Gentlemanly propriety might be said to be the hallmark of the autobiography of the poet, Alfred Noyes. In a period of...

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TWO WORLDS FOR MEMORY

Gentlemanly propriety might be said to be the hallmark of the autobiography of the poet, Alfred Noyes. In a period of violent literary revolution, he managed to stay rooted in old traditions and values- and for those who share his views, this autobiography is assured a warm reception. A boyhood of almost militantly proclaimed devotion to his parents; light touching on the sorry entanglements of later life with such violent pioneers and rebels as the Sitwells; an almost uniformly Victorian tone throughout -- this characterizes the whole. His personal loyalties and enthusiasms, his friendships, the externalities of his marriages, his teaching experience at Princeton (during the undergraduate days of two illustrious pupils, Fitzgerald and Edmund Wilson), his lecture tours, all combine to present his career, his personality, his typical point of view. Two phases of his life are recorded with surprising detachment,- his involvement in the Roger Casement case, his conversion to Roman Catholicism. Possibly his very lack of passion, his gently pleasant facility of words may enhance the appeal to scholars and admirers who seek to round out the literary history of his era.

Pub Date: May 27, 1953

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1953

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