No. It's an impudent falsehood. Men did not br Invariably think the newer way Prosaic br mad, inelegant, or what not. br br Was the first pointed arch esteemed a blot br Upon the church? Did anybody say How br modern and how ugly? They did not. br br Plate-armour, or windows glazed, or verse fire-hot br With rhymes from France, or spices from Cathay, br Were these at first a horror? They were not. br br If, then, our present arts, laws, houses, food br All set us hankering after yesterday, br Need this be only an archaising mood? br br Why, any man whose purse has been let blood br By sharpers, when he finds all drained away br Must compare how he stands with how he stood. br br If a quack doctor's breezy ineptitude br Has cost me a leg, must I forget straightway br All that I can't do now, all that I could? br br So, when our guides unanimously decry br The backward glance, I think we can guess why.