The influences I spoke of were of course only such influences as every poet undergoes before he has entirely found himself. What you say about Arnold’s influence is quite correct; it acted mainly, however, as a power making for restraint and refinement, subduing any uncontrolled romanticism and insisting on clear lucidity and right form and building. Meredith had no influence on Songs to Myrtilla; even afterwards I did not make myself acquainted with all his poetry, it was only Modern Love and poems like the sonnet on Lucifer and the Ascent to Earth of the Daughter of Hades that I strongly admired and it had its effect on the formation of poetic style and its after-effects in that respect are not absent from Savitri. It is only Swinburne’s early lyrical poems that exercised any power on me, Dolores, Hertha, The Garden of Prosperine and others rank among his best works,—also Atlanta in Calydon, his later lyrical poetry I found too empty and his dramatic and narrative verse did not satisfy me. One critic characterized Love and Death as an extraordinarily brilliant and exact reproduction of Keats: what do you say to that? I think Stephen Phillips had more to do with it.   more »