Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47203 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-08
• Released on: 2003-04-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781400030934
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers 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.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Alluding 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.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
The City Limits by Archie Randolph Ammons
Corsons Inlet by Archie Randolph Ammons
Gravelly Run by Archie Randolph Ammons
He Held Radical Light by Archie Randolph Ammons
Reflective by Archie Randolph Ammons
Terrain by Archie Randolph Ammons
And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name by John Ashbery
As One Put Drunk Into The Packet-boat by John Ashbery
Glazunoviana by John Ashbery
My Erotic Double by John Ashbery
Pyrography by John Ashbery
Soonest Mended by John Ashbery
Syringa by John Ashbery
Drawn By Stones, By Earth, By Things That Have Been In Fire by Marvin Bell
The Self And The Mulberry by Marvin Bell
To Dorothy by Marvin Bell
Wednesday by Marvin Bell
White Clover by Marvin Bell
The Dream Songs: 1 by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 14 by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 143 by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 257 by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 29 by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 4 by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 46 by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 5 by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 76. Henry's Confession by John Berryman
The Dream Songs: 77 by John Berryman
The Moon And The Night And The Men by John Berryman
Another Life by Frank Bidart
Happy Birthday by Frank Bidart
The Sacrifice by Frank Bidart
The Armadillo; For Robert Lowell by Elizabeth Bishop
At The Fishhouses by Elizabeth Bishop
The Bight by Elizabeth Bishop
Brazil, January 1, 1502 by Elizabeth Bishop
Filling Station by Elizabeth Bishop
In The Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop
One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
Over 2000 Illustrations And A Complete Concordance by Elizabeth Bishop
Poem by Elizabeth Bishop
The Shampoo by Elizabeth Bishop
Under The Window: Ouro Preto by Elizabeth Bishop
An Afternoon At The Beach by Edgar Bowers
Amor Vincit Omnia by Edgar Bowers
Autumn Shade: 3 by Edgar Bowers
Autumn Shade: 6 by Edgar Bowers
Autumn Shade: 8 by Edgar Bowers
Autumn Shade: 9 by Edgar Bowers
Beach Glass by Amy Clampitt
Imago by Amy Clampitt
Medusa by Amy Clampitt
Stacking The Straw by Amy Clampitt
A Call In The Midst Of The Crowd: July. Fire: The People by Alfred Dewitt Corn
Darkening Hotel Room by Alfred Dewitt Corn
Naskeag by Alfred Dewitt Corn
Again by Robert Creeley
Air: 'the Love Of A Woman' by Robert Creeley
For Friendship by Robert Creeley
For Love by Robert Creeley
I Know A Man by Robert Creeley
The Rescue by Robert Creeley
The World by Robert Creeley
A Century Of Epigrams: 29, History Of Ideas by James Vincent Cunningham
A Century Of Epigrams: 53 by James Vincent Cunningham
A Century Of Epigrams: 55 by James Vincent Cunningham
A Century Of Epigrams: 62 by James Vincent Cunningham
A Century Of Epigrams: 76 by James Vincent Cunningham
For My Contemporaries by James Vincent Cunningham
The Heaven Of Animals by James Dickey
The Hospital Window by James Dickey
The Sheep Child by James Dickey
The Strength Of Fields by James Dickey
Middle Passage by Frederic Douglass
Adolescence: 2 by Rita Dove
Canary by Rita Dove
Parsley by Rita Dove
A Poem Beginning With A Line By Pindar by Robert Duncan
Styx by Robert Duncan
The Dream by Irving Feldman
Family History by Irving Feldman
Of Course, We Would Wish by Irving Feldman
Simple Outlines, Human Shapes by Irving Feldman
Surely They're Just So Large by Irving Feldman
After Reading The Country Of The Pointed Firs by Jean Garrigue
Amsterdam Letter by Jean Garrigue
Cracked Looking Glass by Jean Garrigue
My Sad Self by Allen Ginsberg
Part 1 by Allen Ginsberg
Sunflower Sutra by Allen Ginsberg
Wales Visitation by Allen Ginsberg
The Drowned Children by Louise Gluck
The Garden by Louise Gluck
Lamentations by Louise Gluck
Messengers by Louise Gluck
Mock Orange by Louise Gluck
Palais Des Arts by Louise Gluck
Orpheus And Eurydice by Jorie Graham
Over And Over Stitch by Jorie Graham
San Sepolcro by Jorie Graham
Ballad Of Ladies Lost And Found by Marilyn Hacker
Nights Of 1964-1966: The Old Reliable by Marilyn Hacker
Taking Notice: 11 by Marilyn Hacker
Taking Notice: 14 by Marilyn Hacker
Taking Notice: 25 by Marilyn Hacker
Taking Notice: 7. by Marilyn Hacker
Dear John, Dear Coltrane by Michael S. Harper
Grandfather by Michael S. Harper
The Militance Of A Photograph In The Passbook Of A Bantu ... by Michael S. Harper
Nightmare Begins Responsibility by Michael S. Harper
Between The Wars by Robert Hass
Heroic Simile by Robert Hass
Meditation At Lagunitas by Robert Hass
Misery And Splendor by Robert Hass
Night, Death, Mississippi by Robert Earl Hayden
The Feast Of Stephen by Anthony Hecht
A Hill by Anthony Hecht
'more Light! More Light!' by Anthony Hecht
Peripeteia by Anthony Hecht
Third Avenue In Sunlight by Anthony Hecht
Fast Break by Edward Hirsch
My Father's Back by Edward Hirsch
A Short Lexicon Of Torture In The Eighties by Edward Hirsch
The Mad Potter by John Hollander
The Night Mirror by John Hollander
Powers Of Thirteen: 130 by John Hollander
Powers Of Thirteen: 3 by John Hollander
Powers Of Thirteen: 69 by John Hollander
Powers Of Thirteen: 82 by John Hollander
Powers Of Thirteen: 87 by John Hollander
Swan And Shadow by John Hollander
At The Monument To Pierre Louys by Richard Howard
Venetian Interior, 1889 by Richard Howard
Degrees Of Gray In Philipsburg by Richard Hugo
Graves At Elkhorn by Richard Hugo
The Lady In Kicking Horse Reservoir by Richard Hugo
The River Now by Richard Hugo
90 North by Randall Jarrell
Cinderella by Randall Jarrell
The Death Of The Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell
Eighth Air Force by Randall Jarrell
Next Day by Randall Jarrell
Well Water by Randall Jarrell
The Woman At The Washington Zoo by Randall Jarrell
The Assassination by Donald Justice
The Evening Of The Mind by Donald Justice
Men At Forty by Donald Justice
Mule Team And Poster by Donald Justice
The Tourist From Syracuse by Donald Justice
Variations On A Text By Vallejo by Donald Justice
After Making Love We Hear Footsteps by Galway Kinnell
The Bear by Galway Kinnell
Last Songs by Galway Kinnell
The Man On The Hotel Room Bed by Galway Kinnell
The Man Splitting Wood In The Daybreak by Galway Kinnell
Vapor Trail Reflected In The Frog Pond by Galway Kinnell
The Vow by Galway Kinnell
Amusing Our Daughters by Carolyn Kizer
A Muse Of Water by Carolyn Kizer
Pro Femina: One by Carolyn Kizer
Pro Femina: Two by Carolyn Kizer
The Ache Of Marriage by Denise Levertov
Clouds by Denise Levertov
Intrusion by Denise Levertov
Prisoners by Denise Levertov
Seeing For A Moment by Denise Levertov
Belle Isle, 1949 by Philip Levine
The Horse by Philip Levine
Rain Downriver by Philip Levine
Sweet Will by Philip Levine
They Feed They Lion by Philip Levine
You Can Have It by Philip Levine
Afterimages by Audre Lorde
Coal by Audre Lorde
Movement Song by Audre Lorde
Dolphin by Robert Lowell
Epilogue by Robert Lowell
Fishnet by Robert Lowell
For The Union Dead by Robert Lowell
History by Robert Lowell
Man And Wife by Robert Lowell
Memories Of West Street And Lepke by Robert Lowell
The Mouth Of The Hudson by Robert Lowell
The Nihilist As Hero by Robert Lowell
Obit by Robert Lowell
The Quaker Graveyard In Nantucket by Robert Lowell
Reading Myself by Robert Lowell
Skunk Hour; For Elizabeth Bishop by Robert Lowell
Waking Early Sunday Morning by Robert Lowell
Black Soap by Sandra Jean Mcpherson
The Microscope In Winter by Sandra Jean Mcpherson
Streamers by Sandra Jean Mcpherson
Consequences: 1. Of Choice by William Meredith
Consequences: Ii. Of Love by William Meredith
Consequences: Iii. My Acts by William Meredith
Country Stars by William Meredith
The Illiterate by William Meredith
The Jain Bird Hospital In Delhi by William Meredith
Thoughts On One's Head (in Plaster, With A Bronze Wash) by William Meredith
Days Of 1964 by James Ingram Merrill
Lost In Translation; For Richard Howard by James Ingram Merrill
A Renewal by James Ingram Merrill
Voices From The Other World by James Ingram Merrill
Willowware Cup by James Ingram Merrill
The Animals by William Stanley Merwin
The Asians Dying by William Stanley Merwin
Bread by William Stanley Merwin
For A Coming Extinction by William Stanley Merwin
For The Anniversary Of My Death by William Stanley Merwin
The Night Of The Shirts by William Stanley Merwin
The River Of Bees by William Stanley Merwin
Some Last Questions by William Stanley Merwin
St. Vincent's by William Stanley Merwin
Einstein's Bathrobe by Howard Moss
Elegy For My Sister by Howard Moss
Menage A Trois by Howard Moss
The Pruned Tree by Howard Moss
Rules Of Sleep by Howard Moss
The Wars by Howard Moss
Because You Asked About The Line Between Prose And Poetry by Howard Nemerov
The Dependencies by Howard Nemerov
Learning The Trees by Howard Nemerov
Money by Howard Nemerov
Storm Windows by Howard Nemerov
The War In The Air by Howard Nemerov
Writing by Howard Nemerov
Ave Maria by Frank O'hara
The Day Lady Died by Frank O'hara
Having A Coke With You by Frank O'hara
Meditations In An Emergency by Frank O'hara
To The Harbormaster by Frank O'hara
Why I Am Not A Painter by Frank O'hara
The Kingfishers by Charles Olson
Dying by Robert Pinsky
The Hearts by Robert Pinsky
Poem About People by Robert Pinsky
Ralegh's Prizes by Robert Pinsky
Ariel by Sylvia Plath
The Colossus by Sylvia Plath
Daddy by Sylvia Plath
Edge by Sylvia Plath
Fever 103 Degrees by Sylvia Plath
The Hanging Man by Sylvia Plath
Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath
Morning Song by Sylvia Plath
Words by Sylvia Plath
The Burning Of Paper Instead Of Children by Adrienne Cecile Rich
For An Album by Adrienne Cecile Rich
For The Record by Adrienne Cecile Rich
Paula Becker To Clara Westhoff by Adrienne Cecile Rich
Planetarium by Adrienne Cecile Rich
Snapshots Of A Daughter-in-law by Adrienne Cecile Rich
Cuttings (later) by Theodore Roethke
I Knew A Woman by Theodore Roethke
In A Dark Time by Theodore Roethke
Root Cellar by Theodore Roethke
The Shape Of The Fire by Theodore Roethke
The Waking by Theodore Roethke
The Paperweight by Gjertrud Schnackenberg
Signs by Gjertrud Schnackenberg
Supernatural Love by Gjertrud Schnackenberg
The Crystal Lithium by James Schuyler
Korean Mums by James Schuyler
Shimmer by James Schuyler
Her Kind by Anne Sexton
Music Swims Back To Me by Anne Sexton
The Room Of My Life by Anne Sexton
The Starry Night by Anne Sexton
The Truth The Dead Know by Anne Sexton
Wanting To Die by Anne Sexton
With Mercy For The Greedy by Anne Sexton
Concerning My Neighbors, The Hittites by Charles Simic
Empire Of Dreams by Charles Simic
Eyes Fastened With Pins by Charles Simic
My Shoes by Charles Simic
Prodigy by Charles Simic
Tapestry by Charles Simic
Watermelons by Charles Simic
We Were So Poor I Had To Take The Place Of The by Charles Simic
Elegy In An Abandoned Boatyard by Dave Smith
Lake Drummond Dream by Dave Smith
The Roundhouse Voices by Dave Smith
2 by William Dewitt Snodgrass
6 by William Dewitt Snodgrass
April Inventory by William Dewitt Snodgrass
A Locked House by William Dewitt Snodgrass
Mementos, I by William Dewitt Snodgrass
Axe Handles by Gary Snyder
The Bath by Gary Snyder
Burning Island by Gary Snyder
I Went Into The Maverick Bar by Gary Snyder
Mid-august At Sourdough Mountain Lookout by Gary Snyder
Riprap by Gary Snyder
Coming To This by Mark Strand
'the Dreadful Has Already Happened' by Mark Strand
Keeping Things Whole by Mark Strand
The Prediction by Mark Strand
The Story Of Our Lives by Mark Strand
Where Are The Waters Of Childhood? by Mark Strand
Staying At Ed's Place by May Swenson
Stone Gullets by May Swenson
Strawberrying by May Swenson
Teleology by May Swenson
Unconscious Came A Beauty by May Swenson
Homework by Mona Van Duyn
Into Mexico by Mona Van Duyn
The Stream by Mona Van Duyn
The Twins by Mona Van Duyn
A View by Mona Van Duyn
The Best Slow Dancer by David Wagoner
The Excursion Of The Speech And Hearing Class by David Wagoner
Five Dawn Skies In November by David Wagoner
The Land Behind The Wind: 1. Making Camp by David Wagoner
The Naval Trainees Learn How To Jump Overboard by David Wagoner
The Source by David Wagoner
Evening Hawk by Robert Penn Warren
Island Of Summer: 14. Masts At Dawn by Robert Penn Warren
Or Else: 10. Rattlesnake Country by Robert Penn Warren
Or Else: 23. Birth Of Love by Robert Penn Warren
Advice To A Prophet by Richard Wilbur
A Baroque Wall-fountain In The Villa Sciarra by Richard Wilbur
Hamlen Brook by Richard Wilbur
Looking Into History by Richard Wilbur
Love Calls Us To The Things Of This World by Richard Wilbur
Mind by Richard Wilbur
Walking To Sleep by Richard Wilbur
Alzheimer's: The Wife by Charles Kenneth Williams
It Is This Way With Men by Charles Kenneth Williams
Tar by Charles Kenneth Williams
Clear Night by Charles Penzel, Jr. Wright
Homage To Paul Cezanne by Charles Penzel, Jr. Wright
The Other Side Of The River by Charles Penzel, Jr. Wright
Spider Crystal Ascension by Charles Penzel, Jr. Wright
Stone Canyon Nocturne by Charles Penzel, Jr. Wright
At The Executed Murderer's Grave by James Wright
Autumn Begins In Martins Ferry, Ohio by James Wright
Beginning by James Wright
A Blessing by James Wright
In Response To A Rumor That The Oldest Whorehouse..condemned by James Wright
Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy's Farm In Pine Island, Minnesota by James Wright
A Winter Daybreak Above Vence by James Wright
Benjamin Banneker Sends His Almanac To Thomas Jefferson by Jay Wright
The Homecoming Singer by Jay Wright
Journey To The Place Of Ghosts by Jay Wright
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Customer Reviews

Worthwhile read for poetry enthusiasts.
The poet Robert Wallace said, "No magic, no poem." In this collection, edited by J.D. McClatchy, there is enough magic to power a year's worth of David Copperfield performances. Bringing together the disparate but somehow harmonious voices of Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Jorie Graham, Elizabeth Bishop and sixty-one other outstanding contemporary poets, this collection provides a wonderful overview of our country's modern poetry movement. Such classics as Plath's "Daddy" and Ginsberg's "Sunflower Sutra" can be found alongside works by Denise Levertov, Edward Hirsch and the beautifully imagistic James Schuyler. Poetry these days, particularly as represented on the 'net, seems to have become gritty and ultra-confessional. It is a pleasure to read a work where the poets employ the old-fashioned devices of metaphor and imagery to create powerful emotions in the reader and to express something of their own inner lives. Highly recommended!

Can you have a "Vintage" book of "Contemporary" poems?
Besides the seemingly at odds title, this book is pretty indispensable as far as poetry anthologies go. To even people that love and follow poetry the muddle of 20th and 21st century poetry writers can leave one scratching one's head fuddled at where to begin. This collection edited by J.D. McClatchy is perhaps the best place to start.

This book is a smorgasbord of modern day poets. It turned me on to such vastly different talents as Ginsberg, Robert Penn Warren, and Mark Strand. It starts with Robert Lowell telling us, "I want words meat-hooked from the living steer, but a cold flame of tinfoil licks the metal log, beautiful unchanging fire of vision..." and ends with Gjertrud Schnackenberg, "Covered with snow, and snow in clouds above it, And drifts and swirls too deep to understand. Still, I must try to think a little of it, with so much winter in my head and hand." There is a description of each writer straightforward and unpretentious. In its compactness, 65 writers are covered with each represented by 3-14 poems each.

I was pretty surprised to see only one review written for this book here on Amazon. I sure hope more people are owning, reading, and cherishing this book than reviewing it because to let it fall by the wayside would be something literally tragic. It's a jumping off point, a springboard. A beginning to discovery of writers and word, beautiful, unique, gymnastically agile words. We like it so much, we have two copies, one I had for myself and one I bought for my wife before we were married. Now which one will I read tonight?

Useful despite its flaws
This book is decidedly an anthology of poets rather than poems: everyone gets at least three pages and a half-page introduction. It's also fairly encyclopedic and catholic. The main use of an anthology of this type is to give the interested reader a quick idea of what, say, Merwin or Ashbery or Clampitt is all about. This task it discharges quite well.

Now for the flaws. There are some idiosyncratic omissions, which hurt the book; regardless of what McClatchy thinks of Robert Bly, he should have included a few of his poems and let the reader judge for himself. Similarly with Stanley Kunitz. I assume McClatchy likes Thom Gunn and left him out for being British, which is a little silly because he spent most of his life in California. These omissions make the book a little less complete as a reference.

More seriously, the anthology is a hard slog because so many of the poems are at least a couple of pages long. This means you can't dip in at random and read a poem and be surprised -- which is what anthologies are traditionally for. It would be a more readable book if there were fewer interminable blank verse meditations, many of them unengaging and not very characteristic -- e.g. one would not realize from the selections that Merrill and Hecht were masters of poetic form. That said, one does get some idea of each voice if one persists.

A persistent pattern in this period is the mid-career switch from highly formal verse to a distinctive personal style. (Lowell, Berryman, W.S. Merwin, James Wright, Plath...) It's fascinating to see the mature style next to the earlier style; the book does this sometimes, but not with Merwin.

On the whole this anthology is a slightly unhappy medium. It would have served its purpose better if it had been more conventional; on the other hand I'd have really liked to see an unabashedly personal anthology that more vividly reflected McClatchy's own tastes. Still, what we have is a useful introduction to a very rich period.