Till I End My Song: A Gathering of Last Poems
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From Harold Bloom, the foremost literary critic of our time, comes a delightful anthology of the final works of great poets. In Till I End My Song, Bloom has meticulously curated the last poems of one hundred influential poets. These poems, sometimes the literal end and other times the imagined conclusion to a poetic career, offer a lens through which to contemplate the enduring nature of art and the inevitability of death. Bloom's selections highlight the work of the canonized poets T. S. Eliot, Alexander Pope, W. B. Yeats, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and William Shakespeare, but also revive interest in distinguished but long-neglected poets, such as Conrad Aiken, William Cowper, Edwin Arlington Robinson, George Meredith, and Louis MacNeice. An authoritative collection of last poems, Till I End My Song will reverberate long into the coming silence.Publishers WeeklyBloom may be the most famous poetry critic in the English language. As he approached his 80th birthday, he turned his critical faculties toward the subject of death: this surprisingly enjoyable anthology contains the last poems--or the poems that most profoundly contemplate "lastness"--by 100 poets, from Edmund Spenser (d. 1599) to Agha Shahid Ali (d. 2001). Bloom seeks to show, through his selections and commentaries on each poem, that death can be as much an inspiration as a terror. With their last breaths, these poets address God (as John Donne does: "Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,/ Which is my sin, though it were done before?"); future generations (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in his "Epitaph," tells those who pass his gravestone, "Beneath this sod/ A poet lies" who "Found death in life" and who hopes to "find life in death!"); a vast public and private self (Frost said, "I opened the door so my last look/ Should be taken outside a house and book"). James Wright finds a new kind of life in the apprehension of his mortality: "How can I feel so warm/ Here in the dead center of January?" Throughout, Bloom's brief prose comments illuminate and entertain. (Oct.)
Introduction Harold Bloom Bloom, HaroldProthalamion Edmund Spenser Spenser, Edmund 1From the Ocean to Cynthia Sir Walter Ralegh Ralegh, Sir Walter 11From Astrophil and Stella: "Who will in fairest book" Sir Philip Sidney Sidney, Sir Philip 17"Down in the depth of mine iniquity" Lord Brooke Brooke, Lord 21Last Verses: "So well I love thee" Michael Drayton Drayton, Michael 25From Doctor Faustus Christopher Marlowe Marlowe, Christopher 29From The Tempest William Shakespeare Shakespeare, William 35A Hymn to God the Father John Donne Donne, John 37From Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue Ben Jonson Jonson, Ben 39The White Island, or Place of the Blest Robert Herrick Herrick, Robert 45Love (III) George Herbert Herbert, George 47Dirge James Shirley Shirley, James 51Of the Last Verses in the Book Edmund Waller Waller, Edmund 55From Samson Agonistes John Milton Milton, John 57On Mr. Milton's Paradise Lost Andrew Marvell Marvell, Andrew 61The Night Henry Vaughan Vaughan, Henry 65From The Secular Masque John Dryden Dryden, John 71Upon Nothing John Wilmot Wilmot, John 73The Day of Judgment Jonathan Swift Swift, Jonathan 77From The Dunciad [Book IV] Alexander Pope Pope, Alexander 81On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet Samuel Johnson Johnson, Samuel 85The Cast-Away William Cowper Cowper, William 89To the Accuser Who Is the God of This World William Blake Blake, William 93Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg William Wordsworth Wordsworth, William 97Epitaph Samuel Taylor Coleridge Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 103Memory Walter Savage Landor Landor, Walter Savage 107On This Day I Complete My Thirty-sixth Year Lord Byron Byron, Lord 109From The Triumph of Life Percy Bysshe Shelley Shelley, Percy Bysshe 113This Living Hand John Keats Keats, John 119Terminus Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson, Ralph Waldo 121Elegiac Verse Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 125From The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Edward Fitzgerald Fitzgerald, Edward 129Crossing the Bar Alfred, Lord Tennyson 135Prologue from Asolando Robert Browning Browning, Robert 139Last Lines Emily Jane Bronte Bronte, Emily Jane 143Night on the Prairies Walt Whitman Whitman, Walt 147Shelley's Vision Herman Melville Melville, Herman 151Growing Old Matthew Arnold Arnold, Matthew 155A Ballad of Past Meridian George Meredith Meredith, George 159Insomnia Dante Gabriel Rossetti Rossetti, Dante Gabriel 161Passing Away Christina Rossetti Rossetti, Christina 163The Saddest Noise Emily Dickinson Dickinson, Emily 167From the Story of Sigurd the Volsung William Morris Morris, William 171Sonnet: Between Two Seas Algernon Charles Swinburne Swinburne, Algernon Charles 175He Never Expected Much Thomas Hardy Hardy, Thomas 179To R. B. Gerard Manley Hopkins Hopkins, Gerard Manley 183Low Barometer Robert Bridges Bridges, Robert 187Requiem Robert Louis Stevenson Stevenson, Robert Louis 191From the Ballad of Reading Gaol Oscar Wilde Wilde, Oscar 193They Say My Verse Is Sad A. E. Housman Housman, A. E. 197The Fabulists Rudyard Kipling Kipling, Rudyard 199Cuchulain Comforted William Butler Yeats Yeats, William Butler 203The Dark Angel Lionel Johnson Johnson, Lionel 207Why He Was There Edwin Arlington Robinson Robinson, Edwin Arlington 211Monsieur Qui Passe Charlotte Mew Mew, Charlotte 213One More Brevity Robert Frost Frost, Robert 217Liberty Edward Thomas Thomas, Edward 223The Lonely Death Adelaide Crapsey Crapsey, Adelaide 227Of Mere Being Wallace Stevens Stevens, Wallace 229The World Contracted to a Recognizable Image William Carlos Williams Williams, William Carlos 233Shadows D.H. Lawrence Lawrence, D. H. 235Ejaculation Flinor Wylie Wylie, Flinor 239I Have Been Warned Robinson Jeffers Jeffers, Robinson 241From Little Gidding T.S. Eliot Eliot, T. S. 245Tetelestai Conrad Aiken Aiken, Conrad 251A Worm Fed on the Heart of Corinth Isaac Rosenberg Rosenberg, Isaac 257To Dear Daniel Samuel Greenberg Greenberg, Samuel 259Futility Wilfred Owen Owen, Wilfred 261The Dragonfly Louise Bogan Bogan, Louise 265Fish Food: An Obituary to Hart Crane John Brooks Wheelwright Wheelwright, John Brooks 267The Broken Tower Hart Crane Crane, Hart 271Black March Stevie Smith Smith, Stevie 275Heart of Autumn Robert Penn Warren Warren, Robert Penn 279Missing Dates William Empson Empson, William 283A Lullaby W.H. Auden Auden, W. H. 285Charon Louis Macneice Macneice, Louis 291In a Dark Time Theodore Roethke Roethke, Theodore 293To Walker Evans James Agee Agee, James 295Souls Lake Robert Fitzgerald Fitzgerald, Robert 297Sonnet Elizabeth Bishop Bishop, Elizabeth 301Grief Was to Go Out, Away Jean Garrigue Garrigue, Jean 305Last Poem F.T. Prince Prince, F. T. 309Bone-Flower Elegy Robert Hayden Hayden, Robert 311The First Night of Fall and Falling Rain Delmore Schwartz Schwartz, Delmore 313Space Walking R.S. Thomas Thomas, R. S. 315Staring at the Sea on the Day of the Death of Another May Swenson Swenson, May 317Poem on His Birthday Dylan Thomas Thomas, Dylan 321Henry's Understanding John Berryman Berryman, John 327Thinking of the Lost World Randall Jarrell Jarrell, Randall 329Epilogue Robert Lowell Lowell, Robert 335Language Ah Now You Have Me W.S. Graham Graham, W. S. 339A Silence Amy Clampitt Clampitt, Amy 343Aristocrats Keith Douglas Douglas, Keith 347"The Darkness and the Light Are Both Alike to Thee" Anthony Hecht Hecht, Anthony 349Proverb Kenneth Koch Koch, Kenneth 351In View of the Fact A.R. Ammons Ammons, A. R. 353Days of 1994 James Merrill Merrill, James 357A Winter Daybreak above Vence James Wright Wright, James 361News from the Dogs Vicki Hearne Hearne, Vicki 365The Veiled Suite Agha Shahid Ali Ali, Agha Shahid 369Permissions 373Acknowledgments 377
