New Poems.

In reviewing "New Poems" for "Smad," I gave my own enthusiastic opinion, hoping that other people would get some idea of the verse from my review. But your correspondent "M.L." thinks there have been no poets since the English Lake poets, rebukes the writers of "New Poems" for not writing like the English Lake poets, and by implication chastises me for being perverse enough to like modern verse and to praise these young New Zealand poets because they are writing in modern idiom and about modern problems. Finding no beauty in any of the poetry of the last hundred years, "M.L." suggests that the poems I reviewed are inspired by "immorality in words, apocalypticism, and gallery play." To him, this may be a brave defence of the Romantic tradition of Beauty in Poetry. I'd call it merely bad manners.

Of course if I wanted to play personalities in the way. "M.L." does, I could point out that at least three of the poets of "New Poems" have written volumes of verse that have been highly praised in America and England; that one of these is the only New Zealand poet to be represented in Harold Monro's standard "Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry" (Phoenix Library). As for the others, only a disgruntled bigot

Finally, a question: Has anyone ever managed to walk along a corridor without making an unearthly noise? If so, how would question their sincerity. "M.L." can take them or leave them. I'm sure nobody cares.

Frankenstein.

I don't want to bore "Smad" with a personal squabble about tastes in poetry. I think most people will agree that the poetry of the English Romantics comprises a magnificent portion in the English poetic heritage. But these poets lived a hundred years ago: their reactions and problems and conclusions about life, and the forms in which these found expression, were adequate for them; they no longer are for us, although, through their art, we gain appreciative insight into these.

The times change. A psychologist, or anyone who knows how intimately inter-connected are all of an individual's reactions, including poetic ones, and how closely these are bound up with life, will tell "M.L." that "Poetry for Poetry's sake" is an exploded doctrine which, as a matter of fact none of the poets he likes held to. Poets are people in the signal-towers of their time who can see what other people miss. So the writers of "New Poems," as I tried to show in my reviews, are responding to the triumph of the collective ideal over the Romantic individual one. I think if "M.L." is really concerned about poetry the will try to see this A.B.C. point.

A third party's remark on "New Poems" may be a propos. Mr. H. Winstone Rhodes, English lecturer at Canterbury College, said about the book in "To-morrow": "The publishers are to be congratulated upon this excellent venture . . . I should certainly recommend 'New Poems' as a valuable addition to our library of verse."

Alfred Katz.