Providing a unique window into a poetic tradition little known and little understood in the West, Contemporary East European Poetry features one hundred and thirty poets from ten countries, with works translated from fifteen languages. Emery George, himself a distinguished poet and translator, here brings together over five hundred poems expertly rendered into beautiful, English verse by ninety translators, often working in collaboration with the original author.;Represented are poets from many walks of life, contrasting religious and political outlooks, those working at home and in exile, and most importantly, poets who work in a wide variety of styles--from traditional forms to the most up-to-date experimental modes. Here are tightly woven Petrarchan sonnets and dramatic monologues alongside the free verse and mathematical experiments of a new generation. Preference is given throughout to the genuinely lyrical, to work that stresses the inventive use of language and the poet's tools and craftsmanship.;The years of the 1960s and 1970s, filled as they were with the winds of change--both in society and in art--constitute the heart of this volume. There are poets both young and old, living and, in some cases, recently deceased. Poets born before 1940 are featured next to senior figures whose first distinguished work may date as far back as the twenties and thirties, but whose influence and works remained central during the two decades on which the collection focuses. While most of the poems are appearing here in English for the very first time, all are freshly translated for this volume. Earlier English versions, when they exist, appear side-by-side with the newly translated poem.;There is no other volume available that even approaches the scope of Contemporary East European Poetry. For lovers of poetry and literature, and for those simply interested in a rich culture so long cut off from the world at large, it offers a wealth of insights and opportunities for discovery.

Reviews

East European poetry has become renowned in this country without becoming well known; a few names stand for a rich and varied tradition. This enlarged edition of a 1983 anthology includes 160 poets writing in 15 languages. The collection shows the historic influences of symbolism, modernism and surrealism on the literature of the region, as well as the weight of history itself. Lines like ``The victor's power and roadside berries / share the same taste of dust'' have an imagistic power and deep irony familiar to readers of Milosz or Herbert. Among the many unfamiliar voices are poets of an earlier generation who figure importantly in their national literatures (for example, the Estonian Marie Under), and young poets who have not yet received attention. A large number of women poets are also represented. The anthology suggests that Eastern European poetry is cosmopolitan, able to respond to East and West, yet preserves at its core distinct and unique qualities. Perhaps the most significant of these is a constant interpenetration of public and private concerns, such that nature is never pure, the ego is never totally self-absorbed and the answers are never final. Although often austere, and almost anonymous in its personal modesty when compared with the American lyric, this poetry is a cord that binds up wounds and holds people together: ``A knife / skins away the fog, / the battering-ram of the mountains. / Across the river / live the dead. / This speech / is their ferry.'' (Apr.)

This book originally appeared in 1983 in an Ardis Publishers edition. In this new edition, poet-translator George adds an ``update'' section of 32 poets, all born since 1945 and not included in the original version. This Oxford edition offers a massive selection of over 500 poems from 160 poets spanning ten countries and 15 languages, including Yiddish and the four languages of the former Yugoslavia. For cultural and artistic reasons, the former Soviet Union is not included; George focuses on the Eastern Bloc countries, arranging the poems by original language and drawing upon the services of 141 able translators who produce highly readable and literary renderings. Eleven editorial consultants provide introductions to each section and tidy biographies of every poet, including Czeslaw Milosz, Sarah Kirsch, and Stefan Doinas. This unique collection fills a niche and introduces readers to a new world of poetry. Recommended.-Daniel L. Guillory, Millikin Univ., Decatur, Ill.