“I do not know of a more conclusive proof that the wisdom of the East…” — William Canton | V2Melody

“I do not know of a more conclusive proof that the wisdom of the East has not been overrated than the fact that among the Hindoos the Children are known as the Baba log — the Baba folk.”

Delight in the Eastern recognition of children as a revered and powerful folk · Digression on the Small People, Children’s Sayings (1900)

About William Canton

William Canton

27 October 1845–2 May 1926

In the pantheon of Victorian literature, where giants like Tennyson and Browning cast long shadows, there existed quieter voices whose contributions to the literary landscape were no less profound for being more intimate in scope. William Canton, born on a Chinese island to colonial parents and destined to become one…

More by William Canton

Poems by William Canton

More remarks by William Canton

“The golden bridge between the world of childhood and the world of maturity is a sympathetic imagination.”

On the imaginative sympathy needed to understand and write for children · Prose remark (quoted in contemporary notice)

“Yes; a child has a civilising effect. I feel that I am less of a bear than I was. It is with some men as it is with the blackthorn; the little white flower comes out first, and then the whole gnarled faggot breaks into leaf.”

On how fatherhood softens and humanises a man · Letter (in The Invisible Playmate, 1894)

“I never could understand why men should be so insanely set on their first-born being a boy. This of ours, I am glad to say, is a girl. I should have been pleased either way, but as a matter of fact I wanted a girl. I don’t know why, but somehow with a girl one feels that one has provided against the disillusionment, the discomfort, the homelessness of old age and of mental and physical decrepitude.”

Affectionate preference for a daughter as a safeguard against the loneliness of later life · Letter (published in The Invisible Playmate, 1894)