New Signatures: Poems by Several Hands

(1932) is an anthology of verse by nine younger poets then still in their twenties, under the editorship of the poet-critic Michael Roberts. Its significance is that it appeared to announce both the arrival of a new poetic generation, one that came to be known as “Thirties Poets”, and the predominance within it of the values and styles of the “Auden group”. It was the first anthology in which poems by W. H. Auden, C. Day Lewis and Stephen Spender appear together, the latter two represented by seven poems each, Auden by only three. However,

New Signatures

is less momentous than its reputation in literary history might suggest: a slim volume containing only eighty pages of verse (with 22 of prefatory matter), its forty-three poems represent not…

1679 words

Citation: Baldick, Chris. "New Signatures". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 March 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39065, accessed 28 March 2024.]

39065 New Signatures 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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