The Little Review, December 1914 (Vol. 1, No. 9)

A snapshot of modernist London in winter, this 1914 issue bursts with the kinetic energy of a city on the brink of change. The opening poem rides a rain‑slick motor bus through Oxford Street, turning everyday commuters into vivid silhouettes of gray hats and trembling lamps. Its compressed images convey both the clang of machinery and the fleeting humanity hidden beneath the glow of streetlights.

Beyond the cityscape, the collection mixes stark Sunday‑morning observations of crippled worshippers with a fiercely opinionated essay on Shakespeare’s lingering captivity in academic reverence. Interwoven with daring reflections on American Puritan roots and a polemic on contemporary poetry, the pages pulse with a restless desire to break from tradition. Readers will feel the immediacy of a moment when art, politics, and everyday life collided on paper, offering a compelling glimpse into the avant‑garde spirit of the era.