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To me, at least, far the most interesting character in this affair is [Leonid Eitingon]. Who was he? Mr. [Stephen Schwartz] maintains that he was a close relative of Dr. [Max Eitingon]; Mr. [Theodore Draper] finds no evidence of any relationship. In any case, Leonid was a long-term officer of the Foreign Department of the secret police, and eventually its deputy head. In the 1930's he was one of its most prominent operatives in Western Europe, and eventually the organizer, on the spot, of the murder of Trotsky. He is spoken of as ''Leonid'' in reports both at that time and in the 1950's. In the meantime, in 1945, senior N.K.V.D. officers were given army rank. Among those listed (as major general) was Naum Isaakovich Eitingon: was this the same man? Leonid was certainly at this level: his superior in the Foreign Department, P. A. Sudoplatov, was named lieutenant general; his inferior, Gaik Ovakimian, major general (the latter, as Soviet consular representative in New York in 1940, also played a role in the Trotsky case). The natural conclusion (and moreover Eitingon is an extremely rare name) is that this is indeed the same man. All that needs to be assumed is that Leonid, a name he had come to be known by, was used on all but the most official occasions: there are many similar cases (my own younger sister for one). Mr. Draper has [Leonid-Naum], son of Isaac, on the genealogical table of his New York Review article of April 14; he suggests that there was another Naum. If so, was he also the son of another Isaac? It is not impossible: but the genealogical table itself is by no means guaranteed or complete. If there is only one Naum Isaakovich he is Max's first cousin. Otherwise he is surely a relative, however distant (unless we assume, as Mr. Draper suggests, that the takers-over of the Eitingon enterprise in Russia took the Eitingon name: that would involve, first, evidence that anything similar ever took place; second, that it took place in the Eitingon case).

Poets include:Willis BarnstoneRobert ConquestWendy CopeDouglas DunnAnthony HechtJohn HollanderDonald JusticeX. J. KennedyMaxine KuminFrederick MorganJohn Frederick NimsW. D. SnodgrassDerek WalcottRichard Wilbur When free verse and its many movements seemed to dominate poetry, other writers worked steadfastly, insistently, and majestically in traditional forms of rhyme and meter. Such poets as Anthony Hecht, Donald Justice, Derek Walcott, and Richard Wilbur used sonnets, villanelles, blank verse, and many other forms to create dazzling, lasting work. Their writing posed a counterpoint to free verse, sustained a tradition in English language verse, and eventually inspired the movement called New Formalism. Fourteen on Form: Conversations with Poetscollects interviews with some of the most influential poets of the last fifty years. William Baer, editor ofThe Formalistasks incisive questions that allow writers to discuss in detail a wide range of topics related to their work, methods of composition, and the contemporary poetry scene. Maxine Kumin reflects on being a woman poet during a period in which women were not encouraged to submit to journals. With clarity and passion, Walcott remembers the impetus of his famous \"Eulogy to W. H. Auden.\" British poet Wendy Cope talks about the differences between how her barbed poems are received in England and abroad. The conversations return continually to the serious matter of poetic craft, especially the potential power of form in poetry. These well-paced conversations showcase poets discussing their creative lives with insight and candor. The sum total of their forthright opinions inFourteen on Formnot only elucidates the current situation of the art form but also serves as a primer for understanding the fundamental craft of poetics. William Baer is a professor of English at the University of Evansville and the editor ofThe Formalist. He editedElia Kazan: Interviews and Conversationswith Derek Walcott (both published by University Press of Mississippi).