Readers of Mrs. Daryush's previous books know that she often feels cramped by traditional metres. [Verses: Fourth Book] contains an experimental element, marked as such by having the lines printed without capitals. These pieces follow the accent of "ordinary deliberate speech," and are written in "metres governed only by the number of syllables to the line."…

Her practice accepts such rhymes as "good" and "thewed," "ache" and "back," and she is so intimately occupied with the rhythm which reinforces her visualization that the actual rhyming is almost an irrelevance…. The writer remains one of the most patient and subtle of living poets, unresting in her resolution to explore and extend the borders of expression in verse. But she now reveals a new power to live with others, and to see into the hardness and narrowness of their lot….

Mrs. Daryush proves again her descriptive gift, and perhaps more...