Detective and mystery stories; English fiction -- 19th century
were made distinctly proving to the fair sex that they had no business
at all to be present. Still, with every advantage that a running fire
of satirical comment could give it in the way of notoriety, the
‘Bohemian’ was not a prosperous concern; and no Yankee Bullion-Bag
seemed inclined to take it up or invest in the chances of its future. A
more sallow, sour, discontented set of men than were congregated in the
smoking-room on the particular evening now in question could hardly be
found anywhere between London and the Antipodes, and only the little
doctor, leaning back in a lounge-chair with his neatly-shaped little
legs easily crossed, and a smile on his face, seemed to enjoy his
position as an impartial spectator of the scene. His smile, however,
was one of purely professional satisfaction; he was making studies of a
‘subject’ in the person of a long-haired ‘poet,’ who wrote his own
reviews. This son of the Muses was an untidy, dirty-looking man, and
his abundant locks irresistibly reminded one of a black goat-skin
door-mat, worn in places where reckless visitors had wiped their muddy
boots thereon. No doubt this poet washed occasionally, but his skin was
somewhat of the peculiar composition complained of by Lady Macbeth—‘All
the perfumes of Arabia’ would neither cleanse nor ‘sweeten’ it.
‘Jaundice,’ murmured the little doctor, pleasantly; ‘I’ll give him a
year, and he’ll be down with its worst form. Too much smoke, too much
whisky, combined mentally with conceit, spite, and the habitual
concentration of the imagination on self; and no gaiety, wit or kindness
to temper the mixture. All bad for the health—as bad as bad can be!
But, God bless my soul, what does it matter? He’d never be missed!’
And he rubbed his hands jubilantly, smiling still.
Meanwhile the rhymester thus doomed was seated at a distant table and
writing of himself thus,—
‘If Shelley was a poet, if Byron was a poet, if we own Shakespeare as a
king of bards and dramatists, then Mr Aubrey Grovelyn is a poet also,
eminently fitted to be the comrade of these immortals. Inspired
thought, beauty of diction, ease and splendour of rhythm distinguish
Aubrey Grovelyn’s muse as they distinguish Shakespeare’s utterances; and
in bestowing upon this gifted singer the praise that is justly due to
him, we feel we are rendering a service to England in being among the
first to point out the glorious promise and value of a genius who is
destined to outsoar all his contemporaries in far-reaching originality
and grandeur of design.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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