“Such a poetry attains a vitreous lucidity which has its own odd…” — Conrad Aiken

“Such a poetry attains a vitreous lucidity which has its own odd heatless charm.”

Describing verse whose crystalline precision is beautiful but emotionally cool · Essay, The Melodic Line: D. H. Lawrence, Scepticisms (1919)

Conrad Aiken

About Conrad Aiken

5 August 1889–17 August 1973

The story of Conrad Potter Aiken (August 5, 1889 – August 17, 1973) reads like something from a Gothic novel, yet it is the true foundation upon which one of twentieth-century America's most psychologically complex poets built his life and work. Born into comfortable circumstances in Savannah, Georgia, Aiken seemed…

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“It was his decision that his life had to be lived off-stage, behind the scenes, out of view.”

Expressing his lifelong preference for privacy over literary celebrity · Autobiographical essay, Ushant (1952)

“It is more striking to play a tune on the Chinese p'i-pa than on the banjo.”

Observing how rarity and unfamiliarity can be used to create an impression of distinction · Essay, A Pointless Pointillist: Ezra Pound, Scepticisms (1919)

“Is poetry to be merely a perfume reserved for our moments of languor?”

Challenging the restriction of poetry to beauty, sentiment and pleasant reverie · Essay, Poetry as Supernaturalism: William Stanley Braithwaite, Scepticisms (1919)

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