SOURCE: Review of Let's Have Some Poetry, in Critical Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring, 1961, pp. 89-90.

In the following review, Skelton argues that Jennings's penchant for simplifying and her coy tone weaken an otherwise admirable work.

The annual P.E.N. Anthology of New Poems usually contrives to achieve a high level of competence without being in the least exciting, and the latest in the series is no exception to the rule. There are 64 poems by 51 contributors, and, if one ignores the presence of Edith Sitwell’s ridiculous and pretentious La Bella Bona Roba, one could fairly say that every poem deserves its place. Nevertheless, doubts cross one’s mind. Are there no young poets nowadays attempting to break new ground? Were none of the editors captivated by an eccentric poem, or tempted by an unfashionable one? It is good to see more work by such admirable and as...