Word: poems
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...that the author was perhaps groping for something that he had not quite found. Also, at the very end the shifting of emphasis to the part fate has played in the life of Bruce's father would seem to be a bit extraneous. Taken as a whole, however, the poem is a superlative production showing a sustained power and maturity in addition to its real poetic beauty...
...Serpent in the Cloud" is in my opinion a work which approaches the ideal of true poetry far more closely than those subjective excrescences to be found among the minor lyricists. This is a long narrative poem comparable in stature if not in epic quality with "John Brown's Body". The story is the simple theme of the love of two young people who are separated by obstacles which are overcome in their consummation. The obstacles this time are self imposed by the young man, Bruce Herrick, who fears that his blood is tainted with insanity. Rose, the girl...
This strong yet simple motif is what gives the piece a backbone and makes of it, a coherent entity. Such long narrative poems must be more than a collection of vivid images to make a lasting impression on the reader. The undiscriminating bunches of images and short imaginative flights so often strung into a narrative of sorts would be much better chopped up into separate lyrics. They need to be strongly and vigorously subordinated to the central motif so that they do not stand out as an occasional flashing jewel on a wire but, as Mr. Morrison succeeds so well...
...memorial to a member of the Harvard Class of 1877 who was not only a poet of distinction and an excellent critic, but also a leading exponent of Shelley among American men of letters. Curiously enough, George Woodberry as Class poet instilled so many modernistic ideas in his poem that its reading was finally prohibited. He held a very significant place in the annals of higher education through his influence during ten years of teaching at Columbia
...instance the compiler, Mr. Wolfe, has done more than merely gather the material for an anthology. He has given his apologia in a long preface and before each section, as for instance, the Sportsman's Winter, Countryman's Winter, Reveller's and Fireside Winter, he has contributed an introductory poem of his own. This thread of the poet and compiler's personality running through the book serves to unify the whole and give it a distinctive flavor, so often lacking in the usual run of anthologies...