I have
never quite surrendered to the cavalier's words
I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not Honour more.
Are we sure it is honor, and not himself, he loves more?
It is impossible to improve on the Cowboy's comment on these lines
in Mr. Wister's _Virginian_; after Molly has read them aloud to the
convalescing male, he remarks softly, "That is very, very true."
Molly does not see why the Virginian admires these verses so much
more than the others. "I could scarcely explain," says he, "but that
man does know something." Molly wants to know if the lovers had
quarrelled. "Oh, no! he will come back after he has played some more
of the game." "The game?" "Life, ma'am. Whatever he was adoin' in
the world of men. That's a bed-rock piece, ma'am."
The Virginian is much happier in his literary criticism of this
lyric than he is of the _Good News_ or of the _Incident of the
French Camp_; in the latter instance, he misses the point altogether.
The boy was not a poseur.
Pages:
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164