21.
from PINS FOR WINGS
E.E. CUMMINGS
much ado
about the alphabet
CARL SANDBURG
a snow-pudding of fists
T.S. ELIOT
the wedding cake
of two tired cultures
GEORGE SANTAYANA
a withered
rose-window
ROBERT FROST
paintings by the family
in birch-bark frames
GERTRUDE STEIN
wings rotting
under water
D.H. LAWRENCE
lovers
eating thistle-pie
WALLACE STEVENS
the shine of a match
in an empty pipe
HARRIET MONROE
the Mother Superior
considers lingerie
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS
carbolic acid
in love
EZRA POUND
a book-worm
in tights
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
a pot of mould
at the foot of the rainbow
Witter Bynner
Witter Bynner was ostracized to a certain extent for springing on his compatriots the hoax of the Spectra school of poetry in the early years of the twentieth century. He and a friend posed as perfectly serious poets who created the Spectra poems, designed to lampoon poets like Ezra Pound. Critics took the Spectra poems as real works of art. As you can see in these sharp, epigram-like summations of the various poets Bynner knew, his wit was unrelenting, but very funny.
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