New-York tribune., 1919-12-20
New Poems by Edgar Lee Masters
Poe Reveals Pess;mism, Rough Vigor
And Varied Themes in Starved Rock"

TIL Macmilar osnpnnv. New York
Starved Rec1 'he pom h. gives
its title TO Mr. Nas.ers's new bo k o.
verse, sounds a NOE Of stern and
far-reachine pessinism In lines that
are rugged aAl N iestc for n their
i.regularity the author describes q
grim. somber rock, the scene of the
massacre Of an Indian tribe by their
victorious enemies. According to the
legend the besicgcd Indians let down
buckets from the rock for water, only
20 find the ropes cut by their ruthless
foes. And the poet, rising from his
base theme, sees in STARVED Rock" a
symbol of the perpetual vain thirst of
humanity for the water Of life. The
stern. hopeless message Of the poem is
expire sed in its closing lines:
This is the tragic the symbolic face.
Lee Roc Ter Starved Rock
Round which the eternal turtles drink and
swim
And serpents green and strange,
IS race comes after race,
v az after war
This is the sphinx whose Memnon lips
breathe dirges
To empires wayward star.
And over the races rest less urges
Whose lips unlock
Llfes secret which is vanlshment and
The mood Of Starved Rock" is es-
sentially the mood Of the entire book
Mr.. Masters has the philosophy Of
IIschy MS. OF Shakespeare in Lear"
He looks upon the world as a gorgeous
spectacle, without mercy or reason,
where pitiless gods amuse them selves
with men for time and then kill them
like flies, for their sport" Sometimes s
lie expresses his philosophy in terms
Of plre tragedy, sometimes in great,
sardonic, nirthless bursts Of Spoon
River laughter. The spirit of the
famous Anthology is strong in They'd
Never Know Me Now" where the auto
biography Of d successful! hypocrte is
compressed into few pages of narra-
tive verse The poets spirit Of pogn-
ant, searching skcpticism about the
existence Of a divine ruler of the uni
verse is summed up in the reflections
Of an old negro about the death of his
wife in "Mournin' for Religion:
v,hy didn't Jesus help her for to die
Why did Jesus always pass her byY
Let her break her health down as I WAS
growing poorer, ,..,.
Let her lie and suffer with no medicine
to cure her,
l wouldn't treat a stray dog as Jesus acted
to her.
Mr.. Masters essays wide variety
Of themes; he castigates puritans and
prohibitionists in "Oh, You Sabbatari-
ans he describes q visit to Colonel
Roosevelt in "At Sycamore HIP; In
"The Dream Of 'rasso" he takes up the
romantic story of the love and i'm
prisonment of the Italian poet, story
,ha- hes already attracted the genlus
of Goethe and of Byron, and that has
Been immoItalizcd by List in "a glo-
rious symphonic poem.
There can be little question that Mr..
Masters is a genius. 1t is perhaps
more doubtful whether he is poet.
His rough hewn verse suggests an
acquired art rather than an inherent
gift He does not possess the faculty
Of concentrating intense thought and
burning images within small compass;
much dross is mingled with his gold.
The essential qualities of his style,
nervous vigor mordant irony, narrative
swing, are distinctive qualities of prose
rather than Of poetry.
But, whatever judgment may finally
be passed upon Mr.. Masters as a poet,
his place as powerful and significant
intellectual force in American life Is
already more than secure. In common
with the puritansm that he detests
he has the quality of intense moral
earnestness. This moral earnestness
adds authentic strength and dignity to
his philosophy Of pesslmlsm. And
good dose of pessimism comes far
from amss in modern America: When
so many of our popular publications
professional optimists and uplifters,