By Bob Tedder • I am a strong supporter of mining free book bins with an eye toward rescuing old favorites from the tides of obsolescence. Such was the case with my “rehoming” of Roy J. Cook’s slim “One Hundred & One Famous Poems,” a collection that first appeared in 1916. As the world has become more complicated the call for inclusion makes unmanageable demands on the increasingly digitized brains of literate society. Simply put, too many worthy poems and poets are available to satisfy a volume whose index includes merely: 1. English poetry; 2. American poetry. This volume, while relieving the reader from the Mozartian dilemma of determining which notes to remove from the opera, also provides sweet succor to those who remember all the original chords. Therefore, the burden of this review lies in determining the efficacy of such works to the modern reader.
I am sure there are parents who still revisit Clement Moore every yuletide and teachers who still ponder whether “tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” But is there an audience still willing and able to learn from Poe how to define tintinnabulation or to become the patriot who speaks of “that rude bridge which arched the flood” or perhaps the sage parent who teaches that “only God can make a tree”? Sadly I suspect not. However, if that is not the case then this anachronistic collection provides a golden opportunity to redress the situation. If – and “if” is the most laconic word in the English language – there are those willing to shun the siren song of the quick-swipe syndrome, then consider this book enthusiastically endorsed.
Its new home is the Paw. On your next visit see if you can find and reread an old childhood friend. For the “Gogglenauts” among you, combine your media with your access instrumentality to find a poem in this book often quoted by James Tiberius Kirk or perhaps another featured as a song in a Robert Altman movie. Either way your participation validates the book’s utility. Enjoy.