錢鍾書《槐聚詩存》是新文學家舊體寫作最見淵源、與晚清流行詩派關系最深者。其早年詩作泛學清人,后來比較集中地學同光體,同時也受到詩界革命派、晚唐體的影響。諸體尤精七律,句法多生新,能上探江西諸家,甚至溯源至杜詩。錢氏對唐宋以來的詩學流變探討甚深,尤其是對清詩各家藝術之辨析,見解獨到。其詩學的基本綱領為唐宋詩之變。錢詩以情志為體,亦多憂時之意,但他在創作與理論上,都重視藝術表達,在現代詩學本體論中其"詩者持也"論獨成一說。

Amongst modern Chinese scholars’ writings in the traditional style, Qian Zhongshu’s Collected Poems has the deepest affinity with the prevailing poetry schools in the late Qing period. In his early years, Qian learned extensively from the Qing poets, and later narrowed down on the Tong-Guang style while taking in the influence from the School of Poetry Revolution as well as the late Tang style. Qian excels in seven-character metrical poetry, and his ingenious prosody can be traced back to the poetry by the Jiangxi School, or even Du Fu’s. Qian delved deep into the transformations of poetics from the Tang and Song dynasties onwards, and had original insights in his analysis of poetic arts of all the schools of Qing poetry. Taking the transformation from Tang poetry to Song poetry as the basic principle for his poetics, Qian developed his poetics that centered on the expressions of personal emotions and social concerns., Qian’s primary concerns in poetry lie in artistic expression, andontological formulation that "poetry is about poise in" has unique significance in modern poetics.