The sun., 1916-12-25

regret that there can never he suc.~
sive volumes carrying on 10 rips fruN.
ago the promise Of this FIRST An. for.
ering. For here Is an authentic yo,.t,
Of poetry. Here Is youth singing NJ. |
cause Of Joy in its heart: the joy a,
discovery. the Joy Of battle. Som.
sensual joys are celebrated. too; WIN
an exuberance Tot unattract,yc.
though II least Of all the young poe,,
qualities would have survived win
him. He IL kin to Keats. lie mu,,
have read Swinburne or Byron MIN
more pleasure than he read. say
Browning or eve the lyric Lord Al.
fred. His book Is not Shelley's.
Rhythm was his natural gesture. !
rhyme not a stumbling block In IN.
way OF his native poetic v~ocabulary |
His pages are eloquent. his imagery
clear and honest; and with the Of. |
f~ervescence Of youth he had the digni,,
not pompous nor stilted. which go., !
with self-respect and respect for Won,
art. Unborn and calamity cultivated
Above all. there arc variety IN the mat, !
ter and ftly changing graces in IN.
manner. And these assertions are no,
the residue OF analytic criticism. In,
note the actual characteristics Of a
book that must he regarded not merely
az a curiosity, "a monument 10 ,hs
poetry that we might have had from
Alan Seeger had he lived, hut as A
welcome and honorable contribution
just as II stands. to the best In the
American poetry Of this day when
the misled maker Of verse and the
mischievous charlatan pirate 10 t.l
heard and caper to be seen" =
Because Seeger was such "a poet and
his poems were such as they are. and
because tho genuinely quickened In.
terest in poetry of Americans Of hi,
day has been &c miscalculated and Oh.
secured by quacks Of form and no
form. this substantial collection Of 10.
d pages Of real poetry must CON
mand attention. even on the part q,
persons who do not ordinarily concern
themselves with such matters. The
technical interest Is completely over.
Swallowed by the human interest, for
here Is a gallant youngster spinning
his own substance into sparkling web,
of beauty.
He was sufficiently American. HI.
father and mother both were of New
England, and he was born in New
York. June %. 1855. His first Ten
years the family lived on Staten Isl.
and. From 1900 To tho boys -four.
teenth year he lived in Mexico. Then
he went TO school at T%arrytoun. H.
spent a year in southern California.
and then entered Harvard, where he
was graduated in 1910. After tpu
restless years in New York, he Wei,
TO Paris and had his hit Of bohemia
He signed into the legion. not TO wag.
gunpowderlcss war AGAINST va
that some poets yearn for. but to Hghi
for freedom, and for his heiovcl
France. And he was a good soldier.
Mr.. William Archer. who writes %
biographical and only slightly critical
introduction TO these poems, hold
high as n formative influence the tim,
spent In Mexico. Its effect shows To-
a tropic warmth in many lines. az
Mexican scenes are the material, fu'
SOME or Seeger's poems. But TO NAM
persons II will be pleasing To- thin,
hat Into the making of this poet went
not least importantly the cooler efec'
OF the years spent on the hills over.
looking this c!ty's wonderful harbor
and the years passed beside our lord,
river. They will choose to sec in a.,
poems a pleasing combination of fcrvo.
and sense.
The death hat Alan Scegcr de-
somewhere In France will gain 70,
his poems an audience OF the curious
and the sentimental. but for those Nho
are genuinely concerned with Anne.
lean manhood and American letters
no such adventitious interest Is needed
to establish the right to recognize
alike OF the poems and the poet. Both
enforce the Justice Of the view held
by SOM OF us who are not too lightly
optimistic. that this country. for al
its d~istresses and manifest deficien
cies. Is lot lacking in either mani.
ness or the appreciation Of beauty.