TCDE-Team at 21:05, 4 April 2026

2026-04-04T21:05:23Z

TCDE-Team at 15:34, 21 July 2016

2016-07-21T15:34:11Z

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''A Post-Impressionist'' is a poem written by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] first published in the collected volume [[Songs of the Road]] on 16 march 1911.

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== Editions ==

* in ''[[Songs of the Road]]'' (16 march 1911, [[Smith, Elder & Co.]] [UK])
* in ''[[Songs of the Road]]'' (october 1911, [[Doubleday & McClure Co.|Doubleday, Page & Co.]] [US])
* in ''[[Songs of the Road]]'' (27 january 1920, [[John Murray]] [UK])
* in ''[[Songs of the Road]]'' (february 1920, [[John Murray]] [UK])
* in ''[[The Poems of Arthur Conan Doyle]]'' (21 september 1922, [[John Murray]] [UK])
* in ''[[The Poems of Arthur Conan Doyle]]'' (14 september 1928, [[John Murray]]'s ''Fiction Library'' [UK])

== A Post-Impressionist ==

Peter Wilson, A.R.A., 
In his small atelier 
Studied Continental Schools, 
Drew by Academic rules. 
So he made his bid for fame 
But no golden answer came, 
For the fashion of his day 
Chanced to set the other way, 
And decadent forms of Art 
Drew the patrons of the mart.

Now this poor reward of merit 
Rankled so in Peter's spirit, 
It was more than he could bear ; 
So one night in mad despair 
He took his canvas for the year 
('Isle of Wight from Southsea Pier'), 
And he hurled it from his sight, 
Hurled it blindly to the night, 
Saw it fall diminuendo 
From the open lattice window, 
Till it landed with a flop 
On the dust-bin's ashen top, 
Where, 'mid damp and rain and grime. 
It remained till morning time.

Then when morning brought reflection 
He was shamed at his dejection, 
And he thought with consternation 
Of his poor ill-used creation ; 
Down he rushed, and found it there 
Lying all exposed and bare, 
Mud-bespattered, spoiled and botched, 
Water sodden, fungus-blotched, 
All the outlines blurred and wavy. 
All the colours turned to gravy. 
Fluids of a dappled hue, 
Blues on red and reds on blue, 
A pea-green mother with her daughter. 
Crazy boats on crazy watfer 
Steering out to who knows what, 
An island or a lobster-pot ?

Oh, the wretched man's despair! 
Was it lost beyond repair? 
Swift he bore it from below, 
Hastened to the studio. 
Where with anxious eyes he studied 
If the ruin, blotched and muddied. 
Could by any human skill 
Be made a normal picture still. 
Thus in most repentant mood 
Unhappy Peter Wilson stood, 
When, with pompous face, self-centred, 
Willoughby the critic entered— 
He of whom it has been said 
He lives a century ahead— 
And sees with his prophetic eye 
The forms which Time will justify, 
A fact which surely must abate 
All longing to reincarnate.

'Ah, Wilson,' said the famous man, 
Turning himself the walls to scan, 
'The same old style of thing I trace, 
Workmanlike but commonplace. 
Believe me, sir, the work that lives 
Must furnish more than Nature gives. 
"The light that never was," you know. 
That is your mark—but here, hullo! 
What's this ? What 's this ? Magnificent ! 
I've wronged you, Wilson ! I repent ! 
A masterpiece ! A perfect thing ! 
What atmosphere ! What colouring ! 
Spanish Armada, is it not ? 
A view of Ryde, no matter what, 
I pledge my critical renown 
That this will be the talk of Town. 
Where did you get those daring hues, 
Those blues on reds, those reds on blues ? 
That pea-green face, that gamboge sky ? 
You Ve far outcried the latest cry— 
Out Monet-ed Monet. I have said 
Our Art was sleeping, but not dead. 
Long have we waited for the Star, 
I watched the skies for it afar. 
The hour has come—and here you are.'

And that is how our artist friend 
Found his struggles at an end, 
And from his little Chelsea flat 
Became the Park Lane plutocrat. 
'Neath his sheltered garden wall 
When the rain begins to fall, 
And the stormy winds do blow, 
You may see them in a row. 
Red effects and lake and yellow 
Getting nicely blurred and mellow. 
With the subtle gauzy mist 
Of the great Impressionist. 
Ask him how he chanced to find 
How to leave the French behind, 
And he answers quick and smart, 
'English climate's best for Art.'

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* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:Complete Works|Back to Complete Works]]
* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Back to Conan Doyle]]

A Post-Impressionist - Revision history

TCDE-Team at 21:05, 4 April 2026

TCDE-Team at 15:34, 21 July 2016