Herbert Read (1893-1968) was a poet, critic, captain in the British Army, and an anarchist. He argued for an organic approach to art and literature and published many critical works concerning the philosophy of art. Read was knighted in 1953 and spent his later years as a writer, teacher, and publisher.
My Credo: A Symposium of Critics
Autumn 1950
II. The Critic as Man of Feeling
At the basis is pathos. Sympathy and empathy—feeling with and feeling into: these are the essential psycho-physical processes without which all criticism is null and dull. It follows from this […]
Nonfiction
Autumn 1939
The Present State of Poetry: A Symposium: In England, in France, in the United States
I. In EnglandBy HERBERT READ To one whose practice in the art was formed a quarter of a century ago, the present state of English poetry cannot be altogether satisfying, […]
The Kenyon Review Credos
The Critic as Man of Feeling
From The Kenyon Review, Autumn 1950, Vol. XII, No. 4 At the basis is pathos. Sympathy and empathy—feeling with and feeling into: these are the essential psycho-physical processes without which […]