That which we call a word is but the shadow of our thought; it may mean this to us, but that to another … how many different meanings in as many minds has not this one word “classicism”! Classic, classicism, classicist, have grown to be very vague terms. To those who look for the meaning of a word in its etymology they are impregnated with a fl avor of the academy, they reek with associations with the categorical imperative, the “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not” of the schools. To others they convey an idea of authority based on a survival after long sifting and a gradual recognition of what is fi ne, worthy, and, as the Germans say, mustergiltig [model-worthy]. To others, again, they imply merely something old, that was doubtless admirable once, but has had its day like other dogs, and should by rights be obsolete now. And who shall say that any of these interpretations is wholly without warrant? What we call a “classic” has become so in virtue of being recognized as fi ne and worthy by successive generations, and should be looked upon as a model in its way, as far as it goes; being a model, it naturally has been held up as such by the schools, and departure from its scheme has been deprecated, with more or less reason…. All these meanings of “classic” and “classicism” have truth in them; it is only by holding too fast by one, to the exclusion of the others, that we run the risk of error.