SOURCE: "Themes: Obsessive Crystals," in her Peter Viereck, Twayne Publishers, 1968, pp. 33-51.

In the following chapter from her book-length study, Henault surveys the constants of Viereck's poetry—particularly the themes of poetic classicism and ethical responsibility.

On a first reading, Peter Viereck's poetry seems to have great variety. This apparent diversity, however, is not characteristic. For, as he once said, to him "A key word is 'obsessive'"; and in his first book of verse this word and its derivatives appear at least five times. The phrase "obsessive crystals" from "A Walk on Snow" in Terror and Decorum describes his consistency in theme, idea, technique, and subject matter. An important obsessive crystal is "Manhattan classicism," a term Viereck coined to name the type of poetry which he thought he and other poets of his generation were writing.

I Gi; I manhattan Classicism =~ Smanhattan Classicism

"The spirit of revolt is...