“I come to no conclusion as to what is to-day, or what may be to-morrow, American poetry.”

Accepting that literary traditions remain unsettled and continually evolving · Introduction, Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1921

• Change
• Humility
• Poetry

“The poets are doing satisfying and vitally excellent work, and it only remains for the American public to do its duty by showing a substantial appreciation.”

Calling upon the reading public to recognise and support contemporary poets · Introduction, Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1913

• Community
• Poetry
• Reading

“Here a new literary generation begins; poetry that is racial in substance, but with the universal note, with the conscious background of the full heritage of English poetry.”

Describing a generation joining particular cultural experience with universal poetic expression · Essay, The Negro in American Literature

• Identity
• Poetry
• Tradition