From the Back Cover
"It is our good luck that one of Britain's most gifted poets was invited, shortly before his death, to set forth his views of poetry's present estate. Edwin Muir was a man of letters in a great tradition, and one whose own life was affected by many of the stresses of our time. What he has to say about the place of his art in society is especially cogent and free from can't . . . Muir's greatest gift was the ability to refashion from the fragmented modern world a sense of the unity and continuity of life."--Daniel G. Hoffman, Saturday Review

"These amiable statements are valuable for the light they shed on poetry and for their revelation of the belief of an important poet."--Library Journal


About the Author
Edwin Muir (1887-1959) was born in Deerness, Orkney Island, Scotland, to a tenant farmer. While in his mid-teens Muir and his family were forced to leave the Orkneys and move to Glasgow. This move, coupled with the ensuing deaths of his parents and two of his brothers, led Muir to undergo psychoanalysis. T.S. Eliot called Muir's poetry remarkable and said he "will remain among the poets who have added glory to the English language." Muir was a well-respected literary crtic and co-translator with his wife of the works of Franz Kafka.