The Strains of Inspiration The Strains of Inspiration
The Friendship describes how Wordsworth and Coleridge's fiercely uneven relationship affected their lives and work.
Feb 22, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Jonathan Rée
A View From the Bridge A View From the Bridge
Hart Crane, one of America's greatest poets, relished the extremes that eventually destroyed him.
Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Melanie Rehak
2006 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize: Eleanor Lerman 2006 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize: Eleanor Lerman
Eleanor Lerman's poems sing a song that is bravely gloomy, but they sing it with a fierce and earned dignity.
Dec 7, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Tony Hoagland
The Last Antiwar Poem The Last Antiwar Poem
Allen Ginsberg's "Wichita Vortex Sutra," written at the height of the Vietnam War, speaks with a jarring relevance today.
Nov 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Rolf Potts
Poetry, From Noun to Verb Poetry, From Noun to Verb
Nathaniel Mackey's most recent collection of subtle, intricate poetry weaves images from Arab and African diasporas with a contemporary sense of dislocation.
Aug 31, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
The Passion of Anna The Passion of Anna
In Elaine Feinstein's new biography, the complicated life of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova is flattened into a fable of suffering and redemption.
Jun 21, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Elif Batuman
The Poet and the Muse The Poet and the Muse
A new collection of letters between Rainer Maria Rilke and Lou Andreas-Salome reveals an intimate portrait of a poet and his muse.
Jun 15, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Mark M. Anderson
Reasonable Cause Reasonable Cause
Imagine cities you've Inhabited, streets Paved in lava stone. You never intended to pray In the temples, had Nothing to sell. Now imagine yourself Returning to those same cities. The river flows, the summit Emerges each morning from the haze. Hunt for people you knew, Knock on their doors. Ask yourself Where are the vases, animals Etched in gold? Where are the wines From distant places, Banquets ferreted From the bowels of the earth? While you were missing Other people wore Your garments, Slept in your bed. How frightening The man who said In his affliction Wood has hope. Cut down It will flourish. If the root grows old And the trunk withers In dust, at the scent of water It will germinate.
Jun 1, 2006 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach
The Master of Modernismo The Master of Modernismo
Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío, all but unknown in English-speaking countries, had a global impact on literature, ushering Spanish poetry into the modern era.
Jan 25, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Roberto González Echevarría
La Vie de Bohème La Vie de Bohème
Drawing from the New York counterculture in which he immersed himself, Ted Berrigan's sonnets and other poems sing beautifully about being broken and graceful and tough.
Jan 4, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella