Explore "Connoisseurs" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
"No," said the Cultured Critic, gazing haughtily / Whereon some untrained brush had wandered naughtily, / From canons free; / "Work such as this lacks value and perspective, / Has no real feeling,-inner or reflective,- / Does not appeal to me."
Then quoth the vulgar, knowing art but meagrely, / Their unbesought opinions airing eagerly, / "Why, ain't that flat? " / Voicing their ignorance all unconcernedly, / Saying of what the Critic scored so learnedly, / "I don't like that!"
The Critic now vouchsafed approval sparingly / Of what some genius had attempted daringly, / "This fellow tries; / He handles his conception frankly, feelingly. / Such work as this, done strongly and appealingly, / I recognize."
The vulgar, gazing widely and unknowingly, / Still volunteered their cheap impressions flowingly, / "Oh, come and see! " / But all that they could say of art's reality / Was this poor voice of poorer personality, / "Now, that suits me! "