Poetry, August 1923, Vol. 22 No. 5, pp. 284-5
The Shadow-Eater, by Benjamin de Casseres. American Library Service, New York.
Benjamin de Casseres is one of the most curious phenomena of our day. He has the heart of a prophet. If he had been born in the old Hebraic days he would have hurled colored anathema that might have rung down the ages. For he deals always with fundamental themes, with god, and his own soul, and the torment of being. He is at home with Nietzsche and he nods familiarly and condescendingly at Gautama Buddha. The lesser phases of life interest him not at all.
But with this heart of a prophet he has the mind of a New York maker of phrases, a pyrotechnician who delights in startling juxtapositions of words an glittering bursts of fire-works. He is the prophet, who should grow in loneliness and contemplation, dancing to the cheap [285] jangle of one of the most modern of cities. And he has lost thereby the simple sincerity of utterance which is the birthright of the true prophet.
Yet there are signs in this book—a reissue of The Shadow-Eater—that the jangle is not so alluring to him as it once was. Perhaps…if he should leave New York…but I doubt it.