The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century

Name: The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century
Author: Phelps, William Lyon

Phelps, William Lyon

American poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism; English poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism

Would that we had the fortunes of Columbus,
  Sailing his caravels a trackless way,
  He found a Universe--he sought Cathay.
  God give such dawns as when, his venture o'er,
  The Sailor looked upon San Salvador.
  God lead us past the setting of the sun
  To wizard islands, of august surprise;
  God make our blunders wise.

  COLD PASTORAL!

The difference between Vachel Lindsay and Robert Frost is the
difference between a drum-major and a botanist. The former marches
gaily at the head of his big band, looking up and around at the crowd;
the latter finds it sweet

                  with unuplifted eyes
  To pace the ground, if path be there or none.

Robert Frost, the poet of New England, was born at San Francisco, and
published his first volume in London. Midway between these two cities
lies the enchanted ground of his verse; for he belongs to New England
as wholly as Whittier, as truly as Mr. Lindsay belongs to Illinois. He
showed his originality so early as the twenty-sixth of March, 1875, by
being born at San Francisco; for although I have known hundreds of
happy Californians, men and women whose love for their great State is
a religion, Robert Frost is the only person I ever met who was born
there. That beautiful country is frequently used as a springboard to
heaven; and that I can understand, for the transition is less violent
than from some other points of departure. But why so few natives?

Shamelessly I lift the following biographical facts from Miss Amy
Lowell's admirable essay on our poet. At the age of ten, the boy was
moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. He went to school, and disliked the
experience. He tried Dartmouth and later Harvard, staying a few months
at the first and two years at the second. Between these academic
experiences he was married. In 1900 he began farming in New Hampshire.
In 1911 he taught school, and in 1912 went to England. His first book
of poems, _A Boy's Will,_ was published at London in 1913. The
review in _The Academy_ was ecstatic. In 1914 he went to live at
Ledbury, where John Masefield was born, and where in the neighbourhood
dwelt W.W. Gibson. His second volume, _North of Boston,_ was
published at London in 1914. Miss Lowell quotes a sentence, full of
insight, from the review in the _Times._ "Poetry burns up out of
it, as when a faint wind breathes upon smouldering embers." In March,
1915, Mr. Frost returned to America, bringing his reputation with him.
He bought a farm in New Hampshire among the mountains, and in 1916
appeared his third volume, _Mountain Interval._

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth CenturyPhelps, William Lyon

History

The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century

Phelps, William Lyon

American poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism; English poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism

Would that we had the fortunes of Columbus,
  Sailing his caravels a trackless way,
  He found a Universe--he sought Cathay.
  God give such dawns as when, his venture o'er,
  The Sailor looked upon San Salvador.
  God lead us past the setting of the sun
  To wizard islands, of august surprise;
  God make our blunders wise.

  COLD PASTORAL!

The difference between Vachel Lindsay and Robert Frost is the
difference between a drum-major and a botanist. The former marches
gaily at the head of his big band, looking up and around at the crowd;
the latter finds it sweet

                  with unuplifted eyes
  To pace the ground, if path be there or none.

Robert Frost, the poet of New England, was born at San Francisco, and
published his first volume in London. Midway between these two cities
lies the enchanted ground of his verse; for he belongs to New England
as wholly as Whittier, as truly as Mr. Lindsay belongs to Illinois. He
showed his originality so early as the twenty-sixth of March, 1875, by
being born at San Francisco; for although I have known hundreds of
happy Californians, men and women whose love for their great State is
a religion, Robert Frost is the only person I ever met who was born
there. That beautiful country is frequently used as a springboard to
heaven; and that I can understand, for the transition is less violent
than from some other points of departure. But why so few natives?

Shamelessly I lift the following biographical facts from Miss Amy
Lowell's admirable essay on our poet. At the age of ten, the boy was
moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. He went to school, and disliked the
experience. He tried Dartmouth and later Harvard, staying a few months
at the first and two years at the second. Between these academic
experiences he was married. In 1900 he began farming in New Hampshire.
In 1911 he taught school, and in 1912 went to England. His first book
of poems, _A Boy's Will,_ was published at London in 1913. The
review in _The Academy_ was ecstatic. In 1914 he went to live at
Ledbury, where John Masefield was born, and where in the neighbourhood
dwelt W.W. Gibson. His second volume, _North of Boston,_ was
published at London in 1914. Miss Lowell quotes a sentence, full of
insight, from the review in the _Times._ "Poetry burns up out of
it, as when a faint wind breathes upon smouldering embers." In March,
1915, Mr. Frost returned to America, bringing his reputation with him.
He bought a farm in New Hampshire among the mountains, and in 1916
appeared his third volume, _Mountain Interval._

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century

The Advance of English Poetry in the Twentieth Century

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