Evening star., 1947-08-03


young Irishman, Dennis Devlin,
whose first book, 'Lough Derg"
(Reynal k Hitchcock) has just
been issued in this country.
Devlin is likewise q poet Of in
tellectual passion.
Noteworthy among the other
newer poets whose work COM
mands attention this year Il
Henry Trease, the English au-
thor, whose revolt against the
schools Of spender and Auden
has been consummated in his
somewhat hammered collected
Poems" Back in America, the
Yale Series Of Younger Poets has
brought to the fore Family
Circle" by Eve Merriam, . clear
eyed reporter Of life.
The League to support Poetry
has noticed, by its yearly Award.
the sensitive and carefully
wrought work of Eve Triem in
her Parade Of Doves" Owen
Dodson, the Negro writer. has
spoken vigorously and honestly
for himself In his book Power
full Long Ladder" Josephine
Miles has continued her concise,
staccato observations in Local
Measures" Byron Vazakas has
received for his first book,
*Transfigured Night" the en-
thusiastic accolade Of William
Carlos Williams.
A surprising elimination to the
poetic year has come in book Of
one of the most familiar, at least
by name, and most discussed Of
all contemporary poets, e. e.
Cummings. For Christmas, 1916,
Cummings has abandoned his
more abtruse methods and
written straightforwardly of
what weighs upon his heart, His
new book, Santa Claus" Is SUBJ
titled "A Morality" Though this
brief play In verse runs only for
a few pages, Cummings touches
In it more accurately, more pene-
tratingly the sore spots of our
civilization than many analytical
historians have done.
His characters are Santa Claus,
Death, a Mob, a Woman and q
Child. The play opens in medic
val style with dialogue between
Santa CLAUS and Death. Santa
Claus is bewildered because peo-
pie do not accept his gifts:
Santa Claus: "But, surely noth-
ing could be simpler than taking
something which is freely Of
fered?"
Death: You're speaking of q
true or actual world. Imagine.
if you can, a world so blurred
that its inhabitants are one an
other-an idiotic monster of ne
cation: SO timid, 1t would rather
starve itself eternally than run
the risk of choking world
SO lazy that it cannot dream; so
blind, it worships its own ugli-
ness: world SO false, so trivial,
SO unso, phantoms are solid by
comparison. But no-you can't
imagine such world"
Santa Claus: "Any more than
such a world could imagine me-"
Death then explains to his
companion that he, Santa Claus,
is offering the world under
standing" but it only wants
knowledge" Science" He sug-
gests that Santa Claus try to sell
the people "wheelmine"-
(Which, it turns out, has no exist
ence). At first the Mob is wild
with excitement over the Wheel
mine and then it grows furious
with rage because there is rumor
of an accident in the wheelmine.
Meanwhile, the saint has
changed masks with Death, who
fancies that he would be more
attractive to women in the
others guise. The Mob threatens
to kill Santa Claus, but actually
hangs Death. The Woman turns
to Santa Claus in Deaths mask
because:
knowledge has taken love out of
the 1DOrld
And all the loorld is joyless, joy
less, ioyless.
The Woman wants death. But
revelation comes when Santa
Claus removes Deaths mask and
shows his inner, youthful self.
Thereafter the Woman and the