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Untitled Review of Pens for Wings by Emanuel Morgan

Pens for Wings by Emanuel Morgan

The Freeman, 3 June 1921, 286

It has been said that by the law of permutations if you juggle the Greek alphabet long enough you will get the Iliad. By juggling with the most incompatible images Emanuel Morgan in his Pens for Wings at least succeeds in reconstructing with surprising aptness three score or more modern poets. Whether it is Mr. T.S. Eliot, “The wedding cake of two tired cultures,” or Mr. William Carlos Williams, “Carbolic acid in love,” this skillful prestidigitation is applied with singularly accurate results. Mr. Chesterton, for instance, is revealed as “a Cardinal on a merry-go-round,” while poor Mr. Arthur Symons is nearly destroyed when the toss comes to “enchanted Roquefort.” Mr. Walter de la Mar is reproduced as dreamily as one of his own lines by “a door-knob in the mist.” What with Spectra and Pens for Wings, Emanuel Morgan threatens completely to outdistance his intimate and associate, Mr. Witter Bynner. The book is illustrated with caricatures by Messrs. Ivan Opffer and William Saphier, a happy combination, since Mr. Opffer’s predilection for the generous thumb-smear method complements Mr. Saphier’s trim hair-lines and silk-stockinged silhouettes.