Watson, William
William (1859-), an English poet. He was born in Yorkshire. He was educated in private. He began publishing verses as early as 1880. He has been influenced noticeably by Keats, Morris, Rossetti, Wordsworth, and Tennyson. Several volumes of verses have appeared. One of the more noted, The Purple East, appeared in 1897. A selection of his best work was published in 1898 under the title of Collected Poems. One of his best bits of writing is the following, expressive of the permanence of the poetic art:
Yet do the songsmiths
Quit not their forges;
Still on life's anvil
Forge they the rhyme.
Quit not their forges;
Still on life's anvil
Forge they the rhyme.
Lo, with the ancient
Roots of man's nature
Twines the eternal
Passion of song.
Roots of man's nature
Twines the eternal
Passion of song.
Ever Love fans it,
Ever Life feeds it,
Time cannot age it,
Death cannot slay.
. . . . .
God on his throne is
Eldest of poets:
Unto his measures
Moveth the whole.
Ever Life feeds it,
Time cannot age it,
Death cannot slay.
. . . . .
God on his throne is
Eldest of poets:
Unto his measures
Moveth the whole.
Volume V · Aiton’s Encyclopedia