The Province from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 48

Wlheii'e edlittowrs fiesnr By Andreas Schroeder NINE BLACK POETS. R. B. Shuman, editor. Moore Publishing North Carolina.

$6.95. 236 pp. AN ANTHOLOGY OF VERSE BY AMERICAN NEGROES. N. White and W.

Jackson, editors. $6.95. 250 pp. BOOHS I It appears that in North America anything numbering more than two and possessed of a name must be categorized, listed or otherwise tabulated and wrapped in Consequently, anthologies of "black Negro verse, an inevitable' American invention, are rolling off the presses on the assumption that a separate black American literature is in the making and should therefore be anthologized to prove it. A double-barrelled release by the Moore Publishing Co.

of two such anthologies is the latest sampling in this line. The most interesting phenomenon in both books is, strangely enough, not so much the so-called "black but the introductions to it. A more paranoid trio of editors you could hardly find. Desperately afraid of offending their Negro readers, yet conscious of their role as critical editors and their responsibility to literary critical standards, in addition trying to do their part in easing the black-white tension, they fall back repeatedly into an empty, non-committal commentary or a carefully tolerant, bordering on the patronizing, attitude. In saying this I don't intend to call down their effort so much as to point out the frustrating difficulties involved.

Quite frankly, I'm glad to be re the poet, to revive our interest in these fact by telling them to us in new and arresting ways in short, in a new style. A curious fact about the black poetry represented is that those poems written in Negro dialect are by far the most successful. They have a natural cadence, an impetus inherently their own that every knowledgeable reader of poetry instantly recognizes as having hit the target broadside, as being somehow, often inexplicably but without doubt In opposition to this the "serious literary" poetry of the Negro appears in its early stage like badly copied Alexander Pope and later a little like worn-out Keats. All of which is easily explained in terms of what has been available to the Negro poet at any given time, and is therefore not a criticism. But consistent throughout all of the 223 years of Negro, writing is a musical rhythm that almost forces tha reader to sing the poems out loud when he is reading them.

The rhythms them-selves have undergone changes; of course, from the harmony and regular cadences of the hymn to the syncopation and discord of jazz. But the music remains, layered inextricably throughtout the fabric of the lines, sometimes hardly conscious of itself, but always there. excessively angry (though not necessarily loud) or hotly protesting. And while I find it hard to accept much of it as good (international) poetry, I very much sympathize with it for the reasons for which it exists and how it came about. Obviously a man is going to write about what is uppermost in his mind, and if a revolution is uppermost, we'll get revolution poetry.

The problem is that in Art, which is an entertainment, the content is almost always old, repetitive or at best unoriginal, and it Is not so much what you say. as how you say it that will govern the success or failure of what you have to say. Revolution images, blood, crushing heels, whips, guns, rats and poverty have been used for years and years; these facts don't change and no one expects them to change simply for the sake of Art whichpeeds a few new images to keep going. But it is up to the artist, viewing their work rather than having to do it The primary problem of the two books is, however quite certainly the fault of the editors, and the introductions give repeated evidence of this. Basic to their choice of poems for the anthologies which between them are implied to be representative of American Negro writing from its initial beginnings in 1746 to the present the editors appear to have used a number of very prim and almost pseudo-sophisticated criteria by which to gauge the poems to be included, among which phrases like "esthetically "real contribution to "of lasting quality" or their equivalents abound.

It sounds a little like an attempt to make black poetry white by a process of selection. If there really is a unique black poetry, then all criteria usually used for "white" writing should not apply. At least not in determining what is to be includ of black poetry If this was the best that American Negro poets can produce. A second look at the "specifications" listed or implied in the introduction tended to change my mind. Who knows what other, possibly better poetry is being written by American Negroes not represented in these volumes? I suspect a fair amount.

Sociologically, of course, any number of volumes such as these are fascinating. The Negro poetry represented here is almost all extreme in one way or another; either surreligious, ed in a representative black anthology. Frankly, I have my doubts about the whole idea of "black" and "white" writing. Literature as I see it has always been either international or regional, but not differentiated by colors. It sounds, as I said, like another American invention.

Despite the editors' "literary most of the poetry in both anthologies Is not particularly exciting or exemplary of great literature. At first this brought me to the opinion that there was really no valid reason for putting out anthologies The crossword 118 Drones. 120 Mineral springs. 121 Inc. in Britain.

122 Sole. 124 Jar. 125 Yard. 127 Extinct bird. 128 Famous general.

131 Thirst quencher. 133 Refresh yourself (see A-25). 138 Clam cooker. 139 Silkworm. 140 Annuls.

141 Grafted: her. 142 Man's name. 143 Fit. 144 Dueling blades. 145 Road.

DOWN ACROSS 1 Possess. 5 Excellent. 10 Betel leaf. 13 Estate. 19 Maple tree.

29 Localized vector. 21 Skin affection. 23 In heavy traffic one Should be 25 Stop and rest 28 Mentally. 29 Indian weight. 30 Prayer.

31 Flatfish. 32 Jabber-wocky word. 34 Indian foot soldier. 35 United. 36 Measured quantity.

38 Asleep. 40 Road: abbr. 41 Plant stem. 44 Soft cheese. 45 Dormouse.

47 Highland fox. 49 Cut off. 50 cross. 51 Arab chiefs. 52 Command.

56 Address for GIs. 57 Somber. 58 Naive ones. 59 Kitchen utensil. 61 Victoria's 62 Roman Pluto.

63 Assistant. 64 Preserves. 65 Sandy tract. 66 NCO. 67 Builds.

69 TV's Vanocur. 71 More recent. 72 Light blow. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 j' 13 1 4 15 It 17 18 fj "l9 Jl 23 21 24 25 2 2i I 28 TFrH31 -r" S-r ji.i 1 I I 41 42 43 14 45 46 17 0 49 50 I 51 j52 53 54 5 56 57 Wmm 59 60 61 62 63" b4 fjS 66 Ti 68 69 70 kiail -77- JXJ73 pr i ff 17 18 19 80 fTll "6 2 "eT" 84 5 86 87 88 I 1 89 91 92 93 94 95 JCl' 96 T97 98 Iss- 100 101 103 TST mm mmt Lbi 105 106 107 108 10S amskmem mmm I 9mm Ba am Wui-uu riii 112 1 113 1 1 1 4 115 (Tie Tng 1 1 119 120 I 121 I t- i-Jt 1 -J 1 12 21 123 1 124 125 126 I I 127 rj 128 125 130 13l 132 133 134 135 136 137 1 3 a 139 140 141 H-l 1 I 1 attl hHijt-tii 73 Wise: si. 74 With might.

75 John and Paul. 76 Venetian magistrate. 77 Records. 80 Ahead of: dial. 81 Ten million rupees.

82 More attractive. 83 Medical term: abbr. 84 Short line of horsehair. 85 Selected. 86 Javanese measure.

87 Time zone: abbr. 88 Hole in one. 89 Bonnet strings. 90 Mountain nymphs. 94 Equality.

95 Month. 96 Steamers. 97 Withered. 99 Legume. 100 Ike's command.

101 Follows prin temps. 102 Shallow dish. 103 Troubled. 104 Fedora. 105 Memento.

107 Expunge. 108 Fragrance. 109 Prong. 110 Greek letter. 112 Waistcoats.

113 Indites. 114 Jewish festivaL 115 Intimation. 24 Auld lang 26 Twitch: colloq. 27 Drive slantingly. 33 Scraps.

35 Spanish cheer. 36 Be careful. 37 French river. 38 Zodiac sign. 39 Blower.

41 Dig. 42 Ungulate. 43 Got up. 44 Nail. 45 Ferment.

46 Glowing coal. 48 Physician: abbr. 50 Friable. 53 Autocrat. 54 Employ.

55 King of dog. 57 Entrances. 58 Villain: si. var. 59 Flycatcher.

60 Small bills. 64 Tangle. 65 Hollows. 68 David's partner. 70 Soap plant.

71 Snare. 75 Incites. 76 Sand ridge. 77 Telegraph key 78 Handle-shaped. 79 Highway 80 Fish.

81 Agree. 82 Showed concern. 84 Saline: Scot. 85 Tin lizzies. 86 Chosen.

Berry trees. Throe. Shift. Sea eagle. Small wood.

Rake. Indonesian BCIFjl jlli Ml All 1 a iluj iMK A MA A ig i Jp jjSLB 4 Ji Jj if, I Oj nT GTg IBS EfqP Si u. inSa ssi inn 3s inn; 3 1 1 1 JLW AIMcjEiH KBMi i FBs eMTTo utTtsEg 'T 1 0 1 1 ffwm ZWli33 Im- I I iliAi I NigBtTlRj A 0 ig pa7' "IimTi' II Bl- A IP IT I A 1 1 it. II ID FHTa I i it. If EOT A in IP tribe.

8 Connective. 9 Aligns. 10 Bucket. 11 Formerly. Ptolemais.

12 Direction. 13 Bring about: Fr. 14 Senior. 15 Rubber tree. 16 Harvest.

17 Partner of Tippecanoe: 18 Serf. 22 Redactors. 103 Scope. 106 That is: Lat. abbr.

107 Injurious. 108 Confirm. 109 Spread. Ill Positive poles. 114 Pierce.

88 Expels. 89 Destroy. 91 Plant louse. 92 Boy's name. 93 Satisfier.

96 Caste. 98 Graceful trees. 102 Bishop, e.g. 139 Barely makes out. 132 Soul: Fr.

134 Brazilian macaw. 135 Dandy. 136 Expression of disgust. 137 Fabric. 115 Passes.

116 Old English coin. 117 Man's name. 119 Nimble. 120 Indian. 121 Aeolian deposit.

123 Bring forth young. 125 Richochet. 162 Sphagnum moss. 172 Ancient Persian. 128 Russian river.

129 Devours. Last week's solution TILE PROVINCE, Jane 27, 1969 1.