In two books, Principles of Literary Criticism and Science and Poetry, Mr. I. A. Richards had advanced the theory that the reading of poetry could and should replace for us the holding of religious and other fundamental beliefs.

He has now published [Practical Criticism], and, apart from a desire to restate his views, his reason for doing so is, I presume, that people had protested that they did not find reading poetry could be for them equivalent to holding fundamental beliefs, for in it he seeks to show to such people that the fault lies not with poetry, but with their way of appreciating or criticizing it.

The burden of the book is that we do not know how to appreciate or criticize poetry. (p. 97)

[Mr. Richards] provides directions for what would be, according to him, the proper appreciation or criticism of poetry. When we read a poem...