Editing Joyce Kilmer (section)

===Influences upon Kilmer's verse===
Kilmer's early works were inspired by, and were imitative of, the poetry of [[Algernon Charles Swinburne]], [[Gerard Manley Hopkins]], [[Ernest Dowson]], [[Aubrey Beardsley]], and [[William Butler Yeats]] (and the [[Celtic Revival]]). It was later through the influence of works by [[Coventry Patmore]], [[Francis Thompson]], and those of [[Alice Meynell]] and her children [[Viola Meynell]] and [[Francis Meynell]], that Kilmer seems to have become interested in Catholicism.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.19}} Kilmer wrote of his influences:

{{blockquote|I have come to regard them with intense admiration. Patmore seems to me to be a greater poet than Francis Thompson. He has not the rich vocabulary, the decorative erudition, the Shelleyan enthusiasm, which distinguish the ''Sister Songs'' and the ''Hound of Heaven,'' but he has a classical simplicity, a restraint and sincerity which make his poems satisfying.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.19}} }}

Because he was initially raised [[Anglicanism|Episcopalian]] (or Anglican), Kilmer became literary editor of the Anglican weekly, ''The Churchman'', before his conversion to [[Catholicism]]. During this time he did considerable research into 16th and 17th century Anglican poets as well as [[Metaphysical poets|metaphysical]], or mystic poets of that time, including [[George Herbert]], [[Thomas Traherne]], [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]], [[Arthur Cleveland Coxe|Bishop Coxe]], and [[Robert Stephen Hawker]] (the eccentric vicar of the [[Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist, Morwenstow|Church of Saint Morwenna and Saint John the Baptist]] at [[Morwenstow]] in [[Cornwall]])—the latter whom he referred to as "a coast life-guard in a cassock." These poets also had an influence on Kilmer's writings.<ref name="Hillis" />{{rp|p.19}}

Critics compared Kilmer to British Catholic writers [[Hilaire Belloc]] and [[G. K. Chesterton]]—suggesting that his reputation might have risen to the level where he would have been considered their American counterpart if not for his untimely death.<ref>Campbell, Pearl H. "Kilmer, late laureate of the Catholic Church" in ''Magnificat''. Volume 64. (June 1939), 78–82</ref><ref>Connolly, Helen. "Kilmer the essayist" in ''Magnificat''. Volume 76. (July 1945), 128–31</ref>