Excerpt from Vers De Societe, Selected From Recent Authors

Hug-n ia lu-doi u-lpathy with the lightsome tone and airy jesting of fashion, who are not disturbed by the fiippancies of small-talk, but, on the contrary, can see the grace fulness of which it is capable, and who, nevertheless, amid all this froth of society, feel that there are depths in our nature, which even in the gayety of drawing-rooms cannot be forgotten. Theirs is the poetry of bitter-sweet, of sentiment that breaks into humor, and of solemn thought, which, lest it should be too solemn, plunges into laughter: it is in an especial sense the verse of society. When society ceases to be simple, it becomes sceptical. Nor are we utterly to condemn this sceptical temper as a sign of corruption. It is assumed in self-defence, and becomes a necessity of rapid conversation. When society becomes refined, it begins to dread the exhibition of strong feeling, no matter whether real or simulated. If real, it disturbs the level of con versation and of manners - if simulated, so much the worse. In such an atmosphere, emotion takes ref uge in jest, and passion hides itself in scepticism of passion: we are not going to wear our hearts upon our sleeves, rather than that, we shall pretend to have no heart at all, and if, perchance, a bit of it should peep out, we shall hide it as quickly as pos sible, and laugh at the exposure as a good joke.

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