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 12
... expression " deep thoughts " may sound too banal to be taken seriously , while " duty " and " beauty , " though they intend to say a great deal , may in so mu- sical a poem be passed over as mere facile rhyming . Finally , although Poe ...
... expression " deep thoughts " may sound too banal to be taken seriously , while " duty " and " beauty , " though they intend to say a great deal , may in so mu- sical a poem be passed over as mere facile rhyming . Finally , although Poe ...
Page 83
... expression " sorrowing amusement " is wonderfully ex- act , and of course it would be quite wrong to overstress the ... expressions , she is about to use my head as a croquet ball . When she looked in her poetry for ultimate answers ...
... expression " sorrowing amusement " is wonderfully ex- act , and of course it would be quite wrong to overstress the ... expressions , she is about to use my head as a croquet ball . When she looked in her poetry for ultimate answers ...
Page 235
... expression of the poet's many selves . Given the assumption that mankind is becoming God , and that there is nothing more divine than hu- man self - realization , Bynner could not have found a better met- aphor than the one we are ...
... expression of the poet's many selves . Given the assumption that mankind is becoming God , and that there is nothing more divine than hu- man self - realization , Bynner could not have found a better met- aphor than the one we are ...
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