ABSTRACT

26 March 1916, p. 105

Bridges’s anthology, which the editor explained in the Preface was published for the spiritual consolation of the Allies in time of war, was to achieve wide circulation, especially amongst writers at the Front. F.R. Leavis, who later unkindly described it as being designed to be ‘carried round in officers’ pockets’, first read Hopkins in it in wartime France, and it also stimulated the interest of Auden. Ivor Gumey thought it was ‘a good book, though very far below what it might be. Why all that Shelley and Dixon and Hopkins or what’s his name of the crazy precious diction?’ (War Letters, ed. R.K. Thornton, London, 1984, p. 99). Of the poems included, ‘Spring and Fall’ was a partial text, and ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’ was represented by less than one verse.

This review was one of several brief references to Hopkins which the selection brought. The present extract follows the reviewer’s remark that the anthology was valuable for bringing to light lesser-known poets, such as Digby Dolben.