Excerpt from The Art of the Spoken Word, Vol. 12

Cobruml (n u.s.a. 0, Mn. Tobe: thaw, (on.of the words already given us by the poet, either in print or in manuscript. Before going more deeply into the matter let it be admitted at once that the great and lasting good achieved by the Festival movement is not the aggrandisement of any particular individual or group of individuals acclaimed as winner. Without doubt it is a fine thing to see one's name, or the name of a pupil, at the head of the list, but it is only a fine thing when it is clear that the general standard of endeavour is mounting ever higher and higher. Now, to the intelligent observer, there is no doubt that the great lowerer of standard is selfishness, or a short-sighted self-interest which exploits the wealth of the poet's gift for the sake of personal show. Perhaps this is putting the case too severely. This exploitation is rarely done consciously it arises almost always from want of thought, and it is just in the hope of eradicating the want of thought in the first instance that these pages have come to be written.

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