“Mr Kernahan’s book is a witty and spirited trifle, by no means destitute of revealing touches.”
+ Springf’d Republican p11a Je 27 ’20 650w
“The interest of Mr Kernahan’s little book lies in the fact not that he knew Swinburne but that he knew Swinburne’s friend [Watts-Dunton].”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p730 D 11 ’19 750w
KERR, R. WATSON. War daubs. *$1 Lane 821
20–5692
This collection of war poems reveals the agonized soul of a poet amid the horrors of war for which he has nothing but a curse. He does not see in it “a glorious, cleansing thing” and scorns to speak with easy eloquence of “war and its necessity” or “war’s magnificent nobility.” Some of the titles are: From the line; To a sorrowing mother; The gravedigger; A dead man; Home; Faith; In bitterness; Escape; Prayer.
Booklist 17:22 O ’20 Boston Transcript p4 Ap 21 ’20 220w
“Imperfect assimilation might be diagnosed as the chief malady of these sketches from dugout and camp. The author has completely digested neither his war experiences nor the aesthetic of the new poetry. Despite his force and sincerity, he is treading a little too closely in the footsteps of a more famous contemporary.”