The Catbird's Song: Prose Pieces, 1963-1995The Catbird's Song is a selection of prose pieces, on a variety of topics, by one of the most distinguished poets and translators of our times, Richard Wilbur. These lectures, letters, reviews, addresses, prefaces, and interviews-what Wilbur calls the "prose by-products of a poet's life"-not only reveal the ideas and concerns that inform his remarkable oeuvre but also offer fresh takes on the works and lives of poets we thought we knew, poets we ought to know, and much more. Here, then, are his appreciations of Poe, Milton, Tennyson, and Longfellow; paeans to his contemporaries Elizabeth Bishop, Mae Swenson, and John Ciardi; an introduction to the work of the neglected poet Witter Bynner; his comments on some of his own poems; and thoughts on the art of translation. Throughout all, Wilbur's voice resonates with clarity, reason, and authority. |
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Page 97
... begins , " nor piety toward my old father , nor the due love that should have comforted Penelope , could conquer in me the yearning to know the world entire , and the good and evil ways of men . " Tennyson's poem begins also with ...
... begins , " nor piety toward my old father , nor the due love that should have comforted Penelope , could conquer in me the yearning to know the world entire , and the good and evil ways of men . " Tennyson's poem begins also with ...
Page 129
... begins with a dis- missal of Melancholy and then , having summoned Mirth and Liberty and their train , proceeds to consider the ways in which a cheerful man might divert himself from dawn until late at night ; " Il Penseroso " begins ...
... begins with a dis- missal of Melancholy and then , having summoned Mirth and Liberty and their train , proceeds to consider the ways in which a cheerful man might divert himself from dawn until late at night ; " Il Penseroso " begins ...
Page 229
... begin to think about dying in earnest . Against the Cold is , in fact , a book of seven sections organized ( without ... begins with rumors and stirrings of life in winter , follows that with lyrics concerning spring flowers and spring ...
... begin to think about dying in earnest . Against the Cold is , in fact , a book of seven sections organized ( without ... begins with rumors and stirrings of life in winter , follows that with lyrics concerning spring flowers and spring ...
Contents
Poe and the Art of Suggestion | 7 |
Longfellow | 26 |
The Persistence of Riddles | 32 |
Copyright | |
7 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
American answer appear asked beauty become begins bird Bynner called clear close continually course critic dark death described dream Earth effect Eleonora English enigma example experience expression fact feel figure final give given hand hear heart heaven human idea imaginative John kind knowledge language later leaves less letter light lines living look lyric matter mean memory mind nature never notes object once passion perhaps plays pleasure Poe's poem poet poet's poetic poetry possible present questions reader reason rhyme riddle seems seen sense Song sort soul sound speaks spirit story suggestion sure tells things thought translation trees turn Ulysses verse voice whole wish writing written wrote