Humor, Nazis, and Poetry to Relieve Divisionals

FOR the past two decades there has been a steadily growing interest in the literary efforts of American authors. Starting here at Harvard, a movement to obtain a sympathetic appreciation for American literature has spread to every part of this country. Now, into this fight to gain recognition for the literary products of the American continent, comes a new development: the study of the literature of the Spanish-American nations beyond our southern border.

"The Modernist Trend in Spanish-American Poetry", collected and edited by G. Dundas Graig, should be of great value to this last-named field. The author starts with a discussion of the development of "modernist" poetry. It is Mr. Craig's belief that "modernist" poetry in Latin-America had its birth about 30 years ago when a group of young poets became disgusted with the then-prevailing stereotyped, uninspired verse that was written after the passing of the impetus of the fight for liberty from Spain. With this great source of inspiration removed, "poetry for the time being became the handmaiden of successive dictators."

"Modernism," states Mr. Craig, "may be described as the literary expression . . . of dissatisfaction with the prevailing worship of material success that marked the last few years of the nineteenth century. The young idealist felt himself a spirit thrown by fate into an environment to which he did not belong. . . . Holding himself aloof from the world of reality, the poet went in pursuit of a vague and fugitive phantom of absolute beauty."

Most of the poems which are presented after this introduction bear out Mr. Craig's assertion. One notable exception, however, is Ruben Darlo's "To Roosevelt". In this poem there is nothing unworldly: the poem starts with an expression of Latin-America's admiration for the driving energy of the United States, symbolized by Theodore Roosevelt, then bursts into a violently nationalistic denunciation of the United States' imperialistic aims.

This poem is the exception rather than the rule, however. The majority deal with less purely materialistic subjects. Particularly interesting to Americans is the long series of "Poemas De Amor" (Poems of Love"), by Pablo Neruda. The influence of Walt Whitman's frank free-verse avowals of sensuality is here-shown by poems strikingly similiar both in form and content to those in "Leaves of Grass." Even Whitman's phrase "Song of the male and of the female" is here repeated.

Of a quite different sort is Ruben Dario's vividly descriptive "Sonfonia en Gris Mayor" (Symphony in Gray). In this is given a very real picture of the sea on a glassy calm day and of an old salt who sits at the sea's edge endlessly watching. Again, to show his versatile nature, Dario has written a poem called "Friso" (Frieze). Here classical images and classical scenes are handled in a manner reminiscent of Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn". Some of the best poems in the collection are by Ruben Dario.

Another interesting group is the collection of short, frequently excellent lyrics which Mr. Craig has chosen. These show the Spanish-Americans in a gay, tipping, gallant mood. One could almost compare them to some of the Elizabethan sonnets and short poems on inconsequential but very pleasant subjects.

Mr. Craig's method of handling this varied and rather large assortment is distinctly praiseworthy. On one page is presented the Spanish original and on the facing page Mr. Craig's English version. These translations are, on the whole, very good. No matter what the theme Mr. Craig seems to be able to approach with understanding the mood, meter, and meaning of the Latin-American poet. Of course something is lost in translating, but one has the feeling that the loss is kept at a minimum. As a study and presentation of the literature of a foreign tongue, this book is to be praised for displaying both a knowledge of and a sympathy for its subject