The Other Journey

Poems New and Selected

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Katherine Garrison Chapin, editor

Miss Chapin’s poems are “pre-modern” and will not give the reader the shock that he has come to expect from our present “cult of experience.” Back of the self-imposed limitations which account for the formal excellence of these poems, there is great distinction of mind and sensibility.

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Allen Tate

The Other Journey: Poems New and Selected was first published in 1959. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

The title poem of Katherine Garrison Chapin’s collection conveys the quality of this volume of lyrics which have appeared in magazines in the last fifteen years, and a selection from her three earlier books now out of print. The Other Journey suggests the duality of experience – an outward journey in space and inward journey of the mind. Included is a brief essay on the poetic image, and there are three translations, poems by Paul Claudel, Gabriela Mistral, and Rafael Alberti.

Some of these poems have appeared in Harpers, New Republic, Nation, Saturday Review, American Scholar, Poetry, Contemporary Poetry, Voices, Ladies Home Journal, Prairie Schooner, and Botteghe Oscure. Miss Chapin’s earlier volumes of poetry are Outside of the World, Time Has No Shadow, and Plain Chant for America.

Katherine Garrison Chapin was the wife of Francis Biddle, former Attorney General of the United States. The Biddles lived in Washington, D.C.

Miss Chapin’s poems are “pre-modern” and will not give the reader the shock that he has come to expect from our present “cult of experience.” Back of the self-imposed limitations which account for the formal excellence of these poems, there is great distinction of mind and sensibility.

—

Allen Tate

The collection has unity, though not the unity of a strongly marked style. There is a pervasive sense of traditional modes, and of a formal poise, well-tempered and dexterous. And though not overlarge, the collection has variety and range – the range through the years and in the play of a woman’s experience of a gracious, clear understanding.

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Leonie Adams