If you should be notified one day that you were soon to be introduced
to a group of interesting people-people who might have much of value to
say to you; people who could entertain with stories of far-away lands;
people who could help you see new beauty in bird or sky or rain; people
who in turn could present their friends to you; and finally, people who
might have the same unfulfilled longings as your own-doubtless you would
eagerly anticipate such a meeting.
It is the purpose of this little volume to make known to you a group of
your fellow-townsmen-Atlantans all of them, either by birth or adoption-who
"follow Song," who, having received the magic touch of a poet's
imagination,
have become prophets or interpreters of life. In the group there may be
found a dentist, a few college professors, a high school teacher, a grammar
school teacher, a librarian, a newspaper woman, a novelist, a railroad man,
an actor, and a college president. Perhaps some of these are already friends
or neighbors of yours.
By far the majority of the poets whose verses are here presented are
contemporary; they are among those who are having a part-and many of them
a
very worthy part in the current revival of interest in poetry and poetry
writing. Apropos of adopting a generous attitude toward the appreciation
of
contemporary poetry the [New York Times] lately carried a pertinent discussion
on the "Test of Poetry." The writer declared that "the final
and infallible
test is time. Since that test can't be applied to our present-day poets,
isn't it better to be tolerant and good-natured, to hear candidates for
the
choir sing without rigging up a set of rules to judge them by, without trying
to find this and that touchstone for the trial of their genius?
"Professor Housman, has showed us a sure way of detecting poetry, whether
you are making it or reading it, or a line of it comes to your memory:
"'There is a shiver of the spine, a tightening of the throat, a
watering
of the eye.'"
Perhaps you would like to apply such a test to the poems in this book
and
see what your results will be.
THROUGH THE EYES OF CRITICS
Have you the courage to take stock of yourselves, to give a critical
scrutiny to the contributions made by the poets of your own locale, of your
own state, of your own section? You will find this section referred to as
the "lyric South, concerned with beauty and emotional ecstasy almost
to the
exclusion of anything like actuality."* Southern verse is said to be
strongly
imbued with local color and the legendary of the past. Nature and the
seasons' roll-themes always dear to poets and popular too in the South-are
developed largely in the tradition of Lanier and others of an earlier day.
Critics believe also that Southern poets are only now awakening to the
significance of the changes in life during the past fifty years as a result
of the new relations and ideas developing from the advancement of science-
physical, natural, and social. We see evidences of a developing social
consciousness when we consider the [genre] studies, the portraits of people.
Many of the present-day poets find an interest in "the forgotten man,"
the
mountaineer and poor white, for whom an earlier age felt only scorn. And
certain it is that never before have poets been offered so wide a range
of
themes. How well the Atlanta poets are making use of these variations you
may
judge for yourself.
Challenging the epithet "lyric South," Mary Brent Whiteside, one
of the
most distinguished of the Atlanta group, states:
"Surveyed as a whole, it would appear that even if we remain for some
time
to come, almost exclusively lyric in our poetic expression, we have expanded
the domain of lyricism to almost unbelievable horizons. While critics may
still deplore the lack of a great dramatic or epic voice, they will find
our
lyric heritage one of ample range, and no longer subject to the once familiar
charge of sentimentality."**
Comparing contemporary Atlanta poets with those of the old South or with
other Georgia poets in regard to' technique and subject matter would prove
a
worthwhile experience. It would help you determine which Atlanta writers
of
verse tend toward the conventional and which tend toward the "new"
poetry.
CONCLUSION
It is the author's intention that you have through the medium of these
pages brief "chats" with the poets of your own city, so that you
may truly
appreciate the fine things they are doing. And may you be awakened to a
realization of the literary prominence of your own 'city, remembering that
the poetry editor of the [New York Times] in 1930 acknowledged that relatively
speaking, no other place in the world appears to contain so large a number
of poets as Atlanta, Georgia. Yet in spite of this fact, many Atlanta poets
are almost unknown to the people of this city. But why should it be so?
Why
not learn to know your Atlanta singers now and be all the richer for the
experience?
Many of these poets are still young, have not reached the full ripeness
of their talents. It may prove interesting to follow their careers as they
produce other works and thus be led by them to discover new and unexpected
sources of beauty.
Atlanta, Georgia. R. E. S.
October, 1938.
*"Introduction" to The Lyric South-Addison Hibbard.
**"Survey of Georgia Verse" Mary Brent Whiteside in Oglethorpe
Book of
Georgia Verse.