"Where I Live is a collection celebrating the remarkable poetic range of one of America's greatest living poets. Where I Live gathers poems from Maxine Kumin's five previous books. The poems take as their concern rural life, family, and poetic legacy, and they wrestle with political and social causes. Also included is a generous selection of twenty-three new poems, which expand upon themes that have preoccupied Kumin and bring her record of poetic mastery up to the present." "Kumin's rare kinship with the natural world is again seen in this collection." --Book Jacket.
The rich and varied nature of twentieth-century Anglo-Irish and Irish poetry is reflected in the essays presented in Politics and the Rhetoric of Poetry: Perspectives on Modern Anglo-Irish Poetry. The linguistic and theoretical observations formulated in close readings of apparently non-political texts disclose implied political positions and suggest to what extent rhetoric and the nature of language are at the root of such questions as how should we read contemporary poetry. How can poems play a part in the resolution of the political and historic conflict? Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill's versions of The Táin, Brendan Kennelly's Cromwell, Paul Muldoon's Madoc and Ciaran Carson's Belfast Confetti are analysed in detail, as is the relationship between rhetoric and politics in Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon. Earlier twentieth-century poets such as Thomas Kinsella, John Hewitt, Patrick Kavanagh, John Montague, Louis MacNeice and Padraic Colum are also examined. The contingent nature of language is recognized by many of these poets, and the seventeen essays bring out the political charge hidden in the poetry. This includes the deliberate choice of the poetic form, the internal dialogue or the complexity of voices in the poem and a particular preoccupation with endings. These essays demonstrate Yeats's contention that Deliberation can be so intensified that it becomes synonymous with inspiration.
"Diane di Prima, revolutionary activist of the 1960s Beat literary renaissance, heroic in life and poetics: a learned humorous bohemian, classically educated and twentieth-century radical, her writing, informed by Buddhist equanimity, is exemplary in...
The classic volume by the distinguished modern poet, winner of the 1950 Pulitzer Prize, and recipient of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, showcases an esteemed artist's technical mastery, her warm humanity, and her compassionate and illuminating response to a complex world.
In her essays, as with her Pultizer Prize-winning poetry, Maxine Kumin speaks to "the encounter": with poetry, poets, and the details of country life. In clear, direct prose Kumin is equally at ease musing over her garden or discussing poetic form, raising horses or critiquing the work of other poets. For Kumin, poetry is inseparable from daily life. Whether remembering the early days of courtship with her husband (who then worked at Los Alamos during the first nuclear tests) or observing a grandchild learning to swim, poetry is a natural part of the discussion, as when, during an MRI, she recounts the healing role of memorized poems: "Lying in my MRI tomb and doggedly reciting the poem against the terrible rapping, I realized what saved me..".
To find my home in one sentence, concise, as if hammered in metal. No to enchant anybody. Not to earn a lasting name in posterity. An unnamed need for order, for rhythm, for form, which three words are opposed to chaos and nothingness. -- Czeslaw Milosz
The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish Poetry consists of 40 essays by leading scholars and new researchers in the field. Beginning with W.B.Yeats, the figure who towers over the century's poetry, it includes chapters on the major poets to have emerged in Ireland over the last 100 years.
Concise and accessible, this guide to teaching the art of poetry from Shakespeare to contemporary poets enables anyone to learn about how poets approach their art. Teachers can use this book to explore any facet or era of poetry. Any reader can use it as an entryway into the art of poetry. Teaching the Art of Poetry shows poetry as a multi-faceted artistic process rather than a mystery on a pedestal. It demystifies the art of poetry by providing specific historical, social, and aesthetic contexts for each element of the art. It is a nuts-and-bolts approach that encourages teachers and students to work with poetry as a studio art--something to be explored, challenged, assembled and reassembled, imagined, and studied--all the things that an artist does to present poetry as a search for meaning. This book advocates poetry as an essential tool for aesthetic, cultural, and linguistic literacy. It portrays poetry as an art rather than a knowledge base, and methods for integrating the art of poetry into the school curriculum. The authors' intention is not to fill gaps; it is to change how poetry is presented in the classroom, to change how it is taught and how students think about it. Teaching the Art of Poetry: * Emphasizes hands-on experiences. Over 160 exercises focus attention on the dynamics of the art of poetry. Activities include group work, peer editing, critical thinking skills, revising drafts, focused reading, oral communication, listening skills, and vocabulary, as well as mechanics and usage. * Features a week-long lesson plan in each chapter to aid the teacher. These relate the main aspects of each chapter to classroom activities and, in addition, include a "Beyond the Week" section to promote further investigation of the topic. * Promotes an integrated approach to poetry. The examples used in each chapter show poetry as a living tradition. * Makes extensive use of complete poems along with extracts from many others. * Does not talk down to teachers--is teacher oriented and jargon free.
