Unified Vision
DOROTHY WELLESLEY, without trying to out- sing or outrun anyone, has maintained an individual tone and a steady pace, and is much nearer the goal than many who measure their success by their exertions. Some of her poems are marred by over-decoration or lack of economy, and that is no doubt a major crime in an age of austerity and angst which looks sternly askance at spendthrifts of any kind. Although not a metaphysical poet in the up- to-date meaning of the word (at best, wit writing; at worst, mere ratiocination), she is nearer true metaphysical poetry than many who march under that banner, for meta- physical poetry implies above all a belief in transcendence and in a unified vision of man within the cosmos. The world of Dorothy Wellesley, whether she brings back to life ancient civilisations, exotic landscapes or memories of childhood, is essentially imagina- tive, and bears the imprint of a vision which relates details of natural life to the plight and aspirations of man, poised on the edge of the finite and the infinite, in a poetry which lacks neither thought and passion nor craftsmanship, and which, when successful, fully deserves the admiration and the importance which W. B. Yeats granted to it. 3. CHIARI
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