The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry
Dazzling in its range, exhilarating in its immediacy and grace, this collection gathers together, from every region of the country and from the past forty years, the poems that continue to shape our imaginations. From Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, John Ashbery and Adrienne Rich, to Robert Haas and Louise Gluck, this anthology takes the full measure of our poetry's daring energies and its tender understandings.
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Dazzling in its range, exhilarating in its immediacy and grace, this collection gathers together, from every region of the country and from the past forty years, the poems that continue to shape our imaginations. From Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, John Ashbery and Adrienne Rich, to Robert Haas and Louise Gluck, this anthology takes the full measure of our poetry's daring energies and its tender understandings.Publishers WeeklyPoetry devotees will be familiar with much of the work in this fine collection, which focuses on the period from WW II until the present. Sixty-five poets, including such well-known writers as Robert Lowell, Allen Ginsberg, Theodore Roethke, Anne Sexton, James Dickey, Denise Levertov and Gary Snyder, are represented by anywhere from one to a dozen poems each, as well as a brief biography that touches on the writer's aesthetic ideas. McClatchy, himself a poet and critic, has done an exceptional job of selecting works that typify the poets' styles and beliefs. Standouts are Elizabeth Bishop's ``In the Waiting Room,'' about the poet's first perception of herself in relation to others; Randall Jarrell's ``The Woman at the Washington Zoo,'' which deals with the dull, emotionless routine of modern life; Frank O'Hara's ``Having a Coke with You,'' a dizzy declaration of love during a visit to a New York museum; and Mark Strand's ``Keeping Things Whole,'' in which the poet sees his presence in the world as subtracting from the whole of reality. Unfortunately, the poems are not dated, giving the reader no sense of the writers' chronological development. (Nov.)
IntroductionA Note on the Second Edition, 2003The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket3Memories of West Street and Lepke8Man and Wife9Skunk Hour10The Mouth of the Hudson12For the Union Dead13Waking Early Sunday Morning15History18The Nihilist as Hero18Reading Myself19Obit19Fishnet20Dolphin20Epilogue21The Bight22Over 2,000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance23At the Fishhouses25The Shampoo28Brazil, January 1, 150228Under the Window: Ouro Preto30The Armadillo32Filling Station33In the Waiting Room34One Art37Poem38Cuttings40Root Cellar41The Shape of the Fire41The Waking44I Knew a Woman45In a Dark Time46The Moon and the Night and the Men47From the Dream Songs (1, 4, 5, 14, 29, 46, 76, 77, 143, 257, 384)4890 North56Eighth Air Force57The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner58The Woman at the Washington Zoo58Cinderella59Next Day60Well Water62Masts at Dawn63Birth of Love65Rattlesnake Country66Evening Hawk72The Kingfishers73For My Contemporaries80To My Wife81From a Century of Epigrams 9 (29, 53, 55, 62, 76)81Night, Death, Mississippi83Frederick Douglass85Middle Passage85Amsterdam Letter91Cracked Looking Glass93After Reading The Country of the Pointed Firs94Teleology97Unconscious Came a Beauty98Stone Gullets99Staying at Ed's Place99Strawberrying100A Poem Beginning With a Line by Pindar101Styx109The Illiterate111Thoughts on One's Head112Consequences113Country Stars115The Jain Bird Hospital in Delhi115Storm Windows117Writing118Money119The Dependencies120Learning the Trees121Because You Asked About the Line Between Prose and Poetry122The War in the Air123A Baroque Wall-Foundation in the Villa Sciarra124Looking Into History126Love Calls Us to the Things of This World128Mind129Advice to a Prophet130Walking to Sleep131Hamlen Brook135Homework136Into Mexico137The Twins138A View139The Stream141The Pruned Tree145The Wars146Menage a Trois147Elegy for My Sister149Rules of Sleep152Einstein's Bathrobe153The Heaven of Animals155The Hospital Window156The Sheep Child158The Strength of Fields160A Hill162Third Avenue in Sunlight163"More Light! More Light!"164Peripeteia165The Feast of Stephen168The Crystal Lithium170Shimmer175Korean Mums176Clouds178The Ache of Marriage179Intrusion180Seeing for a Moment180Prisoners181Graves at Elkhorn183The Lady in Kicking Horse Reservoir184Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg186The River Now187An Afternoon at the Beach188Amor Vincit Omnia189From Autumn Shade (3, 6, 8, 9)189A Muse of Water192Amusing Our Daughters194From Pro Feminia (I, II)195The Evening of the Mind198Men at Forty199The Tourist from Syracuse200Variations on a Text by Vallejo201The Assassination202Mule Team and Poster202To the Harbormaster204A Step Away from Them205Meditations in an Emergency206Why I Am Not a Painter208The Day Lady Died208Having a Coke With You209Ave Maria211The Best Slow Dancer212The Naval Trainees Learn How to Jump Overboard213The Excursion of the Speech and Hearing Class214Five Dawn Skies in November215Making Camp215The Source216I Know a Man218The Rescue219Air: "The Love of a Woman"219For Friendship220For Love220Again222The World223From Howl (I)225Sunflower Sutra229My Sad Self231Wales Visitation233April Inventory237From Heart's Needle (2, 6)239Mementos, 1241A Locked House242A Renewal244Voices from the Other World245Days of 1964246Willowware Cup248Lost in Translation249The Animals256Some Last Questions257The River of Bees257For the Anniversary of My Death258The Asians Dying259For a Coming Extinction260The Night of the Shirts261Bread261St. Vincent's262He Held Radical Light265Gravelly Run266Corsons Inlet267Reflective271Terrain271The City Limits272Glazunoviana274Soonest Mended275As One Put Drunk Into the Packet-Boat277Pyrography278And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name281Syringa282My Erotic Double284At the Executed Murderer's Grave286Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio289Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota290Beginning290A Blessing291In Response to a Rumor That the Oldest Whorehouse in Wheeling, West Virginia, Has Been Condemned292A Winter Daybreak Above Vence293Vapor Trail Reflected in the Frog Pond295Last Songs296The Bear297After Making Love We Hear Footsteps300The Man Splitting Wood in the Daybreak301The Vow302The Man on the Hotel Room Bed302Her Kind304Music Swims Back to Me305The Truth the Dead Know306The Starry Night307With Mercy for the Greedy307Wanting to Die308The Room of My Life310The Horse311They Feed They Lion313Belle Isle, 1949314You Can Have It314Rain Downriver316Sweet Will317Family History320The Dream324From All of Us Here325The Night Mirror328From Powers of Thirteen (3, 29, 69, 82, 87, 130)329Swan and Shadow333The Mad Potter334The Venetian Interior, 1889338At the Monument to Pierre Louys342Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law345Planetarium349The Burning of Paper Instead of Children351Paula Becker to Clara Westhoff354For the Record357For an Album358Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout359Riprap360Burning Island361The Bath362I Went Into the Maverick Bar365Axe Handles366The Colossus368The Hanging Man369Morning Song370Daddy370Fever 103[degree]373Ariel375Lady Lazarus376Edge378Words379Keeping Things Whole381Coming to This382The Prediction382"The Dreadful Has Already Happened"383
\ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ Poetry devotees will be familiar with much of the work in this fine collection, which focuses on the period from WW II until the present. Sixty-five poets, including such well-known writers as Robert Lowell, Allen Ginsberg, Theodore Roethke, Anne Sexton, James Dickey, Denise Levertov and Gary Snyder, are represented by anywhere from one to a dozen poems each, as well as a brief biography that touches on the writer's aesthetic ideas. McClatchy, himself a poet and critic, has done an exceptional job of selecting works that typify the poets' styles and beliefs. Standouts are Elizabeth Bishop's ``In the Waiting Room,'' about the poet's first perception of herself in relation to others; Randall Jarrell's ``The Woman at the Washington Zoo,'' which deals with the dull, emotionless routine of modern life; Frank O'Hara's ``Having a Coke with You,'' a dizzy declaration of love during a visit to a New York museum; and Mark Strand's ``Keeping Things Whole,'' in which the poet sees his presence in the world as subtracting from the whole of reality. Unfortunately, the poems are not dated, giving the reader no sense of the writers' chronological development. (Nov.)\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalAlluding to the anthology wars of a generation ago, McClatchy writes in his introduction that his choices are strictly nonpartisan (neither ``Paleface or Redskin, or Academic and Avant-Garde''). But from the 65 poets he has selected to represent the course of American poetry over the last half century--beginning with Robert Lowell and ending with Jorie Graham--it is clear his preferences are formalistic and academic. The typical poem a reader will encounter in these pages is urbane, finely honed, and smoothly accomplished. As in all anthologies, the omissions and inclusions are telling. Where are Rexroth, Kees, and Rukeyser? Why Cunningham, Bowers, Feldman, and Garrigue and not Ignatow, Brooks, Blackburn, and Bly? While it is a delight to have many of the poets McClatchy has chosen collected together in a reasonably priced edition, a greater variety of voice and aesthetic would have made this anthology a livelier survey of the state of contemporary American poetry. Still, it is a useful addition to most collections. For the 100 most anthologized poems in English, see review of The Concise Columbia Book of Poetry, p. 74.--Ed.-- Christine Sten strom, New York Law Sch. Lib.\ \
