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 99
... sort of " knowledge " is he sailing after , what sort of " thought " does he share with his shipmates , how will he use the reason which distinguishes him from brute beasts , and what " work of noble note " is he likely to accomplish ...
... sort of " knowledge " is he sailing after , what sort of " thought " does he share with his shipmates , how will he use the reason which distinguishes him from brute beasts , and what " work of noble note " is he likely to accomplish ...
Page 103
... sort of thought the mariners share , what sort of knowledge is sought , and how a reunion in the Happy Isles might vindicate and crown the expedition . Michael McCurdy's Penmaen Press produced in 1979 an edition of Tennyson's Voyage of ...
... sort of thought the mariners share , what sort of knowledge is sought , and how a reunion in the Happy Isles might vindicate and crown the expedition . Michael McCurdy's Penmaen Press produced in 1979 an edition of Tennyson's Voyage of ...
Page 175
... sort of thing , in armchair or theater seat , is to lack a full sense of Molière's theater . Are there any disadvantages to paralleling Molière's form ? One only , and that hardly sufficient to outweigh the advantages . A recent article ...
... sort of thing , in armchair or theater seat , is to lack a full sense of Molière's theater . Are there any disadvantages to paralleling Molière's form ? One only , and that hardly sufficient to outweigh the advantages . A recent article ...
Contents
Poe and the Art of Suggestion | 7 |
Longfellow | 26 |
The Persistence of Riddles | 32 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
aesthetic American Annabel Lee answer anthology Arvin asked beauty begins Beloved Stranger bird Chapala Chinese Chinese poetry couplets D. H. Lawrence dark death dream Dupin Eleonora Elizabeth Bishop English enigma essay experience fact feel forever Grenstone Poems hear heart heaven Il Penseroso imaginative Indian Earth Israfel Jade Mountain John John Ciardi kind L'Allegro language Ligeia lines literary living Longfellow look lyric mean memory metaphor Milton's mind Misanthrope Molière Molière's narrator nature never once passion Penseroso plays pleasure Poe's poem poem's poet poet's poetic poetry prose reader rhyme Richard Wilbur riddle RW Yes seems sense sheep Song sonnet sort soul sound speaks Spectra spirit stanza story sure Sylvia Symphosius Tartuffe Tell-Tale Heart tells Tennyson things thought tions translation trees Ulysses verse voice W. H. Auden Whitman winter Witter Bynner words writing wrote