Poets of the Younger Generation. By William Archer. (John Lane.
21s.)—Mr. Archer has put together in this volume appre- ciations of between thirty and forty " poets of the younger genera- tion," all of them living, with the exception of one whose death occurred between the completion of the manuscript and its transference to print. The writer of this notice has had the advantage of making acquaintance with the greater part, of the books here criticised, and with others whose claims to appear in an anthology of recent verse is scarcely inferior to those of Mr. Archer's selection. With Mr. Archer's general estimate of the poetical wealth of the present generation we heartily agree. From one point of view this abundance of poetical power, in most cases very inadequately recognised, is a melancholy fact. The individual writer, whatever pleasure he may derive from the exercise of his craft, desires praise, and if he is a poet, outside of a very small circle he gets very little of it. On the other hands we cannot but feel that the world, or at least the nation, is growing much richer in intellectual gifts. We do not intend to review Mr. Archer's judgments. Two or three names we should certainly blot, if we had the revision of the list. It would be ungracious to mention them. We are glad to find that the writers of verse in whom the Spectator has shown especial interest obtain Mr. Archer's favourable suffrage. We should add that the appreciations are accompanied with portraits, not erring, we take it, on the side of Battery.
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