Modernist Magazines and Digital Humanities

         Much of the world was in financial distress after World War I, a time during which the editor of Poetry, Hariet Monroe, was vacationing in the United States southwest. Naturally, many of the modernist magazines during this era touched directly on the financial after affects of World War I in articles and advertisements, Poetry instead chronicles is a collection of Cowboy Songs, New Mexico Folk Songs, and Western Poems. This is in direct response, to the editors fishing trip to New Mexico as illustrated by her essay "In Texas and New Mexico: "While campaign oratory is loud in the land, and the nation is weighing it's two or three candidates in the balance and wishing it had more, what can most of us do but go fishing?"(September 1920 Vol.16 No.6 p.324). A bit of a trail-blazer, Monroe continually writes on a newer model typewriter than her contemporaries; she is forever bucking current social mores in her own manner.

         As a  woman of literary stature during the suffrage movement, she speaks nothing of the efforts of her fellow females until 1920, and when she does it is practially in opposition. In an article titled "Women or Men?" Monroe confirms what statistics of her era show: that men are superior to women in the field of poetry: 

                                             The controversy is amusing, but perhaps also enlightening.
                                             The editor had suspected masculine preponderance in
                                             the magazine, but by no means to such a degree as the figures
                                             prove. They confirm her impression that more men
                                             than women find in this art—for better or worse, for joy
                                             or sorrow—their friend and confidant.(June 1920 Vol.16 No.3 p.147).

As illustrated in the essay, "The Conflicted Role of Women During World War I," Hariet Monroe was an unconventional feminist: "In her editorial policy, Hariet Monroe exemplified the goals of the feminist movement by acting in a position of power, but she did it without affiliating her magazine with the movement" (June 2009). Instead, she focused primarily on the culture of poetry in America, which was at the time as unappreciated as the role of women in the workforce. It was her role as a woman in the magazine which caused her to play a role in the feminist movement. Likewise, the role of Poetry in initiating culture helped to bolster American nationalism after World War I. The subject of the southwest is present in her Editorial because it represents to her the roots of American poetry. It is for this reason that she quotes The Nation in her essay "Frugality and Depreciation" which argues to fund poetic endeavors (namely her magazine) in spite of financially trying times: "The pitiful amount of public or private assistance given to American artists, men of letters, scientists, is one of the scandals of our civilization."(October 1920 Vol.17 No.1 p.31). Hariet Monroe supports women insofar as she is a successful woman, similarly, she supports her country insofar as it funds her art-of-choice and her magazine.

A modern woman of the post-war world:

by Michal Mechlovitz, Kim Velez, and T. Noelle Williams

Under Construction

The commencement of World War I possessed great influence over national sympathies around the world. From 1914, through the duration of the war in 1919, people's nationalistic identities were strongly affected due to the circumstance of crisis and turmoil that proved rampant throughout the international strata. Not only were feelings swayed in regard to people's own native lands, but they were respectively moved when considering foreign cultures, and the races therein as well. Whether positive, negative, or indifferent, nationalistic and race oriented views became evident throughout the literary and artistic world, which hold true to be apparent in Blast, The New Age, The Owl, Poetry, Scribner's, and Wheels magazines. Each of these literary magazines had published issues at some point during the war itself, (some had existed before and after the fact as well,) and each possess context that, while unique to the individual, parallels the inner thought process of authors and artists of the era in regard to the subjects of Nationalism and Race in a time when international tensions and weariness of cultural identity thrived.

Prior to the start of the World War I feeling of nationalism could be seen within mangy publications. Within the First issue of Blast the one is exposed to the extreme thoughts of the Manifesto I of Vorticism. The writers combine their thoughts on all countries together and bring their readers their opinions on the how one country compare to another. At first glance the writer seems to criticizes England and France on pages 11-14  describing how naive and they were and set in their ways which did not allow other to succeed in their own light. The narrator disagrees with the Victorian outlook of he English people as vampires who suck the life out of others and police the world so others would not over ride them in any shape or form. England was a machine, which others must obey, if not cursed thoughts that went against it. Once England was blasted for its position of power France was then criticized for set ways as well.

“Complacent young man,
so much respect for Papa
and his son ! –Oh ! Papa
is wonderful: but all papas
are! (pg 13)

The respect for ones country was described through the comparison of a son to his father. The thought process of the French and English people was no country was greater than theirs. The narrator depicts the feeling of nationalism the people held for their countries. Even though he described them as naïve and empty, the land, which they reside, is never wrong in their action only those who surround them are at fault.

Within the Second Manifesto within Blast’s fist issue a combination of writers described how battles are fought on the basis of which side one is on. http://dl.lib.brown.edu/jpegs/1143210060500013.jpg 

“We fight first on one side, then on the other
but always for the same cause, which is
neither side or both sides and ours” (pg 30).

The narrator describes the use of nationalism once again for the reason one fights for any cause within time of war or focal point in that matter. Even with the success of developing new views and strives for equality and peace primitive thoughts still lived on. The cause is not revaluate in many cases due to the face that the cause can not be seen by thoughts who fought. “ Our cause is NO Man’s (pg 35). He then goes on describing how England produces the greatest artist due to the style compare to that of the Americas or Russia ect.. The sense of Nationalism is felt through out the Manifesto when describing the success of the modern world. http://dl.lib.brown.edu/jpegs/1143210160781264.jpg . The Englishmen where thought to have own influenced the European world in modern technology as France on did to the world of Art. The Modern world was the product of Anglo Saxon genius and the success of others could never be compared. 

With in The New Age the reader was overcome with many different aspects of the war and what it brought to the home front. With in the weekly section "Notes of The Week" many of its main focal point was an incite on government issues including nationalism and the conflicts on foreign policy. With in the Feb Issue of "The New Age" 1918 the editor The editor includes a quote which sets the tone for the whole issue. He states “ It is difficult, of course, for good – nature Englishmen such as we will allow our pacifists to be, to conceive that there can exist in modern civilized State  like Prussia a ruling class rhar does not mean weill in their sense of the world” ( Vol XXII No. 17 pg 331). The sense of pride and superiority of Great Britain was felt the thought of was continuation of the article in when discussing the socialist government and the independence of the Ukraine.

  With in the article Land Power or Sea Power Ramiro de Maeztu  in the February 18,1918 issue of New Age the debate between the effectiveness of German army to the armies of Britain, Japan and The United States. The feel of nationalism with in this article is seen when the Maeztu begins to discuss how the aim of the Allies is to prevent Germany from making use of the people of other nations such as the Slav race. Even with the fact that Germany as a result of war expanded and expanded their influence over the slave nations its land power dose not compare to the power brought by the Sea. The Northern armies remained convinced that these armies were able to arrive in time because sailing vessels to move at the speeds five or six times greater than armies which proceeded at the place of an infantry march. Even with Germany’s influence over the Slavic nations and their home front advantage Maeztu still proved his argument of the effectiveness of the English sea power. He praised their tactics and embraced the greatness of  the Allies and Great Britain.
   
The literary magazine Poetry was first published by author and poet Harriet Monroe in 1911. Based out of Chicago, Poetry put hundreds of poetry works into print, with issues published monthly, through the duration of World War I. The magazine appears to take a somewhat pacifist approach towards the war, despite the national cry for disunion from foreign correspondence. In several of the works published in the war's earlier years, the concept of feeling the nationalistic need to separate from foreign races is not only defied, but is somewhat portrayed as ignorant arrogance. In Amy Lowell's poem "The Foreigner", the poet depicts a battle scene from the perspective of a soldier from the opposing end of the war. He discusses how he was ill spoken of by the white natives, but still is certain of his own profound human qualities. The narrator is confident and certain of his cunning, as well as his superiority to the negativity he finds himself the target of. Indeed, he rises above because he is certain he will have the last word: "You Apes! You Jack-Fools!/ You can show me the door,/ And jeer at my ways,/ But you're pinked to the core./ And before I have done,/ I will prick my name in,/ With the front of my steel,/ And your lily- white skin/ Shall be print with me./ For I've come here to win!" Lowell includes a description of the foreigner's unusual attire, as well as his awkward hair, stature, and the shape of his nose. It is clear that she does not see this character as a lesser human being whatsoever, and that she does not necessarily hold a firm belief in the cause of the war, if she should say the opposing end has more courage and advantage.

In the next month's issue, Harriet Monroe includes an editorial commentary titled "The Enemies We Have Made." A note to her fervent subscriber's four years after the first publication of the magazine, and well into the early months of World War I, Monroe's commentary discussed the vitality of friends from various cultures. Monroe discusses her wide international readership base with a grateful tone, one that reads success to her cause. She writes: "From France, Italy, and England, from India, China, and New Zealand, and even from our next-door neighbors, these salutations have come; from poets laurelled and obscure, from editors and critics, classicists and radicals. To all who send them, much thanks; their greetings have power to change paper and ink into flesh and blood." Such an outlook is one that is truly humanist; a sympathizer to all humanity, Monroe puts forth these issues with the need to reach beyond a national level. It is evident in her contribution to Poetry that despite the war, communications and interactions with other cultures and races remain a vital aspect of what makes Poetry thrive. While the war may have affected the contents of the medium of poetry, the intention of it remains universal and cosmopolitan.

The Owl is another literary magazine based out of London from around the same era; however, only three were ever printed, and each of the three printed in a different season four years apart. The first issue was published in 1915, a good year into the war. It is difficult to derive what kind of emotional charge The Owl had towards other races. The magazine itself is filled with poetry of a light-hearted nature, mostly clever bits of optimism, or rhyming, sing song like poems on general topics such as love and nature. It seems as though it's opinion is somewhat ambivalent; in fact, it is stated that the aim of the magazine was not to be political, nor was it geared to any particular Modernist movement. Its purpose was a simple one: to publish and share art. Due to the minimal number of issues, very few works can be found that have any relevance to the issue of race. It is not a particularly well founded theme of The Owl. Still several unusual drawings can be found; one a watercolor called "The Indian", and the other a drawing titled "Gyp." Both works are portraits of people that would seem out of the norm, or somewhat exotic to a youthful poetic magazine from London. Both works possess aspects of these people being foreign; however, neither are viewed in a delicate sense. Both drawings seem only to be studies, an ambiguous observance of a different life than one familiar to artists.

The copies of Scribner's that we have available to us through the MJP fall on interesting dates. The first magazine, dated January 1915, is a year after WWI started and the last issue, dated December 1916, is a year before the US entered combat and three years before the end of the war. From the first issue available the war is a popular issue for the magazine. After wading through many many advertisments - the first and last third of each issue seems to be ads - the reader will find six articles in the first issue alone that deal with the war. One story in this issue, "Coals of Fire" by Mary R.S. Andrew, disscusses the issues of Nationalism verses the Suffragist cause. The main character stands at a suffrage rally agruing for the women to put aside the cause to stand up for the English men who are dying. When an older lady states that the war is not thier cause, she replies "Aren't we English before anything else?" The story illustrates discussions that must have been going on at the time. While some suffragettes believed that England came before the movement others felt they were women above all else. It is an interesting discussion in Nationalism verses the individual.

The magazine Wheels was mainly a way for a few poet friends to publish their work. The magazine was first published just three years before the end of the war and stops running three years after the end. During the war Wheels mentions the war very little if at all, yet its influence, the overall dark and disheartened pitch that the world was in during the war is evident in the poetry that is published in it. One would be hard pressed to find a happy poem in Wheels. For instance the poem, "The Mother" by Edith Sitwell, begins very sweetly, yet with a single line at the end of the second stanza the caring is sucked out of the poem. The poem has waves of sweetness - the care that goes into creating and raising a child - and bitterness - "They live to curse us; and they die." This dark look at motherhood is born out of a world that is losing its sense of humanity which is what many people saw in WWI. Wheels also takes on the war after its end in the issue that is dedicated to Wilfred Owen, a poet who died in battle. The poetry in this issue is full of thoughts against the war and there is no blame placed on any nation nor is there a rally cry to help one. To the poets in Wheels the evil seems to be the war itself.

In some instances the writers of the time saw nationalism as a reason to go to war orto put aside other causes during war, yet we also see that a great deal of writers during the time saw the war as an evil towards the entire human race. For every article found praising the war and calling people towards the war effort, there were three denouncing the war, sometimes within the same article. The authors of the time showed that no matter how much a person loved their country, some things were to atrocious to seam reasonable.

The Irish periodical Dana was produced a total of twelve times in Dublin in the years 1904 and 1905, and was devoted to the discussion of an emerging and evolving Irish consciousness, as well as to relevant literature of the day.  There was no artwork and, although each issue featured the work of poets, the pieces included in Dana were primarily essays.  As is evident from the magazine’s pages, the cause of the Irish people subject to English imperialist power was particularly important and manifested itself often in discussions of national vs. racial identity and language.  Also regularly emphasized was the importance of open debate pertaining to these issues: billing itself as a magazine of independent thought, the authors included in Dana, such as Frederick Ryan, promoted rigorous discussion of various ideas to encourage this mission.  Another recurring theme, especially in Dana’s poetry, was the significance of nature.  While many articles dealt with the friction between the Irish and the English, nature poetry within Dana’s pages was ostensibly included to celebrate and glorify the bucolic lifestyle of the Irish people. 

Questions of national identity, particularly those pertaining to race, nationalism, and the Gaelic language were of great importance to the editors of Dana.  In his article “Mr. Wyndham on Race and Nationality,” which addresses the introductory speech of English political figure, and Chief Secretary for Ireland, George Wyndham upon his installation as Lord Rector of Glasgow University, P. John Boland criticizes the lack of national feeling among his fellow Irish.  While Wyndham encourages fealty to particular races (or "clans" such as it was within Ireland), Boland retorts that such a suggestion is merely the thinly veiled attempt of an English imperialist to weaken the resistance of nations, such as Ireland, against English imperialist rule.  "Pride of race," according to Boland only promotes in-fighting and division among the Irish, "forbid[ding them] to agree" (Dana 270) and this, the author maintains, is exactly what Wyndham wants: to “let [the Irish] forget that [they are] Irish, that such a place as Ireland exists!” and to instead remember that they belonged to the “great British Empire” (270).  Ultimately, Boland views “want of pride of nationality” as “the curse of “Ireland” (269).  He argues that the development of a national spirit as tantamount to the success of the Irish people, while pride of race can only degrade both the Irish cause and the character of the Irish themselves.  Boland concludes with an indictment of the Empire, as it interferes with the liberty of nations and their people.  He states his belief “That one race or nation should control the actions of any other race or nation is incompatible with the fundamental principles of liberty,” and expresses his hope, synchronous no doubt with his wishes for a nationalist pride movement in Ireland, that “the world will one day perceive what the few perceive,” and work to topple such a system (272).

Questions of Irish identity pertaining to language were also raised in the pages of Dana.  While many Irish strove to reinstate Gaelic as the official language spoken in Ireland, as it was symbolic of Irish cultural freedom from oppressive, imperialist England, others such as frequent Dana contributor Frederick Ryan, believed that the widespread usage of English in Ireland was not only inevitable but could be beneficial to its people.  In his article, "On Language and Political Ideals," Ryan references the economic and cultural freedom of the United States, despite the fact that “it has not a separate language” as a positive example for his cause (275).  He suggests that “theorising” about the language question distracts from a more important goal: namely, “the problem of how to create in Ireland a people, healthy, educated, cultured in the best sense, with sufficient material comfort, developing in their minds and their bodies to the end of maximising life, sensitive to intellectual and moral values, and conducting their life on lines of justice, and freedom, and good faith” (275).  While Ryan does not disparage Gaelic “as a proper and honoured study in any Irish university,” he imagines the effort to force its reinstatement as the national spoken language could be more costly than beneficial, as the influence of English in Ireland was already deep and far-reaching.  To attempt to reverse its effects would be unfairly disruptive to the real people of Ireland, whose lives were conducted already in English.  The author ultimately believes that a language which promotes any kind of “nationality” but does not serve the people of Ireland could only serve a symbolic, and not a practical, good.  A nationalist movement, according to Ryan, therefore, should be secondary to creating an Ireland which provides its people with the greatest opportunities for intellectual, cultural, and economic success.

In a time when Irish tempers flared, the editors of Dana strove to not indulge in sectarianism. They were, however, sympathetic to the nature of debate and ardently encouraged the practice. In another essay, “Criticism and Courage,” Frederick Ryan writes of the importance of discussing the political and religious implications of the times constructively and without fear. Tossing aside the idea that everyone is entitled to their own, quiet opinion, he attacks the government and the churches for trying to squash the discussion in public forums. His essay outlines the exact reasons that Dana magazine was important: it was, as their tagline suggests, a magazine of independent thought in a time when independent thought desperately needed examination.

Ryan begins with the discussion of a club meeting he attended, where they talked about the importance of independent thought in Ireland, but came to the conclusion that "one should have as few opinions as possible, and no expression of them at all," (145). Offended by not only the irony of the debate, but by the ridiculous idea that independent thought should mean independent to one’s self, Ryan goes on to criticize the tendency of religion and politics to try to avoid criticism. Believing that this stems from a fear of finding out that their ideas are wrong, he goes on to scrutinize the motives of the churches’ desire to stay within their lines. “The stage when Catholic and Protestant clergymen held public debates in the Rotunda on the merits of their respective creeds has long been passed. Doubtless it was realised that such performances were more likely to make Freethinkers than converts to either Catholicism or Protestantism,” he offers a third option for those struggling with sects in Ireland: Atheism (147). He suggests that Protestants and Catholics would prefer not to interfere with one another’s flock, lest their collective religious ideals be questioned in the same way that an individual would prefer not to discuss his ideas, lest he be questioned. In doing so he changes the nature of the religious dispute in Ireland, and furthermore the dispute of free thought in Ireland: it is not about church, it is about fear, and it is not about respect for opinions, it is about fear. This is about fear of change. He believes that England would prefer as little discussion as possible pertaining to politics in Ireland, hoping that national apathy would quell the desire of the thinking minority, and in essence stop causing so much trouble. It stands in their favor that people would want thought and solutions in theory, but adopt the philosophy that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, because this implies that nothing should change. But the nation of Ireland needed change more than they needed mutual respect at that point because, as Ryan puts it, “political progress must involve change in political ideals and beliefs,” and if historical hindsight has shown us anything it is that Ireland needed political progress at that time or else the issue of Irish unity would go unsolved for centuries (146).  Ryan concludes that we must not fear debate, we must not fear finding out that we are wrong because “never yet was progress possible without intellectual change, never yet did humanity advance a step without the breaking of old traditions and the discarding of old beliefs. (149)” This emphasis on debate and constructive discussion was a recurring theme throughout Dana’s short run in 1904 and 1905.  This is one reason that Dana magazine existed and is still important today: it provided a platform that had been taken away from a people that were on the verge of distinguishing themselves as a nation. It was not about picking a side, it was about arguing each side, and it did so beautifully.

Finally, the topic of nature, always in association with joy and love, is found often in the poetry of Dana, including a poem titled “Two Songs,” a love poem by Seumas O’Sullivan, and “A Sunday in July,” by Edward Dowden, as well as many others which appear throughout the magazine’s issues. The impartiality of nature, which the lover in O’Sullivan’s poem describes, is perhaps part of the subject’s appeal as a means of unification. The idealization of rural life is also evident in the repetition of nature-themed poems. Nature as a theme may appear disjointed from the political articles in the magazine; however, in a publication which strove to find solutions for political troubles, the inclusion of these idyllic poems may have offered a respite for the reader. “Two Songs,” uses images of nature abundantly to praise the addressee of the poem—while both expressing the insufficiency of words and affection, and promising that his adoration will never cease. The structure of the poem includes two parts, three stanzas each, described as per the title of the piece as “songs.” Within each song, the speaker compares his own powers of praise with those of nature; in the first, nature’s affections are described as more appropriate than the lover’s. It is only the sky’s silence and the grass’s rustling or gentleness that is thought by him to adequately resemble the depth of his love. In the second section, however, it is noted by the speaker of the poem that nature is fickle, and that his affection goes even beyond the perfectly appropriate praise given by nature to his lover. It is also in this second song that the phrase “white brow” is introduced, and repeated twice within the few stanzas, as though this pet name were repeated unconsciously as the man’s admiration of the woman is peaking, alongside his declaration that his love—a product of nature itself, one could say—is in fact more true and constant than the natural world. To say such a thing is indeed high praise for a culture in which rural life is of great value and beauty.

Despite its brief run, the twelve issues of Dana comprise a body of work aptly demonstrative of the magazine’s goal toward engendering independent thought.  By featuring the work of a variety of authors on both sides of key debates, especially those pertaining to Irish identity and the future of the Irish people, Dana is an important artifact of cultural and political climates in Ireland at the turn of the twentieth century.  Further, the commitment of the editors’ to promoting Irish literature is also significant, as it affords contemporary audiences a view, not only of specific literature from the era, but also of the effects rendered upon art and literature by those political and cultural debates so carefully considered by the magazine’s essayists, such as the significance of nature in a bucolic nation struggling to preserve its character under imperialist rule.
 

-Elsie Dwyer, Calgary Martin, and Abra Stokowski

           Established by Hariet Monroe in 1912, Poetry:A Magazine of Verse heralded the emergence of American poetry. Although the art was thriving in England and France, the United States was still young and unsure of itself. In the stead of the American poet, Walt Whitman, Americans were faced the question of just what American modern poetry was like. Poetry subsequently became Chicago's version of The English Review; publishing both established and emerging poets, Monroe intially held what she called an "open door policy" when it came to submissions. She expresses this the second issue of Poetry, "The Open Door will be the policy of this magazine--may the great poet we are looking for never find it shut, of half-shut, against his ample genius"(November 1912 Vol.1 No.2 64). While the magazine indeed continued to publish new poets, the door through which they passed gained definition as the magazine matured along with the culture of American poetry. The commenary from Poetry's editors between 1912 and 1914, provides vivid examples of the dialoge among critics as to the nature of modern poetry, particularly modern poetry in the "New World."

            Alice Corbin Henderson, a fellow editor of the magazine, wastes no time inciting the discussion of American poetic identity. In the second issue of Poetry, she addresses the fact that American poets such as Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman were not recognized by American critics until after they were discoverd by European and French critcs. She writes, "Must we always accept American genius in this round-about fashion? Have we not the perspective that we applaud mediocrity at home and look abroad for genius only to find that it is of American origin?"(December 1912 Vol.1 No.3 87). In her statement, Henderson condences the plight of the American poet. Beneath the shadow of Europe's rich history and fervent assertion of independent philosophies, The American poetic ideneity would have to assert itself among the authors present in their own country, to seek out those authors, and most importantly to build a body of critics--a culture of poetry--which could support such authors. Later in the volume, Jesse B. Rittenhouse discusses the emergence of a cotiere with such a purpose in mind. Rittenhouse explains, "The Poetry Society of America, organized in 1910 was a natural response, perhaps at the time unconsious, to the reawakened interest in poetry, now so widely apparant"(Feburary 1913 Vol.1 No.5 166). As the culture of American poetry emerged around societies such as this one and magazines like Monroe's, the need for a philosophy--a working manifesto--of what modern American poetry and the American poet looked and sounded like.

             Swiftly following Henderson's earlier inquiry, Monroe published an editorial comment titled, "The New Beauty." In it, she seems to refute her earlier "open door policy" calling much of the poetic submissions the magazine recieved "pathetically ingenious in their intellectual attitude, [and their writers] as unaware of the twenth century as if they had spend these recent years in an Elizabethan manor house"(April 1913 Vol.2 No.1 22). Redifining her policy, she uses assertive language, not to define what the "new beauty" is but the way by which the poet might aim at acheving it. Monroe writes:

                                               It is not a question of subject, nor yet of form, this
                                               new beauty which must inspire every artist worthy of
                                               the age he lives in. The poet is not a follower, but a
                                               leader; he is a poet not because he can measure words
                                               or express patly current ideas, but because the new
                                               beauty is a vision in his eyes and a passion in his heart,
                                               and because he must strain every sinew of his spirit to
                                               reveal it to the world. (April 1913 Vol.2 No.1 22-25).

             Monroe's editorial comment signals a distinct change not only in the nature of the magazine, but of it's content. By moving beyond her open door policy and instead providing creative directions for poets submitting work, Monroe takes on a mentoring role, much like Ezra Pound's, amid the modernist movement. It would not be far fetched to say suppose that Pound's later editorial presence influenced Monroe's vision of approaching American poetry and "the new beauty." Much in the way the American poetic identity needed a body of individuals to foster it, the body of critics needed a philosophy by which to guide their fellow writers. Each philosophy would be greatly determined by the nature of the culture from which it sprung, the politics of it's people and, in an increasingly globalized world, their country's role in global relations.

            Global events such as World War I would become dominant factors in influencing the philosophy of these new writers. In a December 1914 issue of Poetry, 6 months into World War I, Harriet Monroe gives a unique Christmas address illustrating the undeniable influence of global events onto the magazine. She remarks in her Christmas address "Already we hear a new statement of values - even we who are sea-walled from the tumult... There will be a new statement of values in the arts" (December 1914 Vol.5 No.3 31-32) Clearly the influence of events directly pertaining to the American collective would have an insurmountable effect on the content of the magazine. As a mouth piece of the American poet with a large intelligentsia readership it would be a natural leap for the magazine to be more and more shaped by important social issues of the day.

            Monroe also focuses her attention on issues not directly pertaining to the American collective such as the "Servia Epic." Located in the Balkans the "Servian Epic" contains cycles mainly focusing on war -  most notable of which are pre-Kosovo, during Kosovo and post-Kosovo - all of which deal with issues an ocean away from American shores. Pre-dating World War I, Monroe's coverage of the "Servian Epic" illustrates an enduring interest in war and the poetry it produces. By taking the magazine in a direction always closely monitoring world events such as war, Monroe ensures that it is relevant not only because of the poetry but the content itself. She quotes  Mme. Gruitch, an authority on the Serb issue, as saying "There was one thing which the Turk could not take away from the Serb - the heavenly gift of poetry" (March 1913 Vol. 1 No.6 195-198). And as such we come full circle in why poetry and the content it manifests is so important in shaping our culture - an in return also always in need of  strong mentoring. Its influence on society is profound. 

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