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The phrase "man of letters," so often used in praise of Allen Tate, may suggest by its near-obsolescence that Tate and his work belong to the past, perhaps to the Old South, not to the late-twentieth century. That impression is false. Tate may be difficult for literary historians and critics to label: regionalist, Fugitive, Agrarian, Southern gentleman, medievalist, classicist, New Critic, antipositivist, Roman Catholic apologist, neoromantic--these are a sample of the diverse descriptions of him. Yet, his distinctive literary works, whether poetry, fiction, or critical essays, are relevant today, despite his perhaps too great attachment to the Old South, to New Criticism, or to the modernist manner. His poems are sometimes difficult, at times over compressed and laconic, but works such as "The Cross," "To the Lacedemonians," and "Aeneas at Washington" bring rich and unique rewards for the attentive reader. Detailed knowledge of nineteenth-century Southern history, the Aeneid, and basic Christian dogmas may bring extra resonance to his poetry; familiarity with T.
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