No literary echoes, no awkwardness, no bewilderment clearly mark Robert Francis's "Stand With Me Here," as poems of youth; but none the less it is immediately apparent that they reflect a boy's will and a young man's thoughts. Strangely there is nothing here adventurous, curious, impatient, avid for life, but rather as though Santayana's last Puritan were writing verse, there is tranquility, appreciation of old ways and simple pleasures, a strict moral sense, and a conscientious craftsman's attitude toward balance, order and good form.

Pastoral New England has become a tradition in American literature…. Robert Francis has tried his hand with skill at the traditional themes. Apple picking, haying, wood-chopping, they are all there. Though verbal echoes are few, the influence of Robert Frost, his humor and his further range lacking, is to be seen in every thicket and field of this land, not far west or northwest of Boston.

In such verse as this there is a definite appeal not only to other youths who faced with the complexities of modern life find reassurance in art forms, but also to those who buffeted by experience seek escape by turning to things simple, natural, old and lovely…. Mr. Francis makes of his old people grotesque figures, such as are found in Grimm's Tales. Age for him has pathos, a good deal more than it has perhaps for those who understand its great compensations from experience. But more important to their enjoyment of his poems than the portraits is his complete absorption in the joys of country life and his conviction that strength still lies in contact with the earth….