Criticism > Poetry > Kunitz, Stanley (Jasspon) - Poetry (review date 1930)

1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page
4. Tweet This

Poetry (review date 1930)

SOURCE: "Prelude to Adventure," in Poetry, Vol. 36, No. 4, July, 1930, pp. 218-23.

[In the following review of Intellectual Things, the critic states that Kunitz shows promise as a poet, praises his gift for melody but cautions him against stylization.]

Enough of the probing seriousness and curiosity of a keen poetic intelligence is exhibited in [Intellectual Things] to warrant a considerable confidence in the talents of the author, and in his future work. With a public career little more than a year old, he has issued a collection marked by unquestionable faults and insecurities, but one in which a trait of real lyric individuality emerges.

Mr. Kunitz shares his faults with a large company of contemporaries, and they may be traced largely to an attempt, in many ways laudable, to develop a new lyric fashion. In his case certain merits indicate that genuine style will result, provided...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Poetry (review date 1930)
   2. Mark Schorer (review date 1944)
   3. David Wagoner (review date 1958)
   4. Harvey Gross (essay date 1965)
   5. Jean H. Hagstrum (essay date 1967)
   6. Stanley Moss (review date 1971)
   7. Stanley Kunitz with Cynthia Davis (interview date 1972)
   8. Stanley Kunitz with Robert Boyers (interview date 1972)
   9. Robert Weisburg (essay date 1975)
   10. James Finn Cotter (review date 1980)
   11. Gregory Orr (review date 1980)
   12. Stanley Kunitz (essay date 1984)
   13. Stanley Kunitz with Peter Stitt (interview date 1990)
   14. David Barber (review date 1996)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright

1. How to Analyze a Poem
2. Poetry