Poetry Criticism

'Intelligent and unpretentious Modern Poetry for intelligent, unpretentious and modern-minded people.' Barn Swallow. In groups: a mad woman's hyperactive Tourette's tearing at her hair; her flailing fists, and rapid arm-weaving, everywhere and nowhere; alone: a Tartar's arrow-bolt ~ fletched with blue steel... This masterful collection brings exquisite high-art poetry to ordinarily educated readers. Each poem comes with a set of explanatory notes, written by the author himself; and this edition also includes an informative essay to explain what makes free-verse successful. The few technical...

In arguably his most personal and lasting book, America's most daringly original and controversial critic gives us brief, luminous readings of more than eighty texts by canonical authors-- texts he has had by heart since childhood. Gone are the polemics. Here, instead, in a memoir of sorts--an...

Since receiving the Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for his novel House Made of Dawn, N. Scott Momaday has had one of the most remarkable careers in twentieth-century American letters. Here, in In the Bear's House, Momaday passionately explores themes of loneliness, sacredness, and aggression through his depiction of Bear, the one animal that has both inspired and haunted him throughout his lifetime.

"Clearly Francis Gilbert is a gifted and charismatic teacher." Philip Pullman, former teacher and author of "Northern Lights". Why did William Blake call his book of poetry "Songs of Innocence and Experience"? Why do some critics say his poem "The Tyger" is about the French revolution? Why did he illustrate his poems with pictures? Why is Blake's rose "sick"? What is the "youthful harlot's curse" in the famous poem "London"? This is the ultimate study guide to William Blake's classic poetry collection "Songs of Innocence and Experience". Written by an experienced teacher and author, it not ...

When I am grown to man’s estate. I shall be very proud and great. And tell the other girls and boys. Not to meddle with my toys. Thus reads the whimsical, “Looking Forward,” of this delightful collection. From the sweetness of “Land of Nod,” to the imaginative dreams of “Pirate Story” and “Travels,” Robert Louis Stevenson’s beloved poems celebrate childhood in all its simplicity and joy.

This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

In the tumult of our contemporary moment, poetry has emerged as an inviting, consoling outlet with a unique power to move and connect us, to inspire fury, tears, joy, laughter, and surprise. This generous anthology pairs fifty illuminating poems with poet and podcast host Pádraig Ó Tuama's appealing, unhurried reflections. With keen insight and warm personal anecdotes, Ó Tuama considers each poem's artistry and explores how its meaning can reach into our own lives.

The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son was originally published in the 1953 edition of Essays and Studies. In December of that year, J.R.R. Tolkien took possession of a reel-to-reel tape recorder and, some time during the first few months of 1954, decided to record ‘the whole thing on tape’ as a way of ‘testing’ the performative quality of the dramatic dialogue between Tídwald and Torhthelm.

From the widely acclaimed poet, novelist, critic, and scholar, a lucid and edifying exploration of the building blocks of poetry and how they've been used over the centuries to assemble the most imperishable poems. “Anyone wanting to learn how to remodel, restore, or build a poem from the...

Drawing on examples ranging from Chaucer to children's rhymes, Cole Porter to Dylan Thomas, and from around the English-speaking world, it shows how any reader can understand and gain pleasure from poetry. This comprehensive guide explores poetry's relationship to everyday language and introduces major genres and technical aspects. Each chapter proceeds through chronological examples from a wide range of English language poems.

Sylvia Plath is an object of enduring cultural fascination―the troubled patron saint of confessional poetry, a writer whose genius is buried under the weight of her status as the quintessential literary sad girl. Emily Van Duyne―a superfan and scholar―radically reimagines the last years of Plath’s life, confronts her suicide and the construction of her legacy.

She was known for her outrageous one-liners, her ruthless theater criticism, her clever verses and bittersweet stories. But there was another side to Dorothy Parker, a private life set on a course of destruction.

Diane Seuss's signature voice—audacious in its honesty, virtuosic in its artistry, outsider in its attitude—has become one of the most original in contemporary poetry. Her latest collection takes its title, Modern Poetry, from the first textbook Seuss encountered as a child and the first poetry course she took in college, as an enrapt but ill-equipped student, one who felt poetry was beyond her reach. Many of the poems make use of the forms and terms of musical and poetic craft and contend with the works of writers overrepresented in textbooks and anthologies and those often underrepresented.

Volume 1 of this life-time collection has a wide variety of quotations on 52 topics. And it is full of quotes that will be of particular interest to writers, speakers, teachers, and anyone else with an inquisitive mind. I am not apologizing for that emphasis, just explaining it. I am, after all, an Anglo male who is older than grass but younger than dirt. And I am a Christian who is also fairly conservative on social issues and politics. So this collection of quotes, my personal stash, naturally leans in that direction. But there are plenty of remarkable ideas here for everyone. My ...

Falstaff is both a comic and tragic central protagonist in Shakespeare's three Henry plays. He is companion to Prince Hal (the future Henry V), who loves him, goads him, teases him, indulges his vast appetites, and commits all sorts of mischief with him. Award-winning author and esteemed professor Harold Bloom examines Falstaff with the deepest compassion and sympathy and also with unerring wisdom. He uses the relationship between Falstaff and Hal to explore the devastation of severed bonds and the heartbreak of betrayal.

Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Poetry Finalist for the 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry Finalist for the 2020 Forward Prize for Best Collection Postcolonial Love Poem, the brilliant second collection from Natalie Diaz, holds...

The Saraiva Companion to Walt Whitman *** Important notice to the reader: this publication contains the text of my doctoral dissertation, completed and approved in 2008, which encompassed the translation of about a third of the poetry from Leaves of Grass. However, this volume does not include the poems, since my full translation of Leaves of Grass was finalized and published in 2017 on KDP, Amazon's platform for independent authors. Thus, every time it is needed, the reader will be reminded of this, to make it clear that this book is essentially a critical review of LG. Therefore, it will ...

Modernism In T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land: Decoding Elements of Modernism in Literature"Modernism In T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land" offers a comprehensive exploration of T.S. Eliot's iconic masterpiece, "The Waste Land." Dive into the depths of modernism in literature and uncover the intricate layers of this enigmatic work, dissecting its elements with a critical eye. For modernist literature enthusiasts and T.S. Eliot admirers, don't miss this comprehensive guide to decoding the modernist elements within 'The Waste Land.' 'Modernism in T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land': A Critical Analysis' ...

This program includes an introduction read by the author. The New York Times–bestselling author of Find Me and Call Me by Your Name returns to the essay form with his collection of thoughts on time, the creative mind, and great lives and works. Irrealis moods are the set of verbal moods that...

This collection of poetry explores the beauty and danger that can be found in AI. Every image was created by an AI generator that interpreted the poetry (word by word). While the images are aesthetically beautiful (or disturbing in some cases) they do absolutely no justice to the poetry. It is up to you, the reader, to interpret my words, without guidance and without preconceived notions. Can you look past the artificial and see the art?