622
PARTISAN REVIEW
When the poems a re not directl y na rra tive in structure, they
address their themes in a style tha t courts the ba thetic.
In
dealing
with ma te rial that is reli gio-philosophical in tenor, Wa rren , or a ny
poet for that matte r, is likel y to run aground with cliche and bom–
ba st , since the grand style is, pa radoxi cally, ha rde r to su sta in in a
short lyri c than in a full y expa nded na rrative or epic. Much of the
pra ise heaped on Wa rren 's recent poe try has omitted mention of
this; he re is a n exampl e, the conclusion o f a poem called "The
Truth " :
Truth is the Se rpcnt 's j o ke,
And is the sun -stun g du st-d ev il that swirl s
On the lee side o f God when H e dwwses .
Truth is the lo ng soliloquy
of the dead all the ir long ni gh t.
Truth is wha t would be told by th e dead
If
they would hold conve rsat io n
With the li ving a nd thu s fulfill obli gation
to
u s.
T heir accumula ted wisdom mu st be immen se.
Such a passage is not uncommon in thi s book , and the re a re seve ral
ways to defend it , assumin g some reade rs would be pressed to
defend its obviously" nonmode rn " sound . One defen se would hear
in Wa rren a regional voice, less tha t of the deep South tha n o f the
Kentucky mounta ins, a delibe ra tely a rcha ic Protesta nt vo ice tha t
has been trained , no ma tte r how secul a r the circumsta nces, to bring
up the four last things : dea th , heave n, hell , a nd resurrect ion .
Anot her defense would ma inta in tha t the Wa rren of
I'll Take My
Stand
always has a qu a rrel with moderni sm , especially its mi strust of
absolutes and its essenti all y urba n consciou sness . O the rs mi ght
a rgue tha t a strong tradition in the Ame rican lyric, founded by Poe
and continued by those such as La nie r, Lindsay, and Dickey, has
always held out against poet ry as a n analytic activity, preferring
instead the ri go rs of lita ny a nd exalta tion ra the r than the "smaller "
measures of imagism or obj ec ti vism . Such a na tive strain must be
willing to fa il , as it we re, a t the level of deco rum or freshness of
invention , if onl y becau se one o f its great themes is tha t fa ilure is as
in structi ve as success or consistency.
