TEN GENERAL AND SUPPLEMEN TARY PROBLEMS 1. Study the two Prefaces for an idea of the different characteristics of the periods of American poetry since 1830 and of British poetry since 1840. Prepare a condensed summary of either. What seem to be the outstanding differences between modern American and modern British poetry? In spite of the fact that they use the same language, in what way (or ways) are the living American poets unlike their transatlantic fellowcraftsmen? 2. Choose similar topics by American and British poets and bring out (a) the likenesses, (b) the contrasts. For the purpose of this study, it might be well to refer to other anthologies. 3. Study the Foreword and the Preface to Modern American Poetry if you are interested in a discussion of the much misunderstood unrhymed, cadenced verse mistakenly called "free." An anthology which is particularly rich in examples of this type of poetry is Harriet Monroe's and Alice Corbin Henderson's The New Poetry. Name your favorite writer of vers libre and give selections of his or her work. What, if you think so, are the limitations of "free verse"? 4. Do you believe, with the editor, that the background of a poet's life in any way determines his art? Can you see, by a study of the poetry, "how much the gaunt and quiet hills of New Hampshire manifest themselves in the New England soliloquies of Robert Frost, or how the noisy energy of the Middle West booms and rattles through the high-pitched syllables of Vachel Lindsay"? How much has Sandburg's environment influenced his poetry? Emily Dickinson's? Rudyard Kipling's? Langston Hughes'? W. H. Davies'? John Masefield's? 5. Considering the effect of climate and environment, it might be interesting to select a group of poets who have lived in more or less the same section of the country, and compare their work for (a) similarities, (b) differences, (c) personal traits. 6. To make a study of or write an essay on a particular poet the general method as outlined in Suggestion 11 of Part II might be followed. If you wish more personal details, most of the publishers issue pamphlets or booklets describing the authors and their works. You might be interested in collecting data and even photographs—especially if one of the authors happens to be lecturing in your neighborhood. 7. Suppose six American and six British poets were to be selected for an international anthology. Which would you choose? Suppose six native poems were to be chosen from this volume to be translated into French as representative of this country. Which six would you select? Which poem do you think is the most typically American poem in this volume? Which the most typically English? 8. It is the year 2128. English is still spoken and written. But all trace of our literature has vanished except the one copy of the volume which you hold in your hand. Which three poems would be the most likely to have that "universal appeal" which is not dependent upon time? Which three would be most difficult of comprehension? Which one poem do you think has the greatest chance of permanence a hundred years from now? five hundred? 9. For those who are interested in poetry that records actual events it might be pleasurable (and, incidentally, educational) to make a collection of "Poems of American History." You might begin by compiling such popular pieces as Joaquin Miller's "Columbus," H. W. Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride," J. G. Whittier's "Barbara Frietchie," J. G. Whittier's "Brown of Ossawatomie," Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic," O. W. Holmes' "Old Ironsides," etc. Then you might go on collecting the less known historical poems of Bryant, Read, Mellen, Boker, Herman Melville, Bret Harte, Henry Timrod, Walt Whitman, and others. 10. Some readers might like to make their own anthology. This (as any editor can testify) is a simple pastime — especially for those who are fond of making scrapbooks. Time and taste and scissors and paste and that's what anthologies are made of. Seriously, however, the best way to collect is to use a looseleaf notebook. Thus you can add new poems or omit old ones from time to time as your taste changes. You can copy poems from this or any other collection, clip verses from the magazines or newspapers - you can even put in some of your own. You may arrange the book chronologically like this one, or divide the poems into groups on the order of the "Suggestions." In a short time you will find that you have a collection that not only reflects your own period, but actually represents you. A REFERENCE BIBLIOGRAPHY The following volumes deal, in considerable detail, with many of the poets, groups and tendencies considered in this collection. A few treat principally of the period between 1860 and 1890; the majority, however, reflect the shifting course of contemporary poetry. Most of them contain liberal quotations and references. AIKEN, CONRAD. Scepticisms: Notes on Contemporary Poetry. Alfred A. Knopf. 1919. BOYNTON, PERCY H. A History of American Literature. Ginn and Company. 1919. BROOKS, VAN WYCK. America's Coming of Age. (Chapters II and III.) B. W. Huebsch. 1915. EASTMAN, MAX. Enjoyment of Poetry. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1913. HUBBELL, B., and BEATTY, J. O. An Introduction to Poetry. The Macmillan Company. 1922 LOWELL, AMY. Tendencies in Modern American Poetry. The Macmillan Company. 1917. LOWES, JOHN LIVINGSTON. Convention and Revolt in Poetry. Houghton, Mifflin Company. 1919. - MONROE, HARRIET, and ALICE CORBIN HENDERSON. The New Poetry NEWBOLT, HENRY. A New Study of English Poetry. E. P. Dutton and Company. 1919. PATTEE, FRED LEWIS. A History of American Literature Since 1870. The Century Company. 1915. RITTENHOUSE, JESSIE B. The Younger American Poets. (1860-1900). Little, Brown and Company. 1904. UNTERMEYER, LOUIS. American Poetry Since 1900. Henry Holt and Company. 1923. WILKINSON, MARGUERITE. New Voices. The Macmillan Company. 1919. For those who wish to extend their studies to the period immediately preceding the present, the following volumes are suggested: C. E. ANDREWS and M. O. PERCIVAL. Romantic and Victorian Poetry. A. A. Adams Company. 1924. FREDERIC IVES CARPENTER. English Lyrical Poetry. Charles Scribner's Sons. A. T. QUILLER-COUCH. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. Oxford University Press. 1919. FRANCIS TURNER PALGRAVE. The Golden Treasury · First and Second Series. The Macmillan Company. ROBERT BRIDGES. The Chilswell Book of English Poetry. Longmans, Green. 1924. EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN. An American Anthology. Houghton, Mifflin Company. 1900. EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN. A Victorian Anthology. Houghton, Mifflin Company. 1900. JOSEPH AUSLANDER, and FRANK ERNEST HILL. The Winged Horse. (A study of the poets and their poetry.) Doubleday, Page & Company. 1927. |