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POETRY: a Magazine of Verse

OF EDITORS AND POETS

All youngpoetshate editors.And theyare right.When

a poet becomes tolerant of an editor, or an editor of a poet, it
is not a healthy sign; both have ceased to be alert.
A wrathfulyoungpoet is theeditor'sbestfriend.He may
but he is apt to be honest. The
be overbearing,insolent,
editorsuggestscuttingor changinghis poem; thepoet flies
into a rage and tells the editor what he thinks of him. This
inducesa properspiritof humilityin theeditor. (I am not
speakingof editorswho presentto insulta frontas smooth
and impervious as a hair-clothsofa!) It also relievesthe
poet, who, when he has cooled off a bit, wonders if his poem
accordingto theeditor'ssuggestion
mightnot be improved
or according to a new idea of his own. Both therefore con
tinue on a purely human footing of give and take, healthily
and sociable.
antagonistic
But theestablished
poet,whose reputation
isnotonlymade
but embalmed,and theeditorwho has no more plasticity
than a hitchingpost-there is no frictionbetween them.
They are mutually tolerant of one another. Why not? The
relationbetweenthemis simplythatof a manufacturerand
a retailerof any reasonably likesugar,or
staplecommodity,
molasses,or greencheese.
Of course it takes skill to be a poet! But an editor? A
pair of shears, a blue pencil, and a paste-pot! All the poet
inme hates the editor. The editor inme swears that I am
a very bad poet; the poet knows that the editor is a fool.
And neitherone isentirely
wrong! A. C. H.
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