[14] From _Poems_ by G. K. Chesterton. Copyright by the John Lane Co.
and reprinted by permission of the publishers.
_Wilfrid Wilson Gibson_
Born at Hexam in 1878, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson has published almost a
dozen books of verse--the first four or five (see Preface) being
imitative in manner and sentimentally romantic in tone. With _The
Stonefolds_ (1907) and _Daily Bread_ (1910), Gibson executed a
complete right-about-face and, with dramatic brevity, wrote a series
of poems mirroring the dreams, pursuits and fears of common humanity.
_Fires_ (1912) marks an advance in technique and power. And though in
_Livelihood_ (1917) Gibson seems to be theatricalizing and merely
exploiting his working-people, his later lyrics recapture the veracity
of such memorable poems as "The Old Man," "The Blind Rower," and "The
Machine." _Hill-Tracks_ (1918) attempts to capture the beauty of
village-names and the glamour of the English countryside.