The Oxford Book of American PoetryDavid Lehman Here is the eagerly awaited new edition of The Oxford Book of American Poetry brought completely up to date and dramatically expanded by poet David Lehman. It is a rich, capacious volume, featuring the work of more than 200 poets-almost three times as many as the 1976 edition. With a succinctand often witty head note introducing each author, it is certain to become the definitive anthology of American poetry for our time. Lehman has gathered together all the works one would expect to find in a landmark collection of American poetry, from Whitman's Crossing Brooklyn Ferry to Stevens's The Idea of Order at Key West, and from Eliot's The Waste Land to Ashbery's Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But equally important,the editor has significantly expanded the range of the anthology. The book includes not only writers born since the previous edition, but also many fine poets overlooked in earlier editions or little known in the past but highly deserving of attention. The anthology confers legitimacy on theObjectivist poets; the so-called Proletariat poets of the 1930s; famous poets who fell into neglect or were the victims of critical backlash (Edna St. Vincent Millay); poets whose true worth has only become clear with the passing of time (Weldon Kees). Among poets missing from Richard Ellmann's 1976volume but published here are W. H. Auden, Charles Bukowski, Donald Justice, Carolyn Kizer, Kenneth Koch, Stanley Kunitz, Emma Lazarus, Mina Loy, Howard Moss, Lorine Niedecker, George Oppen, James Schuyler, Elinor Wylie, and Louis Zukosky. Many more women are represented: outstanding poets such asJosephine Jacobsen, Josephine Miles, May Swenson. Numerous African-American poets receive their due, and unexpected figures such as the musicians Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Robert Johnson have a place in this important work. This stunning collection redefines the great canon of American poetry from its origins in the 17th century right up to the present. It is a must-have anthology for anyone interested in American literature and a book that is sure to be consulted, debated, and treasured for years to come. Web Site A companion web site is now available at a href="http://www.oxfordpoetry.com"www.oxfordpoetry.com/a |
From inside the book
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Page 131
... face to face ! Clouds of the west sun there half an hour high - I see you also face to face . Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes , how curious you are to me ! On the ferry - boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross ...
... face to face ! Clouds of the west sun there half an hour high - I see you also face to face . Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes , how curious you are to me ! On the ferry - boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross ...
Page 498
... face got twisted . They called it a smile . You noticed how faces from outer vastness might twist , too . But sometimes different twists , with names unknown , And there were noises with no names you knew , Or times of dark silence when ...
... face got twisted . They called it a smile . You noticed how faces from outer vastness might twist , too . But sometimes different twists , with names unknown , And there were noises with no names you knew , Or times of dark silence when ...
Page 1082
... face smugly turn among those above me who had been my friends . Surely defeat , like victory , is larger than man ... face hidden beneath my face ? I worked quietly through the reruns where I won , and others where I died , humiliated ...
... face smugly turn among those above me who had been my friends . Surely defeat , like victory , is larger than man ... face hidden beneath my face ? I worked quietly through the reruns where I won , and others where I died , humiliated ...
Contents
ANNE BRADSTREET c 16121672 | 1 |
PHILLIS WHEATLEY c 17531784 | 13 |
CLEMENT MOORE 17791863 | 19 |
Copyright | |
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American American Poetry beauty bird blood blue body born breath Charles Simic cold dark dead death Desolation Row door dream earth Elizabeth Bishop eyes Ezra Pound face fall father feel feet flowers girl gone grass green hair hand head hear heard heart heaven James Merrill James Schuyler John Ashbery knew laugh leaves light live look Louise Glück mind moon morning mother never night once poem poet poetry rain Randall Jarrell river Robert Creeley Robert Lowell rock rose shadow shore silence sing sleep smile snow song soul sound stand stars stone street summer sweet T. S. Eliot talk tell thee things thou thought trees turn voice W. H. Auden waiting walk watch waves wind window woman words wrote young