Dannie Abse abstracts a mild and attractive romanticism from the territory of Larkin and Edward Thomas: and one could say that Larkin is better with the kind of pathos attempted in say, 'From a Suburban Window' and 'Interview with a Spirit Healer'. In fact, some of the poems in A Small Desperation are almost too gentle and approachable. Abse has an easy, public vein which succeeds agreeably in the lighter pieces (like the Causley-ish 'Ballad of Oedipus Sex') but can carry over disarmingly into some of the serious ones, reducing the effect. Where the more questioning elements are given rein, he is sometimes very telling: 'Fah' especially, and 'Hunt the Thimble', start some disquieting echoes.

Alan Brownjohn, "Pre-Beat," in New Statesman (© 1968 The Statesman & Nation Publishing Co. Ltd.), Vol. 76, No. 1951, August 2, 1968, p. 146.∗