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Full download Principles of Microeconomics 11th Edition Case Test Bank all chapter 2024 pdf
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Principles of Microeconomics, 11e - TB2 (Case/Fair/Oster)
Chapter 11 Input Demand: The Capital Market and the Investment Decision
1) Our economic system produces ________ goods that firms use as inputs to produce future
goods and services.
A) investment
B) capital
C) tangible
D) depreciation
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
2) In which of the following examples does the firm acquire financial capital from households
through a financial intermediary?
A) A firm sells a bond to John Doe.
B) The firm sells a bond to an employee pension fund.
C) The firm uses retained earnings to purchase shares of its stocks owned by individuals.
D) The firm uses retained earnings to purchase shares of its stock owned by a mutual fund
company.
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
1
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
4) Firms that offer to pay for professional development for their employees are investing in
________ capital.
A) human
B) productive
C) social
D) None of the above is correct.
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
5) A motorcycle manufacturer produced 8,000 motorcycles, but sold only 6,500 of them. We
would classify the remaining 1,500 motorcycles as
A) a loss to the firm.
B) part of the firm's tangible capital.
C) part of the firm's intangible capital.
D) a factor of production.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
2
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
7) The measure of a firm's capital stock is the ________ its plant, equipment, inventories, and
intangible assets.
A) value it paid for
B) depreciable value of
C) current market value of
D) quantity of
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
9) A company requires that all new employees become certified in using Microsoft Office . This
investment is in ________ capital.
A) tangible
B) financial
C) human
D) productive
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
3
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
10) ________ is an example of intangible capital.
A) Inventory
B) "Goodwill"
C) Computer software
D) A public library
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
12) Participating in a seminar that helps to improve your performance at work represents an
investment in your ________ capital.
A) human
B) social
C) tangible
D) financial
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
4
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
13) Capital goods yield benefits
A) as soon as the investment decision is made.
B) before they are put to use.
C) over their life spans.
D) in the present only.
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
14) Economists use the term ________ to refer to the creation of new capital.
A) investment
B) entrepreneurship
C) depreciation
D) finance
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
15) As economists use the term, building a new construction vacation home is an example of
A) household investment.
B) business depreciation.
C) infrastructure investment.
D) social capital investment.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
5
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
17) The decline in the economic value of an asset over time is called
A) disinvestment.
B) a financial loss.
C) depreciation.
D) intangible capital.
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
6
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
20) Related to the Economics in Practice on page 235: India's plan to spend more than 8 billion
dollars U.S. to improve its road network is best described as an example of investment in
A) intangible capital.
B) human capital.
C) infrastructure.
D) tangible capital.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation: Economics in Practice
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
21) Related to the Economics in Practice on page 236: In 2010, Tesla Motors decided to become
a public company by offering shares of stock to the public on a stock exchange. The process of
doing this is called
A) a stock split.
B) capital gains.
C) an intangible capital investment.
D) an initial public offering.
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation: Economics in Practice
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
22) Capital stock is defined as the retail value that was paid for a firm's productive assets.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
23) Those goods produced by the economic system that are used as inputs in the production of
future goods and services are known as inventory.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
7
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
24) Capital stock is the current market value of all outstanding shares of stock issued by a
company.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
25) The funds that firms use to buy capital come directly or indirectly from the government.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
28) The value of capital is based only on the value of goods and services that it currently
produces.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
8
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
29) Capital stock decreases with investment and increases with depreciation.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
1) In the ________ market, households supply their savings to firms that demand funds in order
to buy capital goods.
A) money
B) savings
C) investment
D) capital
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
3) Which of the following are examples of institutions that economists would classify as
belonging to the financial capital market?
A) the stock market
B) banks
C) savings and loans
D) all of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Fact
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
9
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
4) The two most important forms of ________ income are interest and profits.
A) rental
B) tax-free
C) intangible
D) capital
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Fact
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
6) You lend a friend $10,000 for a year. At the end of the year your friend agrees to pay you
$10,700. The interest rate on this loan is
A) 0.07%.
B) 7.00%.
C) 107%.
D) indeterminate from this information.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
10
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
7) You lend a friend $20,000 for a year. At the end of the year your friend agrees to pay you
$21,100. The interest rate on this loan is
A) 4.50%.
B) 5.00%.
C) 5.50%.
D) indeterminate from this information.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
8) You lend your sister's daughter $2,000 for a year. If at the end of the year she pays you
$2,180, the interest rate you are charging her is
A) 1.1%.
B) 9%.
C) 10%.
D) 20%.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
9) You lend a friend $10,000 for a year at an annual interest rate of 15%. At the end of the year
your friend must pay you ________ in interest.
A) $133
B) $750
C) $1,500
D) $3,000
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
11
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
10) You lend a friend $20,000 for a year at an annual interest rate of 5%. At the end of the year
your friend must pay you ________ in interest.
A) $133
B) $750
C) $1,000
D) $1,900
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
11) You agree to lend ________ to a friend for a year at an annual interest rate of 10%. At the
end of the year your friend pays you $600 in interest.
A) $60
B) $660
C) $6,000
D) $6,600
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
12) You use $40,000 of your own money to start a catering business. During the first year you
earn a 5% return on that investment. If the current interest rate on savings is 8%, you earn an
economic profit of
A) -$1,200.
B) $1,200.
C) $2,000.
D) $3,200.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
12
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
13) You use $50,000 of your own money to start an espresso stand. During the first year you
earn a 10% return on that investment. If the current interest rate on savings is 8%, you earn an
economic profit of
A) -$4,000.
B) $1,000.
C) $4,000.
D) $5,000.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
14) You use $3,000 of your own money to start a dog-sitting service. During the first year you
earn a 10% return on your investment. If the current interest rate on savings is 7%, you earn an
economic profit of
A) -$90.
B) $90.
C) $210.
D) $300.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
15) You use $5,000 of your own money to start a dog-walking business. During the first year
you earn a 5% return on your investment. If the current interest rate on savings is 8%, you earn
an economic profit of
A) -$150.
B) $150.
C) $250.
D) $400.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
13
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
16) Firms' ability to invest in capital is limited by households'
A) investment in stock.
B) savings decisions.
C) supply of land.
D) All of the above are correct.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
17) As a holder of ________, you are entitled to a portion of the issuing party's profits.
A) a corporate bond
B) a share of common stock
C) a government bond
D) a bank loan
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Fact
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
18) When you use your own savings to start a business, you make a profit only after you cover
the ________ to start your business.
A) total amount of savings used
B) initial start-up costs
C) opportunity cost of using your savings
D) first-year's total costs
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
14
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
19) Assume that the current interest rate is 7%. You invest $10,000 of your own money in a
restaurant that you own and operate. The normal return on this investment is
A) $0, as you used your own money.
B) $700, as that is the interest forgone by not lending the money to someone else at a 7% interest
rate.
C) $10,000, as that is the amount invested in the restaurant.
D) $10,700, the amount invested plus the interest charge on the investment.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
20) You borrow $20,000 at an interest rate of 6% to open Candy Dan's, a gourmet sweet shop.
You will earn an economic profit if the return on your investment is
A) between 0 and 6%.
B) 6%.
C) greater than 6%.
D) 10% or greater.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
21) You borrow $20,000 at an interest rate of 6% to open Candy Dan's, a gourmet sweet shop. If
the return on your investment is ________, then you will earn an economic loss.
A) less than 6%
B) exactly 6%
C) greater than 6%
D) It is indeterminate from the given information.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
15
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
22) A manufacturing company designs and produces an incredibly efficient solar heating system
for large buildings and earns very large profits on it. Which of the following is true?
A) The profits this firm earns are a return for an innovation.
B) The profits this firm earns aren't deserved, as the firm did not take any risks.
C) This firm must not be in a competitive market if it was able to earn a profit.
D) both A and C
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
23) A fund that takes household savings and puts them into ________ projects in exchange for a
share of the profits if the new business succeeds is a venture capital fund.
A) government
B) zero-risk
C) low-risk
D) high-risk
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
16
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
25) Boeing decides to build a new plant using retained earnings; then
A) Boeing's tangible capital will increase as a result.
B) Boeing is engaging in saving on behalf of its shareholders.
C) Boeing's capital stock increases as a result of this investment.
D) All of the above are correct.
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
26) You paid $140 for a biology textbook at the beginning of the semester. At the end of the
semester you sell the textbook for $85. The textbook has depreciated
A) $140.00.
B) $85.00.
C) $55.00.
D) an indeterminate amount based on this information.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
17
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
28) Related to the Economics in Practice on page 241: In the United States, more mature
companies often have a larger percentage of stock held by ________ than do newer companies,
and newer companies often have a larger percentage of stock held by ________ than do more
mature companies.
A) institutions; insiders
B) foreign governments; institutions
C) insiders; foreign governments
D) the U.S. government; foreign governments
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Topic: The Capital Market: Economics in Practice
Skill: Fact
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
29) The payments made for the use of money are called investment.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Definition
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
18
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
33) The level of household savings impacts the level of firm investment.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
34) Owning a corporate bond entitles the bondholder to a portion of the firm's profits.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
Topic: The Capital Market
Skill: Fact
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
11.3 The Demand for New Capital and the Investment Decision
1) You borrow $75,000 at an interest rate of 3% to open Spinners, a bicycle shop. You will earn
an economic profit if the return on your investment is
A) greater than 3%.
B) 3%.
C) between 0 and 3%.
D) 6% or less.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: The Demand for New Capital and the Investment Decision
Skill: Analytical
AACSB: Analytic Skills
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
19
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
2) When making the decision to invest, the evaluation of the expected flow of future productive
services that the investment project will yield is an important consideration. This statement is
accurate for firms
A) but not for governments and households.
B) and governments, but not for households.
C) and households, but not for governments.
D) and households and governments.
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Topic: The Demand for New Capital and the Investment Decision
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
3) Which of the following is false about the expected flow of future benefits?
A) Firms must rely on forecasts of expected future benefits to make sensible investment
decisions.
B) Households, business firms, and governments all evaluate the expected flow of benefits when
making investment decisions.
C) If future benefits are overestimated by the firm, the firm will under invest in capital.
D) Only those investment projects in the economy that are expected to yield a rate of return
higher than the market interest rate will be funded.
Answer: C
Diff: 3
Topic: The Demand for New Capital and the Investment Decision
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
4) If business leaders expect the new Congress to lower the corporate profits tax, most likely this
will cause business firms, ceteris paribus, to
A) plan to decrease investment in the future to compensate for the lower tax rate.
B) decrease investment because they would expect lower benefits from investment.
C) not change their investment plans because lower corporate profit taxes will not change the
demand for their product.
D) increase investment because the lower corporate profits tax will increase the return on any
investment.
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Topic: The Demand for New Capital and the Investment Decision
Skill: Conceptual
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Learning Outcome: Micro-18
20
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Michael Field
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.
Language: English
1. EMERSON’S ESSAYS
First Series
2. EMERSON’S ESSAYS
Second Series
3. THE POETRY OF EARTH
A Nature Anthology
4. PARADISE LOST
John Milton
5. THE ESSAYS OF ELIA
Charles Lamb
6. THE THOUGHTS OF MARCUS AURELIUS
ANTONINUS
George Long
7. REPRESENTATIVE MEN
R. W. Emerson
8. ENGLISH TRAITS
R. W. Emerson
9. LAST ESSAYS OF ELIA
Charles Lamb
10. PARADISE REGAINED AND MINOR POEMS
John Milton
11. SARTOR RESARTUS
Thomas Carlyle
12. THE BOOK OF EPICTETUS
The Enchiridion, with Chapters from the Discourses,
etc. Translated by Elizabeth Carter. Edited by T. W.
Rolleston.
13. THE CONDUCT OF LIFE
R. W. Emerson
14. NATURE: ADDRESSES AND LECTURES
R. W. Emerson
15. THE ENGLISH HUMOURISTS OF THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
W. M. Thackeray
16. DAY-DREAMS OF A SCHOOLMASTER
D’Arcy W. Thompson
17. ON HEROES AND HERO-WORSHIP
Thomas Carlyle
18. TALES IN PROSE AND VERSE
Bret Harte
19. LEAVES OF GRASS
Walt Whitman
20. HAZLITT’S ESSAYS
21. KARMA AND OTHER ESSAYS
Lafcadio Hearn
22. THE GOLDEN BOOK OF ENGLISH SONNETS
Edited by William Robertson
Further volumes will be announced later
MICHAEL FIELD
BY MARY STURGEON
MICHAEL
FIELD
BY MARY STURGEON
LONDON: GEORGE G.
HARRAP & CO. LTD.
2-3 PORTSMOUTH ST. KINGSWAY
& AT CALCUTTA AND SYDNEY
S OME years ago the writer of this book discovered to herself the work of
Michael Field, with fresh delight at every step of her adventure through
the lyrics, the tragedies, and later devotional poems. But she was
amazed to find that no one seemed to have heard about this large body of
fine poetry; and she longed to spread the news, even before the further
knowledge was gained that the life of Michael Field had itself been epical
in romance and heroism. Then the theme was irresistible.
But although it has been a joy to try to retrieve something of this life and
work from the limbo into which it appeared to be slipping, the matter may
wear anything but a joyful aspect to all the long-suffering ones who were
ruthlessly laid under tribute. The author remembers guiltily the many
friends of the poets whom she has harried, and kindly library staffs (in
particular at the Bodleian) who gave generous and patient help. To each one
she offers sincere gratitude; and though it is impossible to name them all,
she desires especially to record her debt to Mr Sturge Moore and Miss
Fortey; Father Vincent McNabb, Mrs Berenson, and Mr Charles Ricketts;
Dr Grenfell, Sir Herbert Warren, and Mr and Mrs Algernon Warren; Miss S.
J. Tanner, Mr Havelock Ellis and Miss Louie Ellis; the Misses Sturge;
Professor F. Brooks and the Rev. C. L. Bradley; Professor and Mrs William
Rothenstein; Mr Gordon Bottomley and Mr Arthur Symons—;who will all
understand her regret that this book is so unworthy a tribute to their friend
and that the scheme of it, designed primarily to introduce the poetry of
Michael Field, rendered impossible a fuller use of the material for a Life
which they supplied.
To the courtesy of Mr Sydney C. Cockerell, the Director of the
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the author owes the copy of Edith
Cooper’s portrait. This portrait is a miniature set in a jewelled pendant (both
drawing and setting the work of Mr Charles Ricketts) which was
bequeathed to the Fitzwilliam Museum on the death of Katharine Bradley.
Warm thanks are also tendered to the publishers who have kindly given
permission to use extracts from the poets’ works, including Messrs G. Bell
and Sons, the Vale Press, the Poetry Bookshop (for Borgia, Queen
Mariamne, Deirdre, and In the Name of Time); to Mr T. Fisher Unwin,
Messrs Sands and Company, and Mr Eveleigh Nash; and to Mr Heinemann
for Mr Arthur Symons’s poem At Fontainebleau.
A Bibliography is appended of all the Michael Field books which have
been published to date; but there still remain some unpublished MSS.
MARY STURGEON
Oxford
November 1921
CONTENTS
I. BIOGRAPHICAL 13
II. THE LYRICS 65
III. THE TRAGEDIES—;I 114
IV. THE TRAGEDIES—;II 162
V. THE TRAGEDIES—;III 197
BIBLIOGRAPHY 245
Three stanzas describe the woodbine and the myrtles outside the window,
and the cushioned settee inside. Then:
Books I have of long ago
And to-day; I shall not know
Some, unless thou read them, so
Their excelling
Music needs thy voice’s flow:
It is clear from all the testimony that Katharine and Edith were
extremely serious persons in those first years at Stoke Bishop, a fact which
seems to have borne rather hard on the young men of their acquaintance.
Thus, a member of their college, launching a small conversational craft with
a light phrase, might have his barque swamped by the inquiry of one who
really wanted to know: “Which do you truly think is the greater poem, the
Iliad or the Odyssey?” It was an era when Higher Education and Women’s
Rights and Anti-Vivisection were being indignantly championed, and when
‘æsthetic dress’ was being very consciously worn—;all by the same kind of
people. Katharine and Edith were of that kind. They joined the debating
society of the college and plunged into the questions of the moment. They
spoke eloquently in favour of the suffrage for women, and were deeply
interested in ethical matters. They were devotees of reason, and would
subscribe to no creed. Katharine was a prime mover of the Anti-Vivisection
Society in Clifton, and was its secretary till 1887. She was, too, in
correspondence with Ruskin, was strongly influenced by him in moral and
artistic questions, and was a companion of the Guild of St George—;though
that was as far as she ever went in Ruskinian economics. Both of the friends
adored pictures, worked at water-colour drawing, wore wonderful flowing
garments in ‘art’ colours, and dressed their hair in a loose knot at the nape
of the neck.
But more than all that, they were already dedicated to poetry, and sworn
in fellowship. That was in secret, however. Student friends might guess,
thrillingly, but no one had yet been told that Katharine had published in
1875 a volume of lyrics which she signed as Arran Leigh, nor that Edith
had timidly produced for her fellow’s inspection, as the experiment of a girl
of sixteen, several scenes of a powerful tragedy; nor that the two of them
together were at that moment working on their Bellerophôn (with the
accent, please), which they published in 1881, signed “Arran and Isla
Leigh.” But such portentous facts kept them very grave; and their solemnity
naturally provoked the mirth of the irreverent, especially of undergraduate
friends down from Oxford, who knew something on their own account
about æsthetic crazes and the leaders of them. Thus a certain Herbert
Warren came down during one vacation and poked bracing fun at them. The
story makes one suppose that he must have disliked the colour blue in
women and the colour green in every one—;possibly because he was then
in his own salad days. For when somebody mischievously asked him in
Katharine’s presence, “Who are this æsthetic crowd?” he promptly replied,
“They’re people as green as their dresses.”
But their women friends were more favourably impressed. To them the
two eager girls who walked over the downs for lectures every morning were
persons of a certain distinction who, despite careless hair and untidy feet,
could be “perfectly fascinating.” Their manner of speech had been shaped
by old books, and was a little archaic. Later it became a “mighty jargon,”
understood only of the initiate. Their style of dress was daringly clinging
and graceful in an age of ugly protuberances. And though these things
might suggest a pose to the satirical, they were very attractive to the
ingenuous, who saw them simply as the naïve signs they were of budding
individuality. Their friendship, too, was clearly on the grand scale and in the
romantic manner. They were, indeed, absorbed in each other to an extent
which exasperated those who would have liked to engage the affections of
one or the other in another direction. Yet they were companionable souls in
a sympathetic circle, Katharine with abounding vitality and love of fun and
keen joy in life, expansive and forthcoming despite an occasional
haughtiness of manner; and Edith lighting up more slowly, to a rarer, finer,
more delicate exaltation.
Yet, in spite of many friends and a genuine interest in affairs, one
perceives that they constantly gave a sense of seclusion from life, of natures
set a little way apart. It was an impression conveyed unwittingly, and in
spite of themselves; and one is reminded by it of their sonnet called The
Poet, written, I believe, about this time, but not published until 1907, in
Wild Honey:
* * *
‘Michael Field’ did not come into existence until the publication of
Callirrhoë in 1884. The poets put behind them, as experimental work, the
two volumes which they had already published, and began afresh, changing
their pen-names the better to close the past. The pseudonym under which
they now hid themselves was chosen somewhat arbitrarily, ‘Michael’
because they liked the name and its associations, ‘Field’ because it went
well with ‘Michael.’ But it is true also that they had a great admiration for
the work of William Michael Rossetti, whom, Katharine says in one of her
letters, they regarded as “a kind of god-father”; and it is true, too, that
‘Field’ had been an old nickname of Edith. Their family indulged freely in
pet names, and Edith was teased by a nurse, from her boyish appearance
during a fever in Dresden, as the “little Heinrich.” Thenceforth she became
Henry for Katharine, and Katharine was Michael to her and to their
intimates.
Callirrhoë was well received, and went to a second edition in November
of the same year. It is amusing now to read the praises that were lavished
upon ‘Mr Field’ upon his first appearance. Thus the Saturday Review talked