ent on ▁Wel ch ▁ ▁Crit ical ▁Response ▁Response ▁to ▁the ▁collection ▁was ▁mainly ▁positive , ▁foc using ▁heavily ▁on ▁the ▁S ick ert ▁piece ▁and ▁considering ▁the ▁book ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁mem orial ▁to ▁its ▁author . ▁Robert ▁Phill ips , ▁writing ▁over ▁ 2 0 ▁years ▁later , ▁character ised ▁the ▁collection ▁as ▁" a ▁mixed ▁bag ", ▁although ▁this ▁seems ▁to ▁describe ▁the ▁mix ▁of ▁gen res ▁in ▁the ▁book ▁rather ▁than ▁a ▁qual itative ▁assess ment . ▁Over all , ▁however , ▁Phill ips ▁reflect s ▁that ▁A ▁Last ▁She af ▁did ▁not ▁enh ance ▁Wel ch ' s ▁critical ▁reputation ▁in ▁the ▁way ▁that ▁the ▁preceding ▁publications ▁did , ▁and ▁publication ▁of ▁the ▁journ als ▁would ▁subsequently ▁do . ▁ ▁The ▁only ▁detailed ▁analysis ▁of ▁the ▁po ems ▁in ▁A ▁Last ▁She af ▁also ▁comes ▁from ▁Phill ips . ▁This ▁also ▁remains ▁the ▁only ▁substantial ▁analysis ▁of ▁Wel ch ' s ▁poetry , ▁and ▁even ▁here ▁it ▁is ▁restricted ▁to ▁those ▁in ▁this ▁selection . ▁Phill ips ▁finds ▁Wel ch ' s ▁po ems ▁to ▁be ▁generally ▁quite ▁poor , ▁ranking ▁with ▁his ▁art ▁( which ▁he ▁does ▁not ▁rate ▁very ▁highly ▁either ). ▁He ▁finds ▁in ▁some ▁of ▁them ▁sub - H ous man ▁all usion , ▁an ▁excess ▁of ▁ad ver bs ▁and ▁ad ject ives , ▁and ▁sometimes ▁ill - jud ged ▁use ▁of ▁rh yme . ▁Iron ically , ▁for ▁Phill ips , ▁Wel ch ' s ▁most ▁" po etic " ▁language ▁is