Landor wrote: 'Many, although they believe they discover in a contemporary the qualities which elevate him above the rest, yet hesitate to acknowledge it; part, because they are fearful of censure for singularity; part, because they differ from him in politics or religion; and part, because they delight in hiding, like dogs and foxes, what they can at any time surreptitiously draw out for their sullen solitary repast. Such persons have little delight in the glory of our country ...' This admonition (especially the last sentence) is what I try to hold in mind when I give my sense of Charles Tomlinson's poetry.

LRB 20 September 1984 | PDF Download