The Washington herald., 1922-03-12
THE COLLECTED POEMS OF
EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBIN
In..ilIa CO

There is probably no America n
poet who has had so little super
fetal popularity and yet has a
greater record Of actual achieve
ment than Edwin Arlington Robin
son. This may be because he stands
quite alone, having no traffic with
the shouting disciples of free verse
and less with the ordinary lyric
songsters OF the magazines. He re-
sorts to no tricks, but has developed
individual. strong verse. based al
ways on the old forms that some
people call worn-out. but which are
in this case, certainly perfectly ex-
pressive OF modern thought and
feeling. He has nothing to do. also,
with superficialities. Mere outward
appearances mean nothing to him
except as they express moods and
feelings. The result is that strength,
dignity, and beauty that have given
him the title in some>quarters of
the greatest living American poet
He has since 1880 published eight
volumes OF verses and in this book
they are collected Tor the first time.
They range all the way from the
short poems of Children OF the
Night" to the long narratives of
Merlin" and 'Lancelot." and they
all reveal an astonishing integrity
of purpose. Mr.. Robinson seems to
be the only one of our poets who is
so sure of himself that he never eX-
periments. There is a finished quail
ity in everything he writes. And as
a critic said OF him recently, 1T is
a testimonial to the genius of the
writer that's classification In
which early work is deliberately
set beside latest accomplishments
does not cause the poet to suffer.
The genuine of Edwin Arlington
Robinson sprang full-grown from
The Children OF the Night 1880
1s97). His growth has been one
of perfection, OF refining more sub
tIy and distinetively the gold that
was always there" Certainly it is
hard to pick the high spots and the
low spots in his work. because OF
its consistency. For ourselves. we
have a lingering fondness for The
Man Against the Sky" simply be-
cause II was that poem that intro
duced US to Mr.. Robinson. And We
have never enjoyed Merlin" and
'Lancelot." for instance, so much
as. say, Isaac and Archibald"-
AT the end of an hours walking
after that
The Cottage of old Archibald ap-
peared.
Little and white and high on a
smooth round hill
It stood. with hackmatacks and ap-
pie trees
Before It. and a big barn-roof be-
And over the pIaee-trses. house.
fields, and all
Hovered an air Of still simplicity
And a fragrance Of old summers
the old style
That lives the while IL passes"
But these are entirely personal
precerenceS and there will be those
undoubtedly who may think that
we are quite wrong. The thing
that really interests US, however,
about the volume as we look 10
over. is that haunting question.
why isn't Robinson POPULAR
why Is II that whereas the ordinary
reader may know Robert Frost and
Amy Lowell, he often does not
know Robfnsonr- The answer may
be that because Frost expressed a
definite sectional spirit and Amy
Lowell took up a new cult. they
were easily ticketed, while Robin
son, being more universal. is harder
to classify, and we are a nation
that loves to pigeon-hole its writers
for easy reference. But the true
answer Is, We fear, that We are not
a nation of poetry-readers. that we
haven't the time. or think we
haven't. for long verse, and so take
our poetry. when we take II at all,
in the. shortest lyric form. 1t is to
be hoped. however. that this volume
of his collected poems will attract
readers to Robinson and teach a
greater number of Americans than
are aware of il at present the dig
nifty, beauty. and above all. the in
dividuality of his verse.
aPLUn PUDDING" by Christopher
Morey. Doubleday. Page & Coz
We are never quite sure about
Christopher Morley That is, we
are never sure how much we really
like his work. II Is enjoyable there
is mo- doubt about that, and he has
pleasant way OF laughing and
making you laugh. the while you
warm n good deal to the much
uaIigned human race. And vet
SAeIl. there Is so much sameness
about II. so much repetition of
msnnerisrls. that VIC begin to feel
good deal as We would about a
composer who wrote nothing but
variations on the same tune. Plum
Pudding contains charming essays