Although August Derleth, the author of several published novels, has been writing poetry for a decade or more,… ["Hawk on the Wind" marks] his first appearance in book form as a poet. A marked individuality is the striking characteristic of these pieces, individuality of form as well as of thought. August Derleth has an ear acutely tuned both for meter and rhyme. In respect to the latter he is most subtle. Not merely at first glance at the page but after reading for several lines one believes him to be writing vers libre. Then gradually there intrudes a teasingly pleasing doubt which presently gives way before the perception of the negligently carried rhyme scheme. And the reason the rhyme was not noticed earlier is because, on analysis, the usual sharpness of the effect is found to have been muted by the uneven length of Mr. Derleth's lines. That is to say, unconscious expectancy being thwarted, the mind of the reader has been pleased with the blend of sound without having been halted by it. The result is one of overtones one often misses in more formally rhymed poetry….
August Derleth is from Wisconsin, and the human strength and individuality of those whose lives went to the building of that State are the very soil of much of his verse and the source of his power. Yet here again is subtlety. Mr. Derleth is not writing history, he is writing poetry; and in poetry, as he perceives, it is the thought evoked, rather than the thought exploited, which is more effective. Marquette and Frontenac, Black Hawk and Yellow Thunder; he can use a name and pass on, but an image has been projected into the reader's imagination. Mr. Derleth can even make a railroad the basis of poetic concept.
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Read the rest of this Criticism with our Derleth, August (William) 1909–1971: Critical Essay by Percy Hutchison Access Pass.
