxley； tyndall； carolus duran； bastien？lepage coven asserted that an artist or a poet must paint or write in the style of his own day； and this with the fairy queen； and lyrical ballads； and blakes early poems in its ears； and plain to the eyes； in book or gallery； those great masterpieces of later egypt； founded upon that work of the ancient kingdom already further in time from later egypt than later egypt is from us。 i knew that i could choose my style where i pleased； that no man can deny to the human mind any power； that power once achieved； and yet i did not wish to recover the first s