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Poems and essays (A Vintage book)

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I do not know how many people read John Crowe Ransom today. But in his time and it was a long time , he was a major figure on the American Literary scene. Not only was he the founder of 'Kenyon Review' he was also one of the moving forces behind 'The New Criticism' which reigned for many years in English Departments in the U.S. 'The New Criticism' demanded a close attention to the text, a reading which cast aside external influences to focus on the lines on the page, alone.
Ransom was both poet and critic. The poetry was largely done in his early years, and this volume contains a selection he made himself. It includes what are perhaps his two most well- known poems, 'Bells for John Whiteside's Daughter' and 'Blue Girls'. Ransom's poems have a clear order and structure , and often comment on an incident from everyday life. Here is the last stanza of 'Blue Girls'
"For I could tell you a story which is true;
I know a woman with a terrible tongue,
Blear eyes fallen from blue,
All her perfections tarnished -- yet it is not long
Since she was lovelier than any of you."
In a sense he was a tough, ironic realist a champion of the Old Testament God whose image he felt closer to the harsh realities of life.
In his essays he made good use of his considerable learning and great intelligence. In the present volume I particularly enjoyed his essay on the Latinate elements in Shakespeare . He shows that Shakespeare knew far more Latin than he is usually credited with. He also argues that it was Shakespeare's use of Latin which helped keep the language distinctively alive in English literature.
My own sense in reading his work is that it is truly honest, clear, tough- minded. I did find however that somehow it did not touch me in the way the poetry and criticism I most love, does.