SOURCE: A review of The Orb Weaver, in Christian Science Monitor, Vol. 52, No. 76, February 25, 1960, p. 11.

In the following review, Booth offers a favorable assessment of The Orb Weaver, comparing Francis to Emily Dickinson.

Robert Francis is clearly “The Orb Weaver” of his own poems, thick as they are with “The art, the craftsmanship, the cunning. / The patience, the self-control, the waiting. / The sudden dart and the needled poison” of words woven to net both sound and sense.

The poems invite a reader in to share what's common enough. “Squash in Blossom,” “Tomatoes,” or “Waxwings”; but like that other Amherst poet who caught intimations of the universe in the buzz of a backyard fly, Mr. Francis spins his verbal web to capture whatever images vibrate with a meaning of their own.

Like Emily Dickinson, Robert Francis sometimes claims more meaning than his images earn, but his best poems are...