Preface Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABBCDEFGH IJKLMNCOPQRSTUVMCW XBXYZCCZ A2KB2C2A2D2B2AE2XXE2 F2G2CD2TXH2YI2BC2BJ2 CYYK2QL2M2N2N2O2TG2P 2CQ2R2 S2YCAT2A2U2A2N2V2W2 B2X2 MAY2 A2B2N2BZ2KA3B3L2C3CG 2CD3 KA2B3E3BMT2BX2 F3G3XS2BV2H3AI3BA2B2 AB2A AB H2J3KK K3F3B3M D3A PCB2GL3M3H3A2 YN3 O3P3N3 BN3BN3 CQ3H2R3S3Y N3T3YBCU3 ABKN3P2Y V3N3KP2 B2W3L3CX3QL3 KY3N3O2N3Z3N3CXKA4YG 2CWBN2K2N3 D2L3BMN3YYTB2B4CN3F3 D2N3UY3C4 D4N3 OE4 F4BN3 BN3 R2 D2A R2 AN3Y D2R2 BN3N3Y R2R2R2BR2 N3P2N3 G4 Q2H4 N3N3N3N3 V2I4V2R2J3R2BR2OJ4YR 2R2BR2N3N3K4R2P2N3YY R2L4AR3R2 L3AR2AR2 B2R2R2R2AR2M4 N2R2YB2R2N3N4OR2F4BY K4Z3BO4J3R2N3R2R2R2 AR2E3N3P4Q4Q4R2R2PBA B2 N3R2AV2

A book which needs to be written is one dealing	A
with the childhood of authors It would be	B
not only interesting but instructive not merely	B
profitable in a general way but practical in a	C
particular We might hope in reading it to gain	D
some sort of knowledge as to what environments	E
and conditions are most conducive to the growth	F
of the creative faculty We might even learn how	G
not to strangle this rare faculty in its early years	H
	-
At this moment I am faced with a difficult task	I
for here is an author and her childhood in a most	J
unusual position these two conditions that of	K
being an author and that of being a child appear	L
simultaneously instead of in the due order to	M
which we are accustomed For I wish at the outset	N
to state and emphatically that it is poetry the	C
stuff and essence of poetry which this book	O
contains I know of no other instance in which such	P
really beautiful poetry has been written by a child	Q
but confronted with so unwonted a state of things	R
two questions obtrude themselves how far has	S
the condition of childhood been impaired by not	T
only the possession but the expression of the gift	U
of writing how far has the condition of authorship	V
at least in its more mature state still to	M
come been hampered by this early leap into the	C
light	W
	-
The first question concerns the little girl and	X
can best be answered by herself some twenty	B
years hence the second concerns the world and	X
again the answer must wait We can however	Y
do something we can see what she is and what	Z
she has done And if the one is interesting to the	C
psychologist the other is no less important to the	C
poet	Z
	-
Hilda Conkling is the younger daughter of Mrs	A2
Grace Hazard Conkling Assistant Professor of	K
English at Smith College Northampton	B2
Massachusetts At the time of writing Hilda has just	C2
passed her ninth birthday Her sister Elsa is	A2
two years her senior The children and their	D2
mother live all the year round in Northampton	B2
and glimpses of the woods and hills surrounding	A
the little town crop up again and again in these	E2
poems This is Emily Dickinson's country and	X
there is a reminiscent sameness in the fauna and	X
flora of her poems in these	E2
	-
The two little girls go to a school a few blocks	F2
from where they live In the afternoons they	G2
take long walks with their mother or play in the	C
garden while she writes On rainy days there	D2
are books and Mrs Conkling's piano which is not	T
just a piano for Mrs Conkling is a musician and	X
we may imagine that the children hear a special	H2
music as they certainly read a special literature	Y
By special I do not mean a prescribed course	I2
for dietitians of the mind are quite as apt to be	B
faddists as dietitians of the stomach but just	C2
that sort of reading which a person who passionately	B
loves books would most want to introduce	J2
her children to And here I think we have the	C
answer to the why of Hilda She and her sister	Y
have been their mother's close companions ever	Y
since they were born They have never known	K2
that somewhat equivocal relationship a child	Q
with its nurse They have never been for hours	L2
at a time in contact with an elementary intelligence	M2
If Hilda had shown these poems to even	N2
the most sympathetic nurse what would have been	N2
the result In the first place they would in all	O2
probability have been lost since Hilda does not	T
write her poems but tells them in the second they	G2
would have been either extravagantly praised or	P2
laughingly commented upon In either case the	C
fine flower of creation would most certainly have	Q2
been injured	R2
	-
Then again blessed though many of the nurses	S2
of childhood undoubtedly are and we all remember	Y
them they have no means of answering the	C
thousand and one questions of an eager opening	A
mind To be an adequate companion to childhood	T2
one must know so many things Hilda is	A2
fortunate in her mother for if these poems reveal	U2
one thing more than another it is that Mrs	A2
Conkling is dowered with an admirable tact In	N2
the dedication poem to her mother the little girl	V2
says	W2
	-
If I sing you listen	B2
If I think you know	X2
	-
No finer tribute could be offered by one person to	M
another than the contented certainty of understanding	A
in those two lines	Y2
	-
Hilda tells her poems and the method of it is	A2
this They come out in the course of conversation	B2
and Mrs Conkling is so often engaged in	N2
writing that there is nothing to be remarked if she	B
scribbles absently while talking to the little girls	Z2
But this scribbling is really a complete draught of	K
the poem Occasionally Mrs Conkling writes	A3
down the poem later from memory and reads it	B3
afterwards to the child who always remembers	L2
if it is not exactly in its original form No line	C3
no cadence is altered from Hilda's version the	C
titles have been added for convenience but they	G2
are merely obvious handles derived from the	C
text	D3
	-
Naturally it is only a small proportion of	K
Hilda's life which is given to poetry Much is	A2
devoted to running about a part to study etc It	B3
is however significant that Hilda is not very keen	E3
about games with other children Not that she	B
is by any means either shy or solitary but they do	M
not greatly interest her Doubtless childhood	T2
pays its debt of possession more steadily than we	B
know	X2
	-
Now to turn to the book itself at the very start	F3
here is an amazing thing This slim volume contains	G3
one hundred and seven separate poems and	X
that is counting as one all the very short pieces	S2
written between the ages of five and six Certainly	B
that is a remarkable output for a little girl	V2
and the only possible explanation is that the poems	H3
are perfectly instinctive There is no working	A
over as with an adult poet Hilda is subconscious	I3
not self conscious Her mother says that she	B
rarely hesitates for a word When the feeling is	A2
strong it speaks for itself Read the dedication	B2
poem For You Mother It is full of feeling	A
and of that simple dignified adequate diction	B2
which is the speech of feeling	A
	-
I have found a way of thinking	A
To make you happy	B
	-
That is beautiful and once read inevitable	H2
but it waited for a child to say Poem after poem	J3
is charged with this feeling this expression of	K
great love	K
	-
I will sing you a song	K3
Sweets of my heart	F3
With love in it	B3
How I love you	M
	-
Will you love me to morrow after next	D3
As if I had a bird's way of singing	A
	-
But it is not only the pulse of feeling in such	P
passages which makes them surprising it is the	C
perfectly original expression of it When one	B2
reads a thing and voluntarily exclaims How	G
beautiful How natural How true then	L3
one knows that one has stumbled upon that flash	M3
of personality which we call genius These poems	H3
are full of such flashes	A2
	-
Sparkle up little tired flower	Y
Leaning in the grass	N3
	-
	-
	-
There is a star that runs very fast	O3
That goes pulling the moon	P3
Through the tops of the poplars	N3
	-
	-
	-
There is sweetness in the tree	B
And fireflies are counting the leaves	N3
I like this country	B
I like the way it has	N3
	-
A pansy has a thinking face a rooster has a	C
comb gay as a parade he shouts crooked	Q3
words loud sharp not beautiful	H2
frozen water is asked if it cannot lift itself	R3
with sun and Easter morning says a glad	S3
thing over and over	Y
	-
No matter who wrote them those passages	N3
would be beautiful the oldest poet in the world	T3
could not improve upon them and yet the reader	Y
has only to turn to the text to see the incredibly	B
early age at which such expressions came into the	C
author's mind	U3
	-
Where childhood betrays genius is in the mounting	A
up of detail Inadequate lines not infrequently	B
jar a total effect as when in the poem of	K
the star pulling the moon she suddenly ends	N3
Mr Moon does he make you hurry Or	P2
speaking of a drop of water	Y
	-
So it went on with its life	V3
For several years	N3
Until at last it was never heard of	K
Any more	P2
	-
This is the perennial child thinking as children	B2
think and we are glad of it It makes the whole	W3
more healthy more sure of development When	L3
the subconscious mind of Hilda Conkling takes a	C
vacation she does not nod as erstwhile	X3
Homer she merely reverts to type and is a child	Q
again	L3
	-
I think too highly of these poems to speak of	K
the volume as though it were the finished achievement	Y3
of a grown up person Some of the poems	N3
can be taken in that way but by no means all	O2
The child who writes them frequently transcends	N3
herself but her thoughts for the most part are	Z3
those proper to every imaginative child Fairies	N3
play a large role in her fancies and so does the	C
sandman There are kings and princesses and	X
golden wings and there are reminiscences of	K
story books and hints of pictures that have pleased	A4
her After all that is the way we all make our	Y
poems but the grown up poet tries to get away	G2
from his author he tries to see more than the	C
painter has seen The little girl is quite	W
untroubled by any questions of technique She	B
takes what to her is the obvious always and in	N2
these copied pieces it is naturally less her own	K2
peculiar obvious than in the nature poems	N3
	-
Hilda Conkling is evidently possessed of a rare	D2
and accurate power of observation And when	L3
we add this to her gift of imagination we see	B
that it is the perfectly natural play of these two	M
faculties which makes what to her is an obvious	N3
expression She does not search for it it is her	Y
natural mode of thought But luckily for her	Y
she has been guided by a wisdom which has not	T
attempted to show her a better way Her observation	B2
has been carefully but unobtrusively cultivated	B4
her imagination has been stimulated by the	C
reading of excellent books but both these lines	N3
of instruction have been kept apparently apart	F3
from her own work She has been let alone there	D2
she has been taught by an analogy which she has	N3
never suspected By this means her poetical gift	U
has functioned happily without ever for a moment	Y3
experiencing the tension of doubt	C4
	-
A few passages will serve to show how well	D4
Hilda knows how to use her eyes	N3
	-
The water came in with a wavy look	O
Like a spider's web	E4
	-
A bluebird has a back like a feathered sky	F4
Apostrophizing a snow capped mountain she	B
writes	N3
	-
You shine like a lily	B
But with a different whiteness	N3
	-
She asks a humming bird	R2
	-
Why do you stand on the air	D2
And no sun shining	A
	-
She hears a chickadee	R2
	-
Far off I hear him talking	A
The way smooth bright pebbles	N3
Drop into water	Y
	-
Now let us follow her a step farther to where	D2
the imagination takes a firmer hold	R2
	-
The world turns softly	B
Not to spill its lakes and rivers	N3
The water is held in its arms	N3
And the sky is held in the water	Y
	-
School lessons and a reflection in a pond	R2
that is the stuff of which all poetry is made It	R2
is the fusion which shows the quality of the poet	R2
Turn to the text and read Geography Really	B
this is an extraordinary child	R2
	-
It is pleasant to watch her with the artist's	N3
eagerness intrigued by the sounds of words for	P2
instance	N3
	-
silvery lonesome lapping of the long wave	G4
	-
Again enchanted by a little bell of rhyme we have	Q2
this amusing catalogue	H4
	-
John flowers	N3
Mary flowers	N3
Polly flowers	N3
Cauli flowers	N3
	-
That is the conscious Hilda the gay little girl	V2
but it shows a quick ear nevertheless We can	I4
almost hear the giggle with which that Cauli	V2
flowers came out Usually rhyme does not	R2
appear to be a matter of moment to her Some	J3
poets think in rhyme some do not Hilda	R2
evidently belongs to the second category	B
Treasure and The Apple Jelly Fish Tree and	R2
Short Story are the only poems in the book	O
which seem to follow a clearly rhymed pattern	J4
If any misguided schoolmistress had ever	Y
suggested that a poem should have rhyme and	R2
metre this book would never have been told	R2
In Moon Doves however there is a distinctly	B
metrical effect without rhyme But the great	R2
majority of the poems are built upon cadence	N3
and the subtlety of this little girl's cadences	N3
are a delight to those who can hear them	K4
Doubtless her musical inheritance has all to do	R2
with this for in poem after poem the instinct for	P2
rhythm is unerring So constantly is this the case	N3
that it is scarcely necessary to point out particular	Y
examples I may however name as two of her	Y
best for other qualities as well Gift and	R2
Poems The latter contains two of her quick	L4
strokes of observation and comparison the morning	A
like the inside of a snow apple and she herself	R3
curled cushion shaped in the window seat	R2
	-
Dear me How simple these poems seem when	L3
you read them done But try to write something	A
new about a dandelion Try it and then read	R2
the poem of that name here It is charming	A
how did she think of it How indeed	R2
	-
Delightful conceits she has another is Sun	B2
Flowers but how comes a child of eight to	R2
prick and point with the rapier of irony For it	R2
is nothing less than irony in The Tower and the	R2
Falcon Did she quite grasp its meaning	A
herself We may doubt it In this poem the	R2
subconscious is very much on the job	M4
	-
To my thinking the most successful poems in	N2
the book and now I mean successful from a	R2
grown up standpoint are For You Mother	Y
Red Rooster Gift Poems Dandelion	B2
Butterfly Weather Hills and	R2
Geography And it will be noticed that these	N3
are precisely the poems which must have sprung	N4
from actual experience They are not the book	O
poems not even the fairy poems they are the	R2
records of reactions from actual happenings I	F4
have not a doubt that Hilda prefers her fairy	B
stories They are the conscious play of her	Y
imagination it must be fun to make them	K4
Ah but it is the unconscious with which we are	Z3
most concerned those very poems which are probably	B
to her the least interesting are the ones which	O4
most certainly reveal the fulness of poetry from	J3
which she draws She probably hardly thought	R2
at all so natural was it to say that three pinks	N3
smell like more of them in a blue vase but the	R2
expression fills the air with so strong a scent that	R2
no superlative could increase it	R2
	-
Gift is a lovely poem it has feeling	A
expression originality cadence If a child can write	R2
such a poem at eight years old what does it mean	E3
That depends I think on how long the instructors	N3
of youth can be persuaded to keep hands off	P4
A period of imitation is I fear inevitable but if	Q4
consciousness is not induced by direct criticism if	Q4
instruction in the art of writing is abjured the	R2
imitative period will probably be got through	R2
without undue loss I think there is too much	P
native sense of beauty and proportion here to be	B
entirely killed even by the drying and freezing	A
process which goes by the name of education	B2
	-
What this book chiefly shows is high promise	N3
but it also has its pages of real achievement and	R2
that of so high an order it may well set us pondering	A
AMY LOWELL	V2

Hilda Conkling

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