Customer Reviews

The Torrent: And, the Night Before

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The Torrent and The Night Before is a book of poetry written by Edwin Arlington Robinson that features many of his great works. Robinson touches upon issues of small-town America and reflects his views; as a result, making his poetry relative, and interesting. He speaks honestly of many topics; including death, love, and isolation in short poems that demonstrate valuable morals. His traditional style of blank verse flows eloquently and without a glitch. Robinson's fluent expertise of the English language is present in all of his work, making his poetry enjoyable to read.
While skimming over the book upon its arrival, I became immediately overwhelmed. Once I finally worked up the courage to sit down and attempt to read it, I found that my predictions were relatively mistaken. In fact, the colloquial language was moderately simple, and the rhyming verses were quite engaging. As for the subject matter, it was basically a cynical view based upon the cultural decay of the 19th century. Some of the material was pessimistic, and left me with a feeling of depression. However, it is a major stray from the conventional `two roads diverged in a yellow wood...' Nevertheless, don't despair; the poems require intense reading to truly be evaluated, and or appreciated.
"Robinson's poetry deserves the attention it does not contrive to attract," (Barnard, Centenary Essays, 66) is a statement I agree with entirely. I recommend this book, and others written by Edwin Arlington Robinson to readers of all ages. I suggest the reader be open-minded, and not discount the authors skill, simply because they were flooded by the distressing themes. After reading this book, I became more tolerant and accepting to classic works, thus concluding that one should `never judge a book by its cover' (literally!) And as for Robinson's renowned title as an innovator of his time, well, I guess you could say he chose the road not taken.