A slight book in bulk is Robert Francis's "Stand With Me Here" … but I have found a distinct person in it. He is another of our New Englanders, terse and direct….

It would be inequitable to lay too great emphasis on this volume; but, in expectation of finding little, in reality I found much. Those who are fond of the lonely New England country world will find its flavor here, will discover dark comfort in these unobtrusive verses.

William Rose Benét, "The Phoenix Nest," in The Saturday Review of Literature (copyright © 1936 by Saturday Review; all rights reserved; reprinted by permission), Vol. 14, No. 24, October 10, 1936, p. 36.∗

[In Stand with Me Here] the terse yet tender quality of [Robert Francis'] verse springs from … deep roots in primitive experience. Not that he is ever obscure or tenebrous. He sees things clear-cut and draws them objectively whether it is a frog sitting...