The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-02-07
LITERARY GOSSIP
OF THE OLD WORLD
Lodging House for Use of
Poets Only
POETRY BOOKSHOP"
! Verse of Whole World Will Be on Sale.
Expert Readers viii Declaim
Verse to Purchasers-Prefers
American Noyelists
POETRY BOOKSHOP"

London, February 6.-(Speeial.l- Poetry
nurveyed and poets put up This is
pleasantly alliterative proclamation that
might be posted up over the portals-to
go on with "ps"-of something really
unique in a way of bookshop which be-
fore these lines have been printed, will
have been opened in London.
Leave prose behind all ye who enter
here" might appropriately be added, for
the new Poetry Bookshop" or Poetry
House." as it will be called, which Is
situated in Devonshire street. Bloomsbury
and which will be opened next week by
that distinguished versiier, Prof. Henry
Newbolt will deal in the outpourings OF
bards. and in no other form of litera-
ture The poetry of the whole world will
-be on sale there, and one will have only
to mention the name of versifer, wheth-
er he sings in ST. Johns Wood. in KAN
s kakee, or in Nagasald. to have COM
plete set of his works placed before one
and to hear excerpts read from them, II
the would-be purchaser is so disposed,
by an expert elocutionist During the pro-
cess of selection, moreover, the customer
may rest at his Tor herr ease on lux
urious settle of the pre-Victorian pat
tern for the Poetry House. is the last
word in artistic cosiness, having been de-
signed by Romney Green, ON eighteenth
century lines.
TO be an almost ideal poetry shop,
however, is only one of the destined
functions of Poetry House The man
who has planned and will carry it on is
q poet himself and no slonch of poet
either His name is Harold Munro, and
he has published three volumes of poetry
so far, extracts from which have been
deemed by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
worthy of place in the New Oxford
E Anthology, which "a has edited. Munro
3 Is an enthusiastic on the subject of poetry
and some time ago started monthly
devoted to eulogy and expression OF the
art which is called the Poetry Review.
Until a while back he edited IT at Dun
mow--famous for the bitches of bacon
given there to folk who can prove that
they are happy though married-but a
short time ago, he decided to give the
Review London home. Meanwhile he
reflected that there was small use IN
urging the public TO read the world =
poetry unless there was some place where
the public could be- sure of obtaining 1t
(which one can't at the ordinary book
shop, and thus came the idea of COM
bining poetry-factory with poetry shop,
which Munro expressed to me as follows:
I'VE want poetry to become articulate.
= Poetry is meant to be heard not to be
read. There are hundreds of people who
do not care for poetry simply because 1t
has never been brought before them in
the right way. In our poetry bookshop
f a purchaser is at loss what to buy,
we will advise him, or he can hear the
poetry he wishes to buy read aloud by
someone who loves and understands it.
s Or he can come to our poetry recitals,
which will be held twice week, to which
Ill interested will be welcome. We hope
that the poetry house will do for poetry
what concerts do for music and art ex-
nibitions for painting
Now however. for the most picturesque
feature of all in connection with the
: toetry house. Not content with booming
poetry and selling the works of poet1
Munro is prepared to take bards as LODI
gers Yes, actually, he is going TO let
apartments"-to poets only. 1t seems
that when he had fitted up his poetic
.learing house on the ground floor of
the building in Deyonshire street. and
established his editorial sanctum on the