SOURCE: “Moody's ‘The Fire Bringer’ For To-Day,” in The Sewanee Review, Vol. 26, October, 1918, pp. 407-16.

In the following essay, Shackford considers the spiritual relevance of The Fire Bringer to audiences coping with the trauma of World War I.

In the midst of the catastrophe of the war we look to our poets for help in interpreting the mystery of human experience. We seek the guidance of their ideals, the inspiration to be won from the vision of those who see a meaning beyond the chaos and suffering and brutality of the present. But when we look about for an American poet able to divine our special needs we look almost in vain. Few of our poets have the power to sting us into thought and to lead our thoughts into regions where we shall be purified and enlightened in spirit to such a degree that we shall find...