SOURCE: "The Poetry of Hilaire Belloc," in Joyce Kilmer. Volume Two: The Prose Works, edited by Robert Cortes Holliday, Kennikat Press, 1918, pp. 62-77.

In the following essay, Kilmer terms Belloc as a natural poet better known for his prose.

Far from the poets being astray in prose-writing (said Francis Thompson), it might plausibly be contended that English prose, as an art, is but a secondary stream of the Pierian fount, and owes its very origin to the poets. The first writer one remembers with whom prose became an art was Sir Philip Sidney. And Sidney was a poet.

This quotation is relevant to a consideration of Hilaire Belloc, because Belloc is a poet who happens to be known chiefly for his prose. His Danton and Robespierre have been read by every intelligent student of French history, his Path to Rome, that most high-spirited and engaging of travel books...