David Jaffe at The Nation:
Every sentence of “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” was elegant and foreboding. The mother is having second thoughts; the father is exaggerating his fortune. Delusions of grandeur, and Delmore hasn’t even been conceived. There is no affection here. Regrets only.
But poems would sustain his career. Delmore’s brilliance was unchecked, and it came out as it did. The original edition of In Dreams Begin Responsibilities contained his most anthologized poems, including “The Heavy Bear Goes With Me” and “The Ballad of the Children of Czar.” All that early recognition could only go in one direction. The major fall, the minor lift. T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens sent fan letters after the publication of the book. Eliot would tell Delmore that he was the great poet of his generation, writing, “You are certainly a critic, but I want to see more poetry from you; I was much impressed by In Dreams Begin Responsibilities.” Nearly 50 years after his death, we now have The Collected Poems of Delmore Schwartz, edited by Ben Mazer, and it makes the case that Delmore never stopped writing beautiful verse amid the Sturm und Drang of his life.
more here.
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