Prufrock and Other Observations (1917)

Summary

Conrad Aiken.

"Esoteric Catholicity."

Poetry Journal 5

(April 1916),

127–29.

[Review of Catholic Anthology]

As anthologies go nowadays, Mr. Pound's Catholic Anthology is an interesting one.

[ … ]

Dull things there are, of course,—each critic will find his own—but for the present critic the Catholic Anthology seems worth while if only for the inclusion of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and the “Portrait of a Lady” by T. S. Eliot. These are remarkable. They are individual to a degree. Mr. Eliot uses free rhyme very effectively, often musically; and with the minimum of sacrifice to form conveys a maximum of atmosphere. Both poems are psychological character-studies, subtle to the verge of insoluble idiosyncrasy, introspective, self-gnawing. Those who are constitutionally afraid to analyze themselves, who do not think, who are not psychologically imaginative, will distrust and perhaps dislike them.

[ … ]

[A]ny anthology, which, like this, blows the horn of revolution in poetry, whether sound or unsound, is at the least certain to interest all poets, even the most conservative; and will, perhaps, be of value to them.

*Arthur Waugh.

"The New Poetry."

Quarterly Review 226

(October 1916), 386.

[Review of Catholic Anthology]

Cleverness is, indeed, the pitfall of the New Poetry. There is no question about the ingenuity with which its varying moods are exploited, its elaborate symbolism evolved, and its sudden, disconcerting effects exploded upon the imagination. Swift, brilliant images break into the field of vision, scatter like rockets, and leave a trail of flying fire behind. But the general impression is momentary; there are moods and emotions, but no steady current of ideas behind them.