As a critic of literature, Read mainly concerned himself with the English Romantic poets (for example, The True Voice of Feeling: Studies in English Romantic Poetry, 1953) but was also a close observer of imagism.
Som litteraturkritiker ägnade sig Read främst åt engelska romantiska poeter (t.ex. The True Voice of Feeling: Studier i engelsk romantisk poesi, 1953) men var också en god observatör av imagism.