WAITING FOR THE NEW POET.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 433, 24 January 1912, Page 2

WAITING FOR THE NEW POET.

Whsn those of us were young who are now middle-aged there used from time to time to issue from the press volumes of poetry which made at least as much stir as a novel by one of the "big sellers." A slim green volume would come from Tennyson's publishers or a rather bulkier one from Browning's, and either would set all the world talking and the reviewers writing. Or there might be a volume from Swinburne, or Mat. Arnold, or from half a dozen other poets who, if they were not all great, were at any rate widely read. Those days passed away as the great Victorian poets died one by one, but, to use a publisher's phrase there was still "money in poetry." The minor poets came along, some of them with quite sweet little pipes of their own, found no difficulty at all in getting their verses published in book form, and even had the occasional pleasure of seeing their first editions and large paper copies rise to a premium in the book market. Those days have also passed away. There has been no "boom" of anj sort in poetry for many years, and it is doubtful whether a single living English poet makes his living—by writing and publishing poetry alone Will the day ever come when we shall have real, living English poetry again—poetry that people want t< read and will buy when it is published ? And are there any signs that such a time is on the way ?- London "Mail."