The Little Review, March 1917 (Vol. 3, No. 9) by Various

Description

The Little Review, March 1917 (Vol. 3, No. 9) by Various is a modernist literary magazine issue written in the early 20th century. It presents poetry, criticism, essays, and letters on contemporary literature, music, art, and theater, with a special dedication to the soprano Mary Garden. The issue opens with Amy Lowell’s “On A Certain Critic,” a vivid defense of artistic passion framed through Keats and the moon. A long central essay exalts Mary Garden’s artistry—her voice, movement, and transformative stage presence—while Richard Aldington’s two prose poems, “Thanatos” and “Hermes-of-the-Dead,” meditate on love, mortality, and the afterlife with classical poise and trench-borne sorrow. Margaret C. Anderson’s “Harold Bauer’s Music” argues for Bauer’s unique sound-centered pianism, followed by brief editorial pieces: a fierce antiwar litany; a reflective note on the final volume of Nexö’s Pelle the Conqueror; a defense of Amy Lowell’s craft; and a teaser on James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. “The Reader Critic” section hosts debates on virtuosity versus “spirit,” the meaning of “significant form,” and whether art should serve social movements, capped by a strong argument for art’s autonomy. The number closes with editorial notes and period advertisements, sustaining the magazine’s blend of modern aesthetics, cultural polemic, and advocacy for living artists. (This is an automatically generated summary.)