Wisdom which will neither be withstood nor denied by its chosen vessel? For in casting about for this possible solution of a difficult world, our poet first came into definite contact with the Christian idea. The conception of the God-Man, the Word made Flesh, took immediate root in an intellect and heart peculiarly open, peculiarly sensitive to beauty and to truth. Almost half a century later, Coventry Patmore declared that this thought of God incarnate in Jesus Christ had from that moment remained to him "the only reality worth seriously caring for."
Kindred experiences were more disquieting. A visit to relatives in Scotland (devout members of the Free Kirk), much "profitable discourse" and an unsuccessful attempt at extemporaneous prayer, sent Coventry back to London in a revulsion of feeling which almost threatened unbelief. But the early vision remained intact, and excesses born of much zeal and little knowledge gradually made way for a new advance.
Meanwhile Peter George Patmore's parental pride urged his son on to publication, and in 1844 the first little volume, Poems, was issued from Moxon's press. The home circle was, of course, enthusiastic, and even the literary world took some slight notice. "A very interesting young poet has blushed into bloom this season," wrote Robert Browning; Leigh Hunt and the "Cockney" contingent were vastly appreciative; and Bulwer Lytton sent a most discerning letter of sincere praise and admonition. Several of the reviews were, on the other hand, actually abusive, and in his later years Patmore himself came to regard these early poems with undisguised contempt. To the critic of to-day, untempered praise and blame seem alike superfluous. They were simply experimental verses of pathetic and pic-
