“The best poetry of WW2, the most truthful and penetrating, poetry which is rooted in the ground of physical experience, suspicious of the abstract and conforming to the discipline of provenly effective forms.”Vernon Scannell Not Without Glory, 1976
“Ther poetry of the second World War conveys the true feeling of those desolate and desperate days with an urgency and sense of truth that no other means of recording could emulate.”Vernon Scannell Not Without Glory, 1976
“The poet's need to try to find his own voice, a recognizable individual voice that carries the signature of his voice in almost every line... the unique tone being the consequence of the poet's rigorous search for truth ( his truth(, his absolute fidelity to the nature of the experience he was exploring.”Vernon Scannell A Proper Gentleman, 1977
“I would say that my aims of writing this book are less concerned with the facts of history than with the truth of art.”Vernon Scannell Argument of Kings, 1987
“In the excitement and rigours of the game or battle with words and shapes, self-interest is mislaid and objective truth may often be revealed.”Vernon Scannell Tiger and the Rose, 1971
“The great artist may be, outside the confines of his art, cruel, weak, arrogant and foolish, but within them he can transcend his own condition and become noble, passionate and truthful beyond the range of ordinary men.”Vernon Scannell Tiger and the Rose, 1971