Comments on: Help Me Find Poets II

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:06:47 +0000

Thanks, Ryan. An anthology of elegies to the same person sounds like a great way to get different angles on the form.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 31 May 2007 08:47:33 +0000

The elegy has been on my mind. There are several I really like in a book called Blues for Bill, which is a book of elegies written for the late, great poet William Matthews. Particularly good in this book are Dave Smith’s “Coming Down in Ohio” and David Wojahn’s “Scrabble with Matthews.” I really love Matthews’ poems (the best buy would be Search Party: Collected Poems), and the book of elegies is interesting, if for no other reason, because it allows us to see the various approaches poets have taken to memorializing one of our great contemporary voices. You might also check out Kevin Young’s For the Confederate Dead, a book which riffs off Allen Tate’s masterful elegy (“Ode to the Confederate Dead”) and its sequel from Robert Lowell (For the Union Dead).

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:31:21 +0000

OK, I’ve submitted this semester’s Study Proposal, including many of the suggestions on this thread. Thanks to all of you for your recommendations – and please keep them coming! The proposal is subject to change when I confer with my faculty advisor, and this topic is something I plan to keep exploring for some time.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:28:51 +0000

Just looked into Lowther’s life a bit more. What a strange and tragic story.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:28:07 +0000

Remarkable. Thanks, Ross.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:27:15 +0000

Thanks for the two Donalds and a Doty. Will definitely check this out.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:25:24 +0000

But of course! Loved /Winter Stars/.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:22:18 +0000

Thanks, Janet. Going back to London in August. Perhaps a trip to Foyles is in order.

By: Janet

Janet — Mon, 28 May 2007 16:54:02 +0000

It’s hard to track down in the US, but deceased British poet Michael Donaghy’s Conjure has some lovely elegies in it, especially “Annie” and “Haunts”.

By: Greg Rappleye

Greg Rappleye — Sun, 27 May 2007 07:13:06 +0000

THe Widening Spell of the Leaves (1991) and Elegy (1997) by the late Larry Levis.

By: Steve S

Steve S — Sun, 27 May 2007 05:55:42 +0000

David Wojahn. And Jake York’s Murder Ballads. One example from Jake that’s a favorite of mine: http://thediagram.com/3_2/york.html

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 27 May 2007 05:16:19 +0000

Would it be too obvious to mention Milton’s “Lycidas” as a model elegy? You might also check Donald Hall’s *Without* and *The Painted Bed*; both are sequences for his late wife, Jane Kenyon, which are reminiscent of Ted Hughes’ *Birthday Letters*. I also really like Mark Doty’s *My Alexandria* and the poems of Donald Justice (everything he ever wrote was an elegy). Oh, and you can’t go wrong with John Crowe Ransom’s *Selected Poems*: chock full of grief and loss handled with restraint.