Poetic Theory, General & Miscellaneous Poetry - Literary Criticism

The Work of Poetry

Name: The Work of Poetry
Author: John Hollander
ISBN: 9780231108966

by John Hollander

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Overview

The Work of Poetry is organized into three parts. "Poetic Substance" explores the nature of poetry and the poet, with essays that cover the poet "being-and-feeling-at-home" in his or her work and the parallels between dreams and poetry. Next, "Poetic Experiences" examines the relationship between the poems and the individual, whether a poet or a reader of poetry, through such writings as "Hearing and Overhearing the Psalms," recounting Hollander's poetic childhood, and "My Poetic Generation." The final chapters, "The Work of Poets," deal with the poets themselves, and it is here that Hollander gives insightful readings of the works of Whitman, Robert Penn Warren, and others. Readers who have struggled with the verse of poets like John Ashbery will be grateful for Hollander's masterful readings. They will also discover the enchantment this visionary poet can create from a seemingly dry topic, like the preposition "of," and the clarity he imparts to such contested and ambiguous topics as originality. Serious admirers and students of verse who seek to comprehend its subtleties will find The Work of Poetry a rich and moving source of wisdom.

A 1997 Library Journal Best Book of the Year; Recipient of the 1997 Robert Penn Warren/Cleanth Brooks Award

Synopsis

New and classic essays by one of America's most distinguished contemporary poet-critics, The Work of Poetry surveys an extraordinary range of poets, from Dante to May Swenson, and George Meredith to Marianne Moore, as well as works from the Psalms to A Child's Garden of Verses.

Daria Donnelly

Densely allusive, richly autobiographical, digressively informative, and crowned by brilliant close readings that are Hollander's particular genius, these essays provide a crash course in poetry: what it has been, what it is, what it gives us when it is good, how poems work, what makes a poem masterful.

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Editorials

Frank Kermode

For every intelligent reader with a passion for poetry.

Choice

Scholars interested in Hollander will welcome this book as the celebration of a long and accomplished career.

Daria Donnelly

Ian Tromp

For me the great pleasure of Hollander's book lies in his discussion of specific poems.

Paul Dean

These essays are more engrossing and rewarding, for me, than the readings of particular poets which close the volume.

Poetics Today

This book shows Hollander at his best. . . . Hollander . . . displays in these essays an acute sensitivity to the special ways poetic language is organized and the manner in which such organization influences perceptions of reality. This kind of sensitivity enables the reader to share something of that attitude to language that, according to Hollander, characterizes the poet.

Library Journal

Hollander English, Yale, a recipient of the Bollingen Prize in 1983 and a five-year MacArthur Fellowship, has written a treatise on poetry that would never be considered easy reading. Of course, that was hardly his intent. Hollander instead aims at the understanding and appreciation of poetry, a goal he achieves by looking at, studying, and ultimately dissecting all that is poetryand what pretends to be. The pretenderswork from certain literature programs and writing workshops and trendy writing from would-be poets lacking original thought, insight, and technical skilldo not fare well. Neither do some writers of free verse. As Hollander observes, free verse is very easy to write if one does not know how; good poets know how. Hollander's discussion of good poets is not only enlightening, compelling, and demanding but also spiritual and caring. His views on Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lewis Carroll, Marianne Moore, May Swenson, and particularly Walt Whitman certainly will move readers to a new level of comprehension, not only of the specific works but also of poetry itself. His book is, among other things, a critical response to poetry and, therefore, an exacting reading experience, but the rewards are diverse, as is the bounty. Highly recommended for serious literary collections.Robert Kelly, Fort Wayne Community Schs., Ind.

Booknews

A collection of new and classic essays, from the 1950s to the 1990s, touching on poetic originality and the power of poetic language, and criticizing modern university literature and writing programs. Part I explores the nature of poetry and the poet, while Part II examines the relationship between poems and the individual poet or reader. Part III deals with poets themselves, with readings of work by poets including Walt Whitman, Robert Penn Warren, Lewis Carroll, and May Swenson. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

John Kennedy

"Required reading for poets and readers of poetry." -- The Antioch Review

Kirkus Reviews

Cautionary words about poetry from an idiosyncratic and surprising critic and poet.

Hollander, usually regarded as a conservative observer of things poetic, both lives up to his reputation and defies it willingly in this essay collection. The Yale professor (and Bollingen Prize and MacArthur fellowship winner) predictably decries, for example, the dominance of creative-writing programs in contemporary America, blaming them in part for the rise of underachieving free verse and for an oversupply of poets who may not deserve the name. "Free verse . . . is very easy to write if you don't know how," he comments, convinced that many self-styled poets don't. "Good poets know how," he notes—as if we couldn't figure that out for ourselves. At his best, Hollander abandons contempt and complaint in favor of real eloquence and mindfulness. For instance, his essays about poets May Swenson and Elizabeth Bishop are models of insight and stylistic clarity and tact. Anyone interested in poetry or criticism must read them. Hollander on Swenson: "Let words play with each other and they will do the imagination's work. As she herself observed in the preface to a selection of her poems that she'd made for children and that highlights the matter of puzzle and riddle in all poetry: `Notice how a poet's games are called his "works"—and how the "work" you do to solve a poem is really play. . . .' Very, very good poetry does indeed make temporary poets of its readers, just as the inventiveness of poetry is itself so often a kind of interpretation." Hollander's comparisons and contrasts among poets are often beguiling, as in his consideration of Edgar Lee Masters, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the relationship between poetry and dreaming. His imagination is unpredictable and stimulating, especially when he does not assume too much about his audience's familiarity with, or views on, poetry.

He smites, he laments, but he also enlightens.

Commonweal - Daria Donnelly

English Studies - Paul Dean

These essays are more engrossing and rewarding, for me, than the readings of particular poets which close the volume.

PN Review - Ian Tromp

For me the great pleasure of Hollander's book lies in his discussion of specific poems.

Commonweal

— Daria Donnelly

Poetics Today

This book shows Hollander at his best.... Hollander... displays in these essays an acute sensitivity to the special ways poetic language is organized and the manner in which such organization influences perceptions of reality. This kind of sensitivity enables the reader to share something of that attitude to language that, according to Hollander, characterizes the poet.