What I had from the outset been somewhat doubtfully hankering for was some way of getting contrapuntal effects in poetry—the effects of contrasting and conflicting tones and themes, a kind of underlying simultaneity in dissimilarity. It seemed to me that by using a large medium, dividing it into several main parts, and subdividing these parts into short movements in various veins and forms, this was rendered possible. I do not wish to press the musical analogies too closely. I am aware that the word symphony, as a musical term, has a very definite meaning, and I am aware that it is only with considerable license that I use the term for such poems asSenlinorForslin, which have three and five parts respectively, and do not in any orthodox way develop their themes. But the effect obtained is, very roughly speaking, that of the symphony, or symphonic poem. Granted that one has chosen a theme—or been chosen by a theme!—which will permit rapid changes of tone, which will not insist on a tone too static, it will be seen that there is no limit to the variety of effects obtainable: for not only can one use all the simpler poetic tones...; but, since one is using them as parts of a larger design, one can also obtain novel effects by placing them in juxtaposition as consecutive movements....All this, I must emphasize, is no less a matter of emotional tone than of form; the two things cannot well be separated. For such symphonic effects one employs what one might term emotion-mass with just as deliberate a regard for its position in the total design as one would employ a variation of form. One should regard this or that emotional theme as a musical unit having such-and-such a tone quality, and useit only when that particular tone-quality is wanted. Here I flatly give myself away as being in reality in quest of a sort of absolute poetry, a poetry in which the intention is not so much to arouse an emotion merely, or to persuade of a reality, as to employ such emotion or sense of reality (tangentially struck) with the same cool detachment with which a composer employs notes or chords. Not content to present emotions or things or sensations for their own sakes—as is the case with most poetry—this method takes only the most delicately evocative aspects of them, makes of them a keyboard, and plays upon them a music of which the chief characteristic is its elusiveness, its fleetingness, and its richness in the shimmering overtones of hint and suggestion. Such a poetry, in other words, will not so much present an idea as use its resonance.
What I had from the outset been somewhat doubtfully hankering for was some way of getting contrapuntal effects in poetry—the effects of contrasting and conflicting tones and themes, a kind of underlying simultaneity in dissimilarity. It seemed to me that by using a large medium, dividing it into several main parts, and subdividing these parts into short movements in various veins and forms, this was rendered possible. I do not wish to press the musical analogies too closely. I am aware that the word symphony, as a musical term, has a very definite meaning, and I am aware that it is only with considerable license that I use the term for such poems asSenlinorForslin, which have three and five parts respectively, and do not in any orthodox way develop their themes. But the effect obtained is, very roughly speaking, that of the symphony, or symphonic poem. Granted that one has chosen a theme—or been chosen by a theme!—which will permit rapid changes of tone, which will not insist on a tone too static, it will be seen that there is no limit to the variety of effects obtainable: for not only can one use all the simpler poetic tones...; but, since one is using them as parts of a larger design, one can also obtain novel effects by placing them in juxtaposition as consecutive movements....
All this, I must emphasize, is no less a matter of emotional tone than of form; the two things cannot well be separated. For such symphonic effects one employs what one might term emotion-mass with just as deliberate a regard for its position in the total design as one would employ a variation of form. One should regard this or that emotional theme as a musical unit having such-and-such a tone quality, and useit only when that particular tone-quality is wanted. Here I flatly give myself away as being in reality in quest of a sort of absolute poetry, a poetry in which the intention is not so much to arouse an emotion merely, or to persuade of a reality, as to employ such emotion or sense of reality (tangentially struck) with the same cool detachment with which a composer employs notes or chords. Not content to present emotions or things or sensations for their own sakes—as is the case with most poetry—this method takes only the most delicately evocative aspects of them, makes of them a keyboard, and plays upon them a music of which the chief characteristic is its elusiveness, its fleetingness, and its richness in the shimmering overtones of hint and suggestion. Such a poetry, in other words, will not so much present an idea as use its resonance.
2. An interesting comparison may be made between the work of Mr. Aiken, and that of Mr. T. S. Eliot (q. v.), of whom he is an admirer. See also Sidney Lanier’s latest poems.
3. Another interesting study is the influence of Freud upon the poetry of Mr. Aiken.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
“Henry G. Aikman” (Harold H. Armstrong)—novelist. Born in 1879. His books dealing with the psychology of the young man have attracted attention.
Bibliography
For reviews, seeBook Review Digest, 1919, 1921.
Zoë Akins(Missouri, 1886)—dramatist.
Attracted attention by herPapa, 1913, produced, 1919. Followed up this success byDéclassée, also produced 1919 (quoted with illustrations inCurrent Opinion, 68 [’20]: 187); andDaddy’s Gone A-Hunting, produced 1921.
For complete bibliography, seeWho’s Who in America.
Mrs. Richard Aldington(Hilda Doolittle, “H. D.”)—poet.
Born at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1886. Studied at Bryn Mawr, 1904-5, but ill health compelled her to give up college work. In 1911, she went abroad and remained there. In 1913, she married Richard Aldington, the English poet (cf. Manly and Rickert,Contemporary British Poetry).
“H. D.’s” work is commonly regarded as the most perfect embodiment of the Imagist theory.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
James Lane Allen—novelist.
Born near Lexington, Kentucky, 1849, of Scotch-Irish Revolutionary ancestry. A. B., A. M., Transylvania University; and honorary higher degrees. Taught in various schools and colleges. Since 1886 has given his time entirely to writing. Nature lover. Describes the Kentucky life that he knows.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Sherwood Anderson—short-story writer, novelist.
Born at Camden, Ohio, 1876. Of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Father a journeyman harness-maker. Public school education. At the age of sixteen or seventeen came to Chicagoand worked four or five years as a laborer. Soldier in the Spanish-American War. Later, in the advertising business.
In 1921, received the prize of $2,000 offered byThe Dialto further the work of the American author considered to be most promising.
Suggestions for Reading
1. The autobiographical element in Mr. Anderson’s work is marked and should never be forgotten in judging his work. The conventional element is easily discoverable as patched on, particularly in the long books.
2. To realize the qualities that make some critics regard Mr. Anderson as perhaps our most promising novelist, examples should be noted of the following qualities which he possesses to a striking degree: (1) independence of literary traditions and methods; (2) a keen eye for details; (3) a passionate desire to interpret life; (4) a strong sense of the value of individual lives of little seeming importance.
3. Are Mr. Anderson’s defects due to the limitations of his experience, or do you notice certain temperamental defects which he is not likely to outgrow?
4. Mr. Anderson’s experiments in form are interesting to study. Compare the prosiness of his verse with his efforts to use poetic cadence inThe Triumph of the Egg. Does it suggest to you the possibility of developing a form intermediate between prose and free verse?
5. Does Mr. Anderson succeed best as novelist or as short-story writer? Why?
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews—(Mrs. William Shankland Andrews)—short-story writer, novelist.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Mary Antin (Mrs. Amadeus W. Grabau)—writer.
Born at Polotzk, Russia, 1881. Came to America in 1894. Educated in American schools. Studied at Teachers’ College, Columbia, 1901-2, and at Barnard College, 1902-4.
Her second book attracted attention for its fresh and sympathetic treatment of the experiences of immigrants coming to this country.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Walter Conrad Arensberg—poet.
Illustrates in hisPoems, 1914, andIdols, 1916, conversion from the old forms of verse to the new. Cf. alsoOthers, 1916.
For studies, cf. Untermeyer; alsoDial, 69 (’20): 61Poetry, 8 (’16): 208.
Gertrude Franklin Atherton (Mrs. George H. Bowen Atherton)—novelist.
Born at San Francisco, 1859. Great-grandniece of Benjamin Franklin. Educated in private schools. Has lived much abroad.
Mrs. Atherton’s work is very uneven, but is interesting as reflecting different aspects of social and political life in this country.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Mary Hunter Austin (Mrs. Stafford W. Austin)—novelist, dramatist.
Born at Carlinville, Illinois, 1868. At the age of nineteen went to live in California. B. S., Blackburn University, 1888. Lived on the edge of the Mohave Desert where she is said to have worked like an Indian woman, housekeeping and gardening. Studied the desert, its form, its weather, its lights, its plants. Also studied Indian lore extensively, contributing the chapter on Aboriginal Literature to theCambridge History of American Literature(IV [Later National Literature, III], 610ff.).
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Irving (Addison) Bacheller(New York, 1859)—novelist.
His outstanding books are:
For bibliography, seeWho’s Who in America.
Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon (Mrs. Selden Bacon)—novelist.
Born at Stamford, Connecticut, 1876. A. B., Smith College, 1898.
Mrs. Bacon has made a special study of child life.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Ray Stannard Baker (“David Grayson”)—man of letters.
Born at Lansing, Michigan, 1870. B. S., Michigan Agricultural College, 1889. Studied law and literature at University of Michigan; LL. D., 1917. On theChicago Record, 1892-7. Managing editor of McClure’s Syndicate, 1897-8, and associate editor ofMcClure’s Magazine, 1899-1905. On theAmerican Magazine, 1906-15. Director of Press Bureau of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace at Paris, 1919.
His studies of country life under the pseudonym “David Grayson” are widely popular.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
John Kendrick Bangs(New York, 1862-1922)—humorist.
Published some sixty volumes of prose sketches, verses, stories, and plays, most of which belong to the nineteenth century. Characteristic volumes are:
For complete bibliography, cf.Who’s Who in America.
Studies and Reviews
Rex Ellingwood Beach(Michigan, 1877)—novelist.
Writer of novels of adventure, mainly about Alaska. For bibliography, seeWho’s Who in America.
(Charles) William Beebe—Nature writer.
Born at Brooklyn, 1877. B. S., Columbia, 1898; post-graduate work, 1898-9. Honorary Curator of Ornithology, New York Zoölogical Society since 1899; director of the British Guiana Zoölogical Station. Has traveled extensively in Asia, South America, and Mexico, especially, for purposes of observation.
Suggestions for Reading
1. Although Mr. Beebe is preëminently an ornithologist, he belongs to literature by reason of the volumes of nature studies listed below. A comparison of his books with those of the English ornithologist, W. H. Hudson (cf. Manly and Rickert,Contemporary British Literature) is illuminative of the merits of both.
2. Another interesting comparison may be made between Mr. Beebe’s descriptions of the jungle inJungle Peaceand H. M. Tomlinson’s inSea and Jungle(cf. Manly and Rickert,op. cit.).
3. An analysis of the use of suggestion in appeal to the different senses brings out one of the main sources of Mr. Beebe’s charm as a writer.
4. Read aloud several fine passages to observe the prose rhythms.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
David Belasco—dramatist.
Born at San Francisco, 1859. Stage manager of various theatres and producer of many plays. Owner and manager of Belasco Theatre, New York City.
His most successful recent play,The Return of Peter Grimm(1911), is printed by Baker,Modern American Plays, 1920, and by Moses,Representative Plays by American Dramatists, 1918-21, III. For bibliography of unpublished plays, cf.Cambridge, III (IV), 763.
Studies and Reviews
Stephen Vincent Benét—poet, novelist.
Born at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1898; brother of William Rose Benét (q. v.) Graduate of Yale, 1919.
Mr. Benét’s work at once attracted attention by its qualities of exuberance and fancy. In 1921, he shared with Carl Sandburg (q. v.) the prize of the Poetry Society of America.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
William Rose Benét—poet.
Born at Fort Hamilton, New York Harbor, 1886. Ph. B., Sheffield Scientific School, Yale, 1907. Free lance writer in California 1907-11. Reader for theCentury Magazine, 1911-18. In 1920, associate editor of theLiterary Reviewof theNew York Evening Post.
Mr. Benét’s verse has attracted attention for its pictorial imagination, vigorous rhythms, and grotesque and lively fancy.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Konrad Bercovici—story writer.
Bibliography
For reviews, seeBook Review Digest, 1917, 1919, 1921.
Edwin (August) Björkman—critic.
Born at Stockholm, Sweden, 1866. Educated in Stockholm high school. Clerk, actor, and journalist in Sweden, 1881-91. Came to America, 1891. On staffs of St. Paul and Minneapolis papers, 1892-7; on theNew York SunandNew York Times, 1897-1905. On the editorial staff of theNew York Evening Post, 1906. Department editor of theWorld’s Workand editor of theModern Drama Series, 1912—.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Maxwell Bodenheim—poet.
Born at Natchez, Mississippi, 1892. Grammar school education. Served in the U. S. Army, 1910-13. Studied law and art in Chicago.
Suggestions for Reading
Mr. Bodenheim gets his effects by his management of detail. For this reason, his use of picture-making words and suggestive phrases offers material for special study. See theNew Republic, 13 (’17): 211, for his own statement of his creed.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Gamaliel Bradford—man of letters.
Born at Boston, 1863. Studied at Harvard, 1882; no degree, because of ill health. Has confined his attention almost entirely to literature since 1886. Specializes in character portraits.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
George H. Broadhurst(1866)—dramatist.
Of his plays the following have been published:
For bibliography of unpublished plays, seeCambridge, III (IV), 773.
Alter Brody—poet.
Born in Russia, 1895, of a Russian-Jewish family. Came to New York when he was eight years old. Very little education. Translated for Jewish and American newspapers. His first poems appeared inThe Seven Arts(cf.James Oppenheim).
His one book,A Family Album, 1918, is interesting for its realistic pictures of New York as seen through the temperament of a Russian Jew.
Studies and Reviews
Charles (Stephen) Brooks—essayist.
Born in 1878. Graduate of Yale. Business man in Cleveland. Essay writing an avocation.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Van Wyck Brooks—critic.
Born at Plainfield, New Jersey, 1886. A. B., Harvard, 1907. Taught at Leland Stanford, 1911-3. With the Century Company since 1915.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Heywood (Campbell) Broun—critic, essayist.
Born at Brooklyn, New York, 1888. Studied at Harvard, 1906-10. OnMorning Telegraph, New York, 1908-9, 1911-12;New York Tribune, 1912-21. Now withNew York World. War correspondent in France, 1917.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Alice Brown—short-story writer, novelist, dramatist.
Born on a farm near Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, 1857. Graduated from Robinson Seminary, Exeter, New Hampshire, 1876. Lived on a farm many years and loves outdoor life. Many years on staff ofYouth’s Companion.
Her stories of New England life should be compared with those of Sarah Orne Jewett and Mary Wilkins Freeman (q. v.). In 1915, she won the Winthrop Ames $10,000 prize for her play,Children of Earth.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Arthur Bullard (“Albert Edwards”)—novelist.
Born at St. Joseph, Missouri, 1869. Studied about two years at Hamilton College. Settlement worker, probation officer of Prison Association of New York, 1903-6. Since 1906, has traveled widely. In Russia and Siberia, 1917-9. Foreign correspondent for different magazines both before and during the War. Socialist.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
(Frank) Gelett Burgess(Massachusetts, 1866)—humorist.
Inventor of the “Goops” and of “Bromide” (Are You a Bromide?1907). The humor of his illustrations contributes greatly to the success of his writing. For bibliography, cf.Who’s Who in America.
Studies and Reviews
Frances Hodgson Burnett (Mrs. Stephen Townsend)—novelist.
Born at Manchester, England, 1849, but went to live at Knoxville, Tennessee, 1865. She began to write for magazines in 1867.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
John Burroughs—Nature writer, essayist, poet.
Born at Roxbury, New York, 1837. Academy education with honorary higher degrees. Taught for about eight years; clerk in the Treasury, 1864-73; national bank examiner, 1873-84. From 1874 lived on a farm, after 1884 dividing his time between market gardening and literature. He died in 1921.
Mr. Burroughs’ cottage in the woods not far from West Park, New York, appropriately called “Slabsides,” has become famous and an effort is being made to keep it for the nation.
Mr. Burroughs continued to write and publish to the time of his death.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Richard (Eugene) Burton—critic, poet.
Born at Hartford, Connecticut, 1861. A. B., Trinity College, 1883; Ph. D., Johns Hopkins, 1888. Three years of teaching, editorial work, and travel abroad. Editor of theHartford Courant, 1890-7. Associate editor ofWarner’s Library of the World’s Best Literature, 1897-9. Head of the English department at the University of Minnesota, 1898-1902 and 1906—.
Besides his critical work, he has written a novel, a play, and a number of volumes of poetry. For complete bibliography, cf.Who’s Who in America.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
Witter Bynner—poet, dramatist.
Born at Brooklyn, 1881. A. B., Harvard, 1902. Assistant editor ofMcClure’s Magazine, 1902-6. Literary adviser to various publishing companies. Has recently traveled in the Orient. Under the pseudonyms “Emanuel Morgan”and “Anne Knish,” Bynner and Arthur Davison Ficke (q. v.) wroteSpectra, a burlesque of modern tendencies in poetry, which some critics took seriously.
Bibliography
Studies and Reviews
James Branch Cabell—novelist, critic.
Born at Richmond, Virginia, 1879, of an old Southern family. A. B., William and Mary College, 1898, where he taught French and Greek, 1896-7. Newspaper work from 1899-1901. Since then he has devoted his time almost entirely to the study and writing of literature. His study of genealogy and history has an important bearing upon his creative work.
Suggestions for Reading
1. Before reading Mr. Cabell’s stories, read hisBeyond Life, which explains his theory of romance. He maintains that art should be based on the dream of life as it should be, notas it is; that enduring literature is not “reportorial work”; that there is vital falsity in being true to life because “facts out of relation to the rest of life become lies,” and that art therefore “must become more or less an allegory.”
2. Mr. Cabell’s fiction falls into two divisions:
(1) Romances of the middle ages.(2) Comedies of present-day Virginia.
Both elements are found inThe Cream of the Jest(cf. with Du Maurier’sPeter Ibbetson). The romances illustrate different aspects of his theory of chivalry; the modern comedies, his theory of gallantry (cf.Beyond Life).
3. In his romances he has created an imaginary province of France, the people of which bear names and use idioms drawn from widely diverse and incongruous sources. His effort to create mediæval atmosphere by the use of archaisms does not preclude modern idiom and slang. Through all this work, elaborate pretense of non-existent sources of the tales and frequent allusions to fictitious authors are a part of the method. After reading some of these stories, consider the following criticism from theLondon Timesquoted by Mr. Cabell himself at the end ofBeyond Life: “It requires a nicer touch than Mr. Cabell’s, to reproduce the atmosphere of the Middle Ages ... the artifice is more apparent than the art....”
4. An interesting study is to isolate the authors for whom Mr. Cabell expresses particular admiration and those for whom he expresses contempt inBeyond Lifeand to deduce from his attitudes his peculiar literary qualities.
5. Mr. Cabell’s style is notable for the elaboration of its rhythm, its careful avoidance ofclichés, its preference for rare, archaic words and its allusiveness. Consider it from the point of view of sincerity, simplicity, clarity, and charm. Does it intensify or dull your interest in what he has to say? Study, for example, the following exposition of his theory of art: