THE OLD BATEAU And Other Poems

This volume of verse from a poet who has chiefly done vers de societe is a pleasant surprise. One had not been led to expect such depth of feeling, especially for the vast panorama of America, and this is intelligent and deeply felt poetry-although the technique is not always equal to it. But it is always readable, and often strikes off a brilliant line about the turning point in American history- or even the history of the world- when all old traditions, good and bad, are being revised in terms of electronics, atomic fission, and the other wonders of modern science. This sense of breathless anticipation about the America of the future is most surely felt in a long poem- Poet Always Next But One. Not to be classed with Robert Lowell or Allen Tate, this is still good poetry which reveals an alert and sensitive mind.