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PIERRE MATISS E
41
e. 57
march 5-31
to enter into the illusion created
by a poem, demonstrates that the
poet has failed to communicate, at
least with the reviewer. A poem
succeeds completely or not at all.
Gradually 1 came to realize that
the reviews which a writer receives
are less his business than anyone
else's. They are a kind of conver–
sation which goes on behind his
back. Reviewers do not address
themselves to writers but to read–
ers. To overhear conversations be–
hind his back is more disconcerting
than useful to the writer; though
he can perhaps search out criti–
cism in it which may really help
him to remedy faults in style. But
he should remember that the ten–
dency of reviewers is to criticize
work not for what it is but for
what it fails to be, and it is not
necessarily true that he should rem–
edy this by trying to become other
than he is. Thus, in my own ex–
perience, 1 have wasted time by
paying heed to criticisms that 1 had
no skill in employing rhyme. This
led me to attempt rhyme, whereas
1 should have seen that the moral
for me was to avoid it.
Economically, 1 found that there
is much in common between the
career of a writer and that of a
gambler. A poem, "I think con–
tinually of those who were truly
great," which was refused by
several literary editors, was sub–
sequently chosen to represent
me in every anthology. On the
whole, it holds true that a writer
is paid best for doing his worst
work; although sometimes, as
in
