The revelation of Robinson's poetic personality through a study of the Tristram tradition

Abstract

The purpose of this study has been to examine the Tristram tradition in order to determine what sources Edwin Arlington Robinson used in writing his poem Tristram and why he felt the need of writing it. Such a study seemed to be justifiable in view of the fact that there seems to be some controversy as to why he, a so-called pessimist, or realist, or modern classicist, should have undertaken a work of such romantic nature.