ways through them all. Wagner would have it, then, that
just about the time he came into the world, or a little later,
all--nothing less than all--the arts had gone as far as they could
separately, each alone. Art in ancient days, before there were _arts_,
was a fusion of music, dancing, poetry, statuary and painting--the old
drama. That each form of art might develop its full possibilities,
they separated and each went its own way. Wagner was mainly concerned
with music and with drama (poetic drama). Music reached its apogee
with Beethoven. Regardless of the fact that after Beethoven had
introduced words in the Choral Symphony, he went on composing music of
unequalled depth and splendour without words, Wagner insisted that he
felt the impossibility of doing more without words. We hear, said
Wagner, all these sounds going on, this stream of melody, and it is
very delightful to the ear; but unfortunately the highly organized
brain of modern man steps in and insists on knowing what is the
matter. What is the meaning of it all? asks the inquisitive intellect.
Words are necessary to satisfy the intellect. On the other hand,
poetic drama, in its endeavour to express pure feeling, could go no
further than Goethe and Schiller without becoming mere gush--a sort of
music that was not music. Wherefore music must be added. But this
combination of music and poetry was insufficient; we must have the
thing in visible form before the eye--the acted music-drama. Then the
actors must understand statuesque poses and get into them; they must
understand painting and contrive to form themselves, together with the
scenic background and accessories, into pictures. So once again we
should have the perfect fusion of all the arts, and live happily ever
after.

To me there is almost more lunacy in this than in Wagner's political
tenets. It is a pack of fallacies. Here is my answer--

(i) As to an Art which was a perfect fusion of all the arts, it was
never done and never at any time attempted.

(ii) The finest music yet created has no words to it: the meaning is
perfectly clear without words.

(iii) The highest poetic drama needs no music. Without verging on
gush, it affords expression to the deepest and most intense feeling.

(iv) Fine poetry has been written in the dramatic form, though it will
not bear acting and was not intended to be acted. But we may
cheerfully concede that genuine drama ought to be acted.

(v) The function of scener