Critical Response
In the early part of the 19th Century both Drake and his friend Halleck were widely hailed by Americans as among the leading literary personalities and talents produced by this country. That they had been leading lights in the New York area was true, but the glimmer for both could not really hold. It was finally diminished by Edgar Allan Poe when he wrote a serious study of the two poets called The Halleck - Rodman Review. Looking at The Culprit Fay by Drake, Poe showed that the imagery many marvelled at was quite second-rate and ordinary. In fact, he briefly invented new lines to show how easily it could be done. As for Halleck, Poe looked over Alnwick Castle and showed how a bit tighter use of structuring the lines would have immeasurably improved the entire work. The reputations of both Drake and Halleck never recovered. "And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave."
Read more about this topic: Joseph Rodman Drake
Famous quotes containing the words critical and/or response:
“If our entertainment culture seems debased and unsatisfying, the hope is that our children will create something of greater worth. But it is as if we expect them to create out of nothing, like God, for the encouragement of creativity is in the popular mind, opposed to instruction. There is little sense that creativity must grow out of tradition, even when it is critical of that tradition, and children are scarcely being given the materials on which their creativity could work”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“There is ... but one response possible from us: Force, Force to the uttermost, Force without stint or limit, the righteous and triumphant Force which shall make Right the law of the world and cast every selfish dominion down in the dust.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)