Evening star., 1947-07-27
A Notive,Poet
Sings mP Praise
OfMoineCoost
YANKEE COAST
BY Robert P. Tristram Coffin
Macmillan, 81
Reviewed by
HENRY LYON.

A man writing OF subject dear
to his heart imparts a special en-
thusiasm to the factual page. Such
a writer as Mr.. Coffin, who is prac-
ticed craftsman, makes it most
difficult for the reviewer to properly
evaluate and weigh the exposition by
the test of thoroughness.
Mr.. Coffin loves Maine. One gets
the impression that he suffers when
away and that the very thought OF
taking a trip causes him mental
anguish. Coupled with this lusty
loyalty is a special gift for rhapso-
dizing and gliding the commonplace
with poetic glamour.
However, aware as one is OF this
nighpowered artistry, 1t does not de-
tract in any sense from the enjoy
ment OF reading this book. 1t en-
hances the pleasure because of its
vigor. There is no plot. Thus un-
encountered, these essays and de-
scriptlve hymns come off as pure
sheen, full of glitter and allure.
Each episode is made the more pow
erful because the author is thor
oughiy familiar with the geography,
which means the coast of Maine, and
the people. The feeling of authority
Is constantly impaired by means of
biographical references. Here is a
native talking. guide well posted
on history. He takes you on pro-
tracted tour and does not allow your
interest to flag. The revelation is
peppered with gossipy bits of lore
about places and people.
A Sequel to Kennebec'
Yankee Coast" does for the coast
what Mr.. Coff1n's well-known Ken
nebec," in the Rivers of America
SERIES, did for the interior of Maine
The independence of its people shines
forth in rugged simplicity. Here is
found the unregimented lobsterman
who builds his own traps, his owh
boats, his family, his culture. The
example of these citizens, and the
others like them in character, will
provide the salt that will keep the
Nation from decay, Mr.. Coffin says
Along the coast you find civiliza-
tions that defy the modern age of
machines. One meets the Mountain
Jims and the Island Johns, story
tellers and natural born humorists,
painters, poets and farmer fisher
men who pay their own way. Here
are encountered the old houses of
sea captains filled with the culture
of the world.
Especially fine are the descrip-
tionss of the coastal islands, cliffs
and bays, the boats that skim the
the waters of the 2,50O-mile shore.
His "reminiscences include a night
on the beach eating Holsters hot
from spruce embers from dusk to
dawn, and feasting before beach
fire on the carcass of deer roasted
on pole spit.
Mr.. Coffin is panied deeply that
the towering trees along the coast
are being felled and the towns thus
exposed to stumps and cold. He
deplores the tendency to fill the
brooks with soil and rubbish, citing
Mair Brook at Brunswick, where
Hawthorne used to fish. He hopes
something will be done to save
Names old houses and that the
curse of outdoor advertising will be
rooted out by some means. If only,
he sishs, commercialism could be
kept at distance.
Standardization a Curse.
Great cities" he writes, land
whole nations, too, have tried to sub
stitute Standardization for culture
and have achieved something like
the death of an ant hill. 1t Is a
nightmare that could turn into re-
atty even on the rocky islands and
among the wild bays of Maine"
Mr.. Coffin grew up on Maine !
saltwater farm, later went to Bow
doin. Princeton and Oxford. After
the First World War he returned to
Bowdoin. where he is Pierce profess
sor of English. He writes prolifi-
cally. has lectured and read his
own poems widely. This summer he
is giving courses at the University
of Florida and will spend future
months travelling and lecturing
Some may recall his Turnbull me-
mortal lectures, New Poetry of New
England" at the Johns Hopkins
University in 1888. He also has been
Phi Beta Kappa poet at Harvard,
University of Virginia. William and
Mary, Tufts, RandolphMacon and
other schools There are recor dings
of his reading so of his poems in the
Library of Congress.
Mr. Coffin has made numerous
black and white drawings for his
most recent book. They are sketches
of Maine types and make the volume
even more entertaining.