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' .! 434 TH~ Ut\'tVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY ANGEL SATYR•· ' w. ROBBINS Why do I keep ·tht'.s voluminous joztrna/? I can hardly tell. Partly because life appears to m:e su?h a curious and wonderful thing that it a!mo.st seems a pity that even ·such' a humble and uneuenifui life as mine ;houldpass altogether away without some such record ·as this,- and partly too because I think the .record may amuse and interest some who come_after. me. The modest .hope of this Anglican clergyman has been more than realized, ·mai.nly because the freshness and fu_ln'ess of observ'ation have matched the sincerity of motive. But the interest for the student of literature and social history rests on more .solid grounds tha·n those of amusement and charm. The Reverend Francis Kilvert has by his candour and simplicity given us an intimate' autobiography fr.om an age dis...: tinguished. by its .reticence; he has also furnished convincing evidence th '1870-1879: Selections from the Diary of th~ Reu. Francis ·Ki/u(rt. Chosen> edited and introduced by Wu,LIAM PLOMER. London, Eng.: 'Jon a than Cape {Toronto: Clarke, Irwin]. 1944~ 1946. Pp. 350. , ($2.75)' ' \ , (· REVIEWS '435 exactness and fu1ness of description make a comparison with Dorothy· Wordsworth, rather than with Pepys, the inevitable one. · There are times, indeed, .when o.ne 'is tempted simply to call Kilvert a· Wordsworthian, and to speculate on the 'degree to which the nineteenthcentury awareness-of nature is the ·result of reading Wordsworth's poems~ Such afeeling is prompted by the frequent mention of the poet's name, the a~ecdot~ about him, a_nd the often expressed 'preference for the ··country over 'the city. Yet it_ would b.e a_s· reasoriable to attrihute- the wealth of exact visual and botanical detail to a reading of Tennyson. We cannot, in fact, go very far in the diary without realizing that the joy in the sights of the patnral'world, the observant eye, and the-gift of description are those of , Kilvert himself.. He is fascinated by effects of light, and of colour contrast. He notes the "exquisite fret and filigree work of the white lace blossoms~· of. the b~g bean flow,er, and finds something of the "severe beauty- of sculp~ ture'' in the crossing and interlacing of limbs and bran~hes, of "the"loveliness o£ painting" in the "full pride and .splendour and colour of foliage." He :anticipates vV. H. Davies in the absorbed attention to -the elements combining to make a m·oment's beauty} in the feeling that such a perfect ,.ha~t;no~y may never come again. vVe believe him when we i·ead, as' his com'plete entry for October 7, 1874.: "For some time I' have been trying to fi~d the -right word for the shimmering glandng twinkling movement of. the poplar leaves in the sun and wind. This. afternoon I saw the .word·w~i tten on the popIar leaves. It was 'dazzle.' The dazzle of the poplars." ' vVhat 'is _most striking in this Broad Church clergy~an is the unconst ~ained naturalness of his feelings and expression, the range Of the objects of his ·curiosity and 'admiration, of his love1 in short. He delights in the primrose ·a~d in the "mountain streaked and striped and ribbed with snow"; he enjoys skating, dancing, and champagne as much as the ,quiet starlit night; he is himself r_apturously in love with at least three- different .girls in succession, though deathless love for Daisy does not rob the record1 ot this Sunday ii:em: "At the school this morn) ng I had a grateful word and glance and clasp of the hand from Gibbins _in. return for the book I gave her, Stepping Hea.Denward." His passionate fondness for children is balan 1 ced by his active' sympathy for the aged, the poor) the sick, and even the mad, all·of who'm he attends. regillarly with counsel.and with little personal gifts. And the blend of sacred .calling and natural impulse, of pagan pleasure and· Christian gentleness1 'no doubt explains the demonstrative grief ofall ages arid groups among his parishioners at ~is...

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