Harlem Gallery and Other Poems of Melvin B Tolson

Admired by unlikely allies during his lifetime, Tolson (1898-1966) is due for reappraisal: this weighty book of all his mature poetry may be just what he needs. Tolson sought to depict African-American concerns in long poems modeled on T.S. Eliot and Hart Crane. His Libretto for the Republic of Liberia (not an opera libretto, but a book-length ode in eight parts) tries to do for that African nation what Crane's The Bridge did for the U.S. His longer, harder book-length Harlem Gallery (left unfinished at his death) records, in 24 intricate sections, the thoughts and symbolic deeds of a figure called the Curator, who meditates on art and history as he encounters symbolic personages, among them the outspoken Dr. Nkomo; ""Hideho Heights,/ the vagabond bard of Lenox Avenue""; Guy Delaporte III, ""symbol/ of Churchianity""; and John Laugart, the powerful creator of a painting called Black Bourgeoisie: ""This castaway talent/ and I"" (the Curator and Laugart) ""were fated to be/ the Castor and Pollux of St. Elmo's fire/ on Harlem's Coalsack Way."" Tolson alludes to everything from Bessie Smith to Sir Toby Belch, ""the bulls of Bashan"" and the Sicilian Vespers; his elaborate lineations announce at once the worth of high, complex art and the integrity of Black experience. If his baroque approach frequently seems overblown, the ambitions behind it remain impressive and moving. Tolson provided his own annotations to Libretto; Harlem Gallery's battalions of allusions have quite properly prompted editor Nelson to add brigades of endnotes. This volume also includes Tolson's more conventional first book, Rendezvous with America (1944), and several shorter uncollected poems. Former Poet Laureate Dove's introduction furnishes useful hints for reading Tolson, linking him to other Black writers. (Oct.)