SOURCE: “The Poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson,” in Moderns & Contemporaries: Novelists, Poets, Critics, The Harvester Press, 1985, pp. 27-45.

In the following essay, Lucas offers an appreciative overview of Robinson's poetry, particularly expressing admiration for his portrayals of ordinary characters.

When Edwin Arlington Robinson died in 1935, his loss was mourned not only by America's writers but by statesmen and citizens whom one would not readily accuse of an interest in literature. Robinson was a famous man. Now, some thirty years later, the fame has shrunk, and it is my guess that the works are very little read. Certainly it is a matter of some difficulty to find a copy of his collected works. Not that Robinson has been neglected by literary historians or wiped from the record of American poetry. Far from it; his position has never been more secure. But that is just the trouble. Talking recently with...