I am heading into the third semester at Pacific, where in lieu of ongoing commentaries on individual works, I will be writing a longer critical essay. At this point, I am thinking about writing about Seamus Heaney, and in particular how he successfully navigates numerous dialectic elements in contemporary poetry, such as:
Narration Lyricism Free verse Meter & rhyme Meaning “Precious Nonsense“ Stichic Stanzaic Plain Speech Elevated diction
In addition, I will continue to read widely from a variety of sources. Here is what I am thinking about adding to my reading list:
On Poetry
- Fredrick Smock, Poetry And Compassion (thank you, Mr. Carter)
- Dorianne Laux and Kim Adonizzo, The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry
- Stephen Berg (ed.), Singular Voices: American Poetry Today
Poetry
- Umberto Saba, Songbook: Selected Poems from the Canzoniere of Umberto Saba (trans. Stephen Sartarelli)
- Marvin Bell, The Book Of The Dead Man and Mars Being Red
- Paul Muldoon, Horse Latitudes
- Jane Mead, The Lord and the General Din of the World
- Ron Silliman (ed.), In The American Tree
- Patrick Kavanagh, Collected Poems
- Eavan Boland, Selected Poems
- Seamus Heaney, Opened Ground: Poems 1966-1996
- Seamus Heaney, District and Circle
- Medbh McGuckian, Selected Poems: 1978-1994
- David St. John, Study for the World’s Body: New and Selected Poems
- Tony Curtis (ed.), The Art of Seamus Heaney
- Paul Celan, Poems of Paul Celan: A Bilingual German/English Edition
Ideas For Poetry Book Structure
- Issa, The Year Of My Life (trans. Nobuyuki Yuasa)
- Basho, Back Roads To Far Towns (trans. Kamaike Susumu and Cid Corman)
- Robert Lowell, Life Studies
- Roland Barthes, A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments (trans. Richard Howard)
This is only a cursory sketch for now. Any suggestions?
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8 Comments
If you’re looking for a good book-length poem, I recommend Cecilia Woloch’s “Tsigan: The Gypsy Poem.”
Thanks, Collin. I don’t think I’ve read a book-length poem since Beowulf, unless The Book Of Nightmares Counts as one poem, which it almost does. I have a hard time breaking the one-page barrier in my own writing, so I do admire long poems that really work. I’m mostly looking for good organizing principles for collections of individual poems, but Tsigan has come up before, so sounds like it’s worth checking out.
I like Louise Gluck’s Meadowlands for structure and organization, as well as Amy Uyematsu’s Stone Bow Prayer.
Thanks, Jeannine. I love Meadowlands; it inspired me to want to work on a book that is more than just a collection, and which holds together as a larger project whose sum is greater than its individual poems. Not familiar with Uyematsu — sounds like she’s worth checking out if you mention her in the same sentence as Glück.
I’m really appreciating seeing your list so far and also the ones you posted for your first two semesters. I am going to start creating my list for my first semester and you’re giving me some ideas. I also loved reading some of your tips, like getting up an hour early and writing and then reading for an hour when you get home from work. Have you found that this still works for you? And how much more time have you needed besides those two hours a day? Thanks for your wonderful blog and for focusing on the Pacific MFA.
Hi Layne,
Sorry for the delay in responding. Shortly after I turned in my final semester work, my department began a huge push to get some software out before year-end. So, between the 60+ hour weeks and all the miscellanea life demands (especially around the holidays), I haven’t been getting up early to write. Fortunately, there’s a lull here in December — nothing is required right now — but ideally I would be working on preparation for my essay, and writing poems to prepare for the first packet of the new semester. I miss it terribly. But the residency is just around the corner. Can’t wait.
Cheers,
Robert
A book “on poetry” that I just love is Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words by Susan G. Wooldridge. It isn’t an academic read, but it is rich with images, ideas & inspiration.
Thanks for the recommendation, Kimberlee. A smart dude once said that inspiration is more important than knowledge. He was in a different field — but I’d like to think this idea applies to poetry as well.