 In a previously-mentioned review of the book that appeared in "Poetry" magazine, the critic Austin Warren wrote a generally positive review of the book.Though he criticized Lowell's loose translations and the way in which Lowell decided to order the poems, he praised Lowell for his originality and style which he characterized as "richly dialectical," concluding that "the friends of poetry can be pleased, this year at least, by the award [winner] of the Pulitzer Prize.