American Poetry in the Twentieth Century

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This short history of American Poetry in the twentieth century is an overlooked gem from a poet who was deeply immersed in the American poetry scene. Kenneth Rexroth was one of the most learned American poets, possibly second only to Ezra Pound in this regard. He had first hand knowledge of most of the artistic cirles and intellectual movements in American poetry during the period in question. Rexroth brings to light many obscure, behind the scenes figures who helped to shape the poetic landscape, such as Arthur Kryemborg and Sadekichi Hartmann, not outstanding poets in their own right, but key cultural influences and conduits from Europe and Asia. Rexroth offers a good bit of behind the scenes detail that is not mentioned in more academic treatments. The author is outstanding for his ability to characterize a geographical and cultural region in terms of its history and ethnic composition. His judgements on such phenomena as the Harlem Renaissance are quite sober; he believed it was largely the creation of white liberals. On the other hand, there are definite political overtones to the book. Rexroth is unfair to John Crow Ransom and the other Southern "agrarians", as well as to Robinson Jeffers and Pound, to my mind, probably because these artists opposed US entry into World War 2. He has gushing appraisals of certain relatively obscure figures such as Muriel Rukeyser, Laura Riding, and Mina Loy, always labelling them as "the greatest of their generation", seemingly also political in motive. Certain minor figures are excluded or given very brief mention, these including Vachel Lindsay, Conrad Aiken, and Mark Van Doren, minor figures of course, but infinitely better than any of the "beat" poets whom Rexroth so eulogizes. In conclusion, the book is a short easy read that will give you an interesting though biased and limited perspective on American poetry in the last century.