The Little Review, July 1914 (Vol. 1, No. 5)Various
General
The Little Review, July 1914 (Vol. 1, No. 5)
Various
Literature, Modern -- 20th century -- Periodicals
The book is a revolt, but a careful perusal of its pages fails to reveal
against what it revolts. At first glance one might think it socialistic,
but it is not clearly enough visualized for that. Socialism has at least
found the enemy. Mr. Untermeyer manfully girds on his armor and sets
forth to war, shouting his challenge lustily the while. And why, after
all, be particular about having an actual enemy? Life, with a capital L,
can do duty for that, or "the scornful and untroubled skies," or the
"cold complacency of earth." The revolt is the point, and Mr. Untermeyer
drives it home with all the phrases of frozen impetuosity to be
discovered in a very useful vocabulary. "Athletic courage," "eager
night," "Life's lusty banner," "impetuous winds," "raging mirth," etc.,
are scattered carefully through the pages. But unfortunately,
virility--with all due respect to the reviewer who mentioned these poems
in the June number of The Little Review--has a way of oozing out of such
phrases, leaving them empty of everything save a painful determination
to be manly at all costs.
But though Mr. Untermeyer is not quite clear on some subjects he is very
clear on others. Several things seem to have struck him with peculiar
force--that city streets are dirty, for instance; that strife is tonic
for young blood; and that it is difficult for the human soul to conceive
of complete annihilation. These things he proclaims passionately and
challenges the world to disprove them. A little couplet from Kipling's
_Jungle Book_ suggests itself rather maliciously as the probable
attitude of the world towards this outbreak:
"There is none like to me!" says the Cub in the pride of his
earliest kill;
But the Jungle is large and the Cub he is small. Let him think and be
still.
Seriously, however, Mr. Untermeyer's attitude is what William James
calls the attitude of the "once born." One feels that he thinks in one
dimension, that he does not see around his subject, nor hear the
overtones which surround every happening for a man of deep intellect.
The revolt is Walt Whitman's magnificent revolt, which is overpowering
in a giant, cropping out in a man of very ordinary stature, where it
sits a little ridiculously.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account