Neither America nor England has been able to do very much in the sort of verse that we have been talking about.

Now this is a very remarkable thing,--because at the English universities beautiful work has been done in Greek or Latin--in poems of a single line, of two lines, of three lines and other very brief measures.

Why can it not be done in English?
I suspect that it is because our English language has not yet become sufficiently perfect, sufficiently flexible, sufficiently melodious to allow of great effect with a very few words.

We can do the thing in Greek or in Latin because either Greek or Latin is a more perfect language.
So much for theory.

I should like to suggest, however, that it is very probable many attempts at these difficult forms of poetry will be attempted by English poets within the next few years.