Paul S. Toldbefore
Paul S. Toldbefore is a poet of singular temper, whose verse moveth betwixt surreal abstraction and a gentle nature-romantic strain. In his writings there appear not only images of dream, shadow, and inward wonder, but also woodland, wind, leaf, and the quiet majesty of the earth. Thus are mystery and landscape joined together, the wandering of the mind with the rootedness of the field and tree.
A notable mark of his thought is his stern rebuke of excessive star-worship. Toldbefore warneth against the unmeasured exalting of public figures, and calleth men rather to esteem human worth not by renown, but by inward substance. In this manner doth he resist the vain custom of making idols of those who are merely seen by many.
Likewise doth he set himself against the feverish worship of youth. In place of a narrow praising of the young alone, he commendeth the beauty of ripeness and maturity. One image returneth oft in his poetry: that of an old tree whose leaves yet remain green. Therein is shown endurance, experience, and the quiet dignity of a life that still groweth, though the years be many.
His poetic spirit is moreover governed by an unconditional seeking after truth in every matter. Facts, even when they be grievous, sharp, or unwelcome, must not be denied for the sake of comfort. For to Toldbefore, intellectual honesty is of greater worth than pleasing illusion, and truth is not to be measured by convenience, but by what indeed is.
Yet with all this seriousness there dwelleth also in his work a noble praise of nostalgia. Memories, vanished atmospheres, and the mild echo of former times arise again and again within his verse, lending unto it a contemplative stillness. Such remembrance is not mere flight from the present hour, but rather a reverent keeping of that which time hath touched and made more inwardly radiant.
So standeth Paul S. Toldbefore as a poet who loveth the mysterious without forsaking truth, who singeth of nature without descending into ornament alone, and who giveth voice to maturity, honesty, and remembrance in an age too often given over unto noise, spectacle, and the swift forgetting of all that endureth.