New-York tribune., 1915-11-28

Finally we have an example of vers libre in
this fragment from Amy Lowelrs Captured
Goddess:
Over the housetops,
Above the rotating chimney pots,
have seen a shver of amethyst
And blue and cinnamon have fckered
A moment
At the far end OF dusty street"
And then Miss Lowell showed me, just by
way of illustration, what havoc you can play
with cadence verse if you turn it into PROSE
which can be done by simply twisting tho
words about, and so destroying the balance of
the whole This process quite painful,
and is better left to the imagination or per-
sonal experiment Of the reader than rehearsed
here.
Balancel That, 1t seemed, was the secret OF
vers libre.
And is not balance the real secret OF all
poetry?' I asked.
YES" she replied" it is"
Before my brief and joyous half hour came
to conclusion and the jealous es-time
guests in the other apartment claimed Miss
Lowell again, she touched upon other impor
tant things For a moment she returned to
that matter of distinguishing between this new
free stvle in verse and the more orthodox
hackneyed forms.
There is a certain machine" she ssid
which is being perfected. 1t combines in
some way the properties of the dictaphone and
the magic lantern. Sound is thrown in dots
and dashes upon the screen. II Is curious
and quito ingenious device. Some day mean
to experiment with it. / mean to read poetry
of all meters into the machine and
whether, when sound is visualized, | can
arrive any nearer concrete definition OF vers
libre"
do you think" I asked, willing to await
the conclusive evidence of that experiment,
and counting the golden remaining moments,
that this new movement in poetry is, in
way, an endeavor to break away from the
fetters of the stylists those who have always
more or less confined utterance to forms
already established"
Perhaps it is,' she answered. 'It Is true,
there as many varieties Of the vers libre
as there are poets using it. When / write
vers ibre I employ a scheme of versifcation
which is absolutely my own; whereas, should
use blank verse should merely be using tho
style of versihcaton sacred to Shakespeare,
Milton and so many of the worthless who have
had their day. Still, we must not lose track
of the unfortunate fact that great many ex-
ponents of the new school of poetry not
worthy exponents. There are always many
who insist upon reaching out after the bizarre,
the exotic, the queer or grotesque, and the
morbid. These do not catch the real spirit OF
poetry, and it is they who bring down re-
proach, oftentmes, upon a whole school"
81 believe said l, that have one of your
exotics right in my pocket" And pulled out
poem purported to have been written by one
of the coterie revolving about Paul Fort over
in Paris, in those brave days prior to the out
break of hostties I read off the first couple
of lines
THE Shiny glim of her opper ton
Slaned on the opper SEN"
She would not let me read any further, and
I slipped the poem back out of sight.
81 should call that sheer nonesensep she
exclaimed. "And what is more, Paul Fort
himself was never responsible for anything OF
that sort. Paul Fort is genuine p ct. Every
word means something exact Intelligence
courses through each line"
And this latest enthusiasm on her part
brought US finally to the book she has Just
written and which has only within few days
been released by the publishers. 1t is an
essay on six French poets: Emile Verhaeren'
Albert Samain, Remy de Gourmont, Henn de
Regnier. Francis Tanmes and Paul Fort. She
showed me an advance copy. 1t is tnougnt-
full comprehensive and most valuable con- ,
tribution to modern criticism and appreciation.
An excellent instance Of Miss LowelPs new
polvphonic verse style may be drawn from
piece called I'm Castle
"Over the yawning chimney hangs the tog.
Observation-Disclosures the raindrops on
the oaken log which burns, and steams, and
smokes the ceiling beams. Drip-hiss-the
rain never stops
"'PoIyphonic prose-" observed Miss Low
ell. is a term of my own invention. Paul
Fort has as yet given no name to his form.
With M Fort it is almost always question
either of pure prose or pure verse, though both
may appear in one stanza. In my polyphonic
prose seldom employ either completely"
Where do you find inspration1" / asked
her, lingering upon the threshold of leave
taking.
IN life" she replied simply. There is
beauty at the heart OF all phases of life, and
the function of the poet is to sound that
beauty and give it expression"
We shook hands, the door closed, and had