Shorter Notice
The Hope of Dawn and Other Poems. By Edwyn Bevan. (Allen and Unwin. 3s.)
TODAY a writer in the traditional forms of poetry is unlikely to obtain his due measure of praise, for we are living in a time when content is divorced from form, and When mere topicality of subjectmatter is decisive in winning contemporary attention—just as it may make most of the work of our contemporary writers unreadable in days to come. These poems will, however, give considerable pleasure to those who can appreciate fine taste, sure craftsmanship, and an unerring sense of language in the exposition of themes as vital as they are old. The four poems entitled Hora Novissima show what can still be done with the six-line stanza, used by Collins in his Ode to Simplicity, and here handled with consummate mastery. A fine sonnet Egoism, and a Song for a Feast of Remembrance are other poems that will delight the discriminating reader.
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