Arthurian Poets: Edwin Arlington Robinson

“Traditional yet original, realistic but not in the reductive sense, he is too good to be forgotten.‘ ROBERTSON DAVIES Robinson’s Arthurian poems, published between 1917 and 1927, won him a Pulitzer prize and yet are almost unknown today. With his introspective New England style and quiet tone, he brilliantly catches the tension between reason and passion that drives the characters of the Arthurian stories: these are modern lovers, with the philosophical and psychological concerns of the early 20th century. The sense of vision, and the feeling that the world of Arthur mirrors the fate of all mankind, binds the diverse characters together, and makes Robinson’s poems essential reading for everyone interested in the Arthurian legend in the twentieth century.