The first of seven planned issues of Padan Aram, a poetry magazine catering to the Harvard-Radcliffe literary community, was distributed at registration yesterday.

The February issue, according to its student editors, features clusters of poems penned by undergraduates and other poets affiliated with the arts and letters at Harvard.

The magazine's introductory message cited the need for an inexpensive and innovative poetry periodical.

Robert S. Fitzgerald, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, one of two faculty sponsors for the magazine, said yesterday that Padan Aram has the approval of other literary periodicals at Harvard. "It's not to be construed as a challenge to any existing publication," he said.

The magazine's name is gleaned from the Book of Genesis reference to the Mesopotamian town of Padan Aram. It was on the road to Padan Aram that Jacob had a vision of a ladder ascending to heaven.