Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-11
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
]. C.. NJ.

Stanley Braithwaite B. ]. Brimmer
Co.
There is no such thing as art Tor
arts sake, work for works sake, rei-
gion for it's own Sake-nor anything
else under the sun for it's sake alone.
The expectation of reward is an IN
herency of all human effort. Extract
this essential element and activity
of every sort would cease. The entlre
sum of that which we call progress
would not yet have set foot upon any
considerable highway of achievement
if. at the outset, it had been deprived
of the hope of personal returns for
labor expended Therefore, these
word groupings are mere shibboleths
the instrument of the phrase maker,
or the milky way of the nebulous
dreamer. or the decent earnings OF
failure otherwise thrust into the open
naked and ashamed. Failure or every
sort is quickest of all to take shelter
within this austere and unworldly
sanctuary. Failure 'in the arts IS
specially keen toward such refuge ana
among these the seeming general IN
sovency of poetry makes this ART
ready to find comfort in the pleasant
shade of art for arts sake.
Speaking of poetry-its generaiiy as
sumed bankruptcy is. after all, an
appearance rather than a fact. Look
! ing into the matter with interest and
| industry and unbias, it is clear that
current poetry has roots that run
deep enough and spread wide enough
| to sustain a sturdy growth above
ground. Plain, too, that this growth
has a ready power of adaptation 10
surrounding circumstances of general
outlook and aim. Above dispute, also,
! that modern poetry is lusty with
health and keen to adventure far be
yond the limits of pattern and trad1'
ton and equally true that 1t springs
from every layer of life and from
every corner of the land.
! Any one in fair mind would contend
that there Is definite and abundant
promise in the quality and scope OF
current poetry. Nevertheless. 1t Is
certainly not a popular form of liter
airy output. Just why? To be sure
| it is an elusive and f1eeting thing. 1t
! is essentially the voice of the emo
tons, the record of hopes and asp1ra
| tions, of memories and dreams, a
fragile impersonal spirit, not made
| for the rushing impact of the present
| not made for the noise and turmoll
that everywhere prevail. 1t is the
times that are out of joint for any
general acceptance and appreciation
| of poetry, even were this or true
celestial beauty and power.
| No one, or hardly any one, can stop
nowadays for the leisurely movement
of a poets singing. Nor can any one
hear his song in the din OF every
streets daylong hubbub. So. natu-
rally. with conditions working strongly
| against this form of writing. there
is no call to make provisions for its
entertainment. 1t proves finally to
be a matter of merchandise and shop
keeping, as everything else is. Now
and then the book windows display
so very modestly. "a handful OF
songs" "a. sheaf of verse;" but as
rule they are dedicated to ready sell
ers-a natural and proper course.
! X y X X
| Yet. right here in America, there
! is a fine harvest of poetry every year
| surprising as this may seem TO you
| If YOU want to know something OF
| the extent of this and of its quallty
as well, here Is a volume that VIII
meet YOUR desire in a most able com
| petency. Nothing new, this Bra1
/ thwaite Anthology of Magazine Verse
| for here in q Sesquicentennial publ
| cation appears the fourteenth annual
| issue Of collected magazine poetry
| American verse, all of 1t. big book,
| comprehensive in scope. admirable In
selection, able in arrangement, organ
| lied to present an Illuminating sum
mary of American poets and the an
nual product of their combined ef-
! forts. A big, hospitable book that
welcomes the rebel as well as the
poet of tradition, that projects a
!
that spreads the panorama of Ameri.
| can verse in high tribute to the in
| ventive genius of 1926. One feels
! like saving, This is, after all, art for
arts sake" since it did not bring ma
terial profit nor public homage. Still,
| it did bring rewards, those OF mem
| ory captured in words, of a dream
| ieweled in cadence and rhythm. of
! love embodied in song, of a thousand
emotions set out in the best of re-
| turns that poet could receive.
/ And beside the abundant and beau
! tiful poetry gathered in this Sesqu1-
centennial issue of American Maya
| zine Verse there is a body of relevant
/ and useful information. For instance,
| Part I, covering nearly 200 pages, is
| given over to Il discussion of the va
rious aspects of modern American
poetry Each section of the country
is surveyed and studied in respect to
| it's poetry by some one chosen for
| special fitness to carry through such
task The poetry of New England, of
| the West, of the South, and so on
! throughout the United States, each
steps out here under fit guidance In
| it's own special characteristic of local
color and immediate inspiration. Here
racial stock Is seen to enter into the
I CIV M IF
| This, under the competent study APP
| piled to the theme, is found TO emerge
| from it's particular conditionings of
! race and an alien heritage, and to
! become a part of the great common
TfloW of American poetry, and a part
| also of the universal tide of world
song These studies back the poems
| themselves with the history produc-
| ing them and give to the volume as
q whole a true historical value in re-
| spect to our literary development. A
growing content of history, this may
be called, since each succeeding vol
ume will contribute further to this
story of the growth of poetry, just as
the volume preceding this one will
help to complete the real perspective
of the whole theme.
Following the Anthology itself is the
| Yearbook OF American Poetry. This
part of the publication is invaluable
| for reference. Here Is complete in
! dex of poets and poems published in
| American magazines for the year
ending July 81, 1926. Here are re-
| views of poets and of poetry published
i within the same period. Here is a
selected list of books on the subject
| of poetry. Here. also, are various
best" lists-the best books of poems
| between 1912 and 1926, the best books
| Of criticism and theory, the best biog-
| raphies of an American poet. Here
| Is a notation of poetry prizes for a
| period of years, and list of maya