The first critical review of Very's book was written by Margaret Fuller and published in Orestes Brownson's "Boston Quarterly Review"; it said Very's poems had "an elasticity of spirit, a genuine flow of thought, and unsought nobleness and purity", though she admitted she preferred the prose in the collection over the poetry. She mocked the "sing song" style of the poems and questioned his religious mission. She concluded: "I am... greatly interested in Mr Very. He seems worthy to be well known." James Freeman Clarke admired Very's poetry enough to have several published in his journal, the "Western Messenger", between 1838 and 1840. William Ellery Channing admired Very's poetry as well, writing that his insanity "is only superficial". Richard Henry Dana Sr. also commented positively on Very's poetry: "The thought is deeply spiritual; and while there is a certain character of "peculiarity" which we so often find in like things from our old writers, there is a freedom from quaintness... Indeed, I know not where you would... find any thing in this country to compare with these Sonnets."