New Anthologies
fully covered by the preceding volume. Anyone who sets out to make an anthology is sure to face a certain amount of objection; the choice is always personal, not only on the side of the editor but of the reader as well, who would like to include poems not included or leave out poems included; but the first requisite of retrospective anthology is that it should be fairly representative, and as this book seems to fulfil this condition there is little room for carping. If I miss one or two favorites, I am also reminded of several poems which I had forgotten. Of course there is much that one would like to leave out. But an anthology is a good deal like a museum, whose directors are often more afraid of a blank wall than of poor painting. As historical links, certain poets no doubt deserve to be remembered. Nevertheless, I should like to see a director or an anthologist courageous enough to make a collection on a purely aesthetic basis.
The general plan of Mr. Braithwaite's anthology improves from year to year. This year it is more inclusive in scope than formerly, having covered a larger number of magazines, and the result is a certain improvement in the quality of the poems published. The arrangement of the book would be much better if it presented the poets in alphabetical order, rather than according to a fancied grouping by subject.
The editor gives what he believes to be the best poems of the year 1915, and out of the eighty-eight poems republished, I find twelve that reach a high-water mark, as many more that give me pleasure, and about the same number of
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