The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-06-04
PROMISING WORK OF
LOUIS
A New Poet Whose characteristics
Are SpOntaneity and Vigorous
Philosophy.

importance. This is a bold statement
to make: but I make it deliberately.
not hastily. Let me say at the start.
however, that | am not fanfaring the
arrival Of the Great American Poet
whose advent We are to be
awaiting with open arms. l do not
proclaim that a new prophet has
arisen in Israel; that a Daniel is come
10 Judgment; that, in other words, we
have in u midst a second Dante or
Chaucer or Shakspere. May not,
then. without seeming utterly rash,
repeat that in my opinion the past
two years has brought forth a young
American bard more worth reading
and watching than any other who has
appeared in a decade?
1t is not over tw~enty-four months
since | first saw the name of Louis
Untermeyer attached to magazine
verses. October was the title of
the piece hat introduced me to Mr..
Jntermeyer. and it interested me so
greatly that l watched with eagerness
for the recurrence of the authors
name. Presently another Untermeyer
poem appeared, and then another, and
@bO4N SoSAA OAC IA1CI was SOl1lCIl1lllS
strikingly attractive to noe.
Who is Louis Untermeyer? For
one thing. he is SO recent an arrival
in the world of letters that he does
not Yet appear in the Who's Who"
The most important facts about his
career are that he was born in New
York City in 1885: has contributed
poems to The Forum. The Delineator.
The Smart Set and Hampton's; and
has published one volume, First
Love.'* a lyrical sequence, 1911.
There are two reasons why / find
Mr.. untermeyer's poetry especially
appealing. In the first place. he ap-
pears to me decidedly the most spon-
taneous of our ounge singers: and
in the second place, if there is any
~present-day American poet, old or
young, who has a more vigorous
philosophy than he, l have not had
the pleasure of reading the work of
that poet.
characteristic of much. if not most,
of our ~present-day magazine verse;
Yet artificiality is the last word that
can properly be applied to Mr.. Inter
meyers writings. Others may sing
for fame or for fifty cents a line; but
the more one reads Untermeyer, the
more one must feel that he sings out
Of love for his song. Notice the fresh,
unalloyed delight with which he be-
gins First Love-:
The linnet is tuning her flute,
The bees are beginning to swarm
And the music of blossom and root
Is t~hrObbing and joyful and warm
! an part Of the lyrical strife,
am one with the voices that sing
While even the stones feel a hunger
for life
In the urge and the clamor O
Spring.
afectation are these ines from tn
same volume: II
Down in the vale the singing bird
have neSted;
! hear them every morning at thei
play
Singing about u windows I'm
molested-
But thou and I are happier thai
they.
Out in the woods I heard the breeze
telling
How glad they were now SprinI
had come to stay;
With light and happy airs tireir song
were swelling
fut thou and l are happier tina
they.
Close by the lake I listened to tn
flowers
Breathing their joy Of every shinin
day:
None happier han we, no joy lik
ours
But thou and l are happier tha
they.
Last night I heard two angels bea
their pinions
And sing Praise God; His smil
and gentle way
Makes US the happiest things in HI
dominiOnS-"
But THOU AMI I ARE HAPPIE]
THAN THEY.
And Mr.. Untermeyer is p~hilosophe