The New York herald., 1922-10-22


and impassioned utterance stirring the
hearts of men and ringing down the ages.
This is the more remarkable because there
certainly seems to be no dearth of poets
if one may believe the reviews and the
publishers advertisements. especially of
young poets whose blood, would sup
pose, would be fired by martial deeds and
by the ideals of liberty for which the war
was fought
OF such poetry as was written England
must be credited with the lions share
American lyrics were either ingoriously
mute or tinkled uncertainty and family.
Only one American produced anything
truly touched with the divine afflatus-and
he was resident of Paris. Alan Seeger's
two glowing poems stand almost alone as
Americas poetic contribution to the world
conflict. Their nearest competitor is
George Edward Woodberry's "Sonnets
Written in the Fall of 1914"
On the English side the record is far
better, though one may doubt whether
anything outside of the sonnet sequence
written by Rupert Brooke was really work
Il
of admirable poems-Masefield's August
1&14," Grenfell's Into Battle" McCrae's
an Flanders Fields" Winifred Letts's
"The Spires of Oxford" few verses by
Ledwidge and Sassoon-and almost all of
Englands poets did the best that was in
them; but even here the record is surpris-
ingly poor. AS one looks through the
many collections of verse motivated by the
war the principal Impression is of drab
mediocrity. If any poems stand out it is
rather because of the Sahara surrounding
them than because of any striking emf
nence of their own.
However, the concern here is not with
English but with American verse, and the
more one reflects upon it the more one is
amazed at it's paucity. Why was it that
the band of bardS who were supposed to be
carrying on a poetic renaissance in our
midst, and whose genius had been so often
mutually acclaimed, wrote either nothing
at all or the thinnest stuff of their careers?
Why was it that not one of them could
dip into his heart and bring forth a sim
cere and stirring song to fire the hearts
of his countrymen? Above all, why was it
innumerable lectures upon poetry and
endless talk about poetry and blatant
boasting about our new interest in and
understanding of poetry and even perhaps
a considerable private reading of poetry
why was it that not one of the four million
men in the ranks of the American army
produced poem?
Heaven knows it was not because they
didn't try Week after week the Stars
aud Stripes, the official newspaper of the
A. E. F., published column or two of
verse contributed by the men in France.
There were something like two millions
of these men. and one would suppose that
three poets among them: but out of the
hundreds of published contributions and
the thousands Of unpublished ones just one
poem. Joyce Kilmer's Rouge Bouquet"
would ever be reprinted on its merits. The
Stars and Stripes was very good news
paper, but its poetry column was lament
able.
Somebody has said that the Union army
won the civil war by its marching songs
John Browns Body" Tramp, Tramp,
Tramp" THE Battle Cry of Freedom" and
so on-doggerel for the most part, COM
posed or at least rearranged by the men in
the ranks as they slogged along but Won
derfully inspiring to dropping spirits and
weary feet. The only song which the world
war inspired was Mr.. Cohan's tawdry
iipole "Oyer There and tbe nreSant uritar