[Vendler's] thoughtful and insightful readings of poems by
Alexander Pope, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and William Butler
Yeats demonstrate the central and indeed essential role of
sophisticated thinking in the poetic enterprise...To navigate the
intricacies of thought that a poem contains, it is hard to imagine
a better guide than Vendler herself. Her most admirable achievement
is perhaps her ability to illuminate the connection between what a
poem says and the formally oriented issue of how it says it. One
might have expected a book explicitly on poetic thinking to neglect
form, and focus only on content. But Vendler considers this
approach a serious mistake, and her insights regarding form
constitute the strongest argument for this position.--Troy
Jollimore"San Francisco Chronicle" (10/10/2004)
Helen Vendler's "Poets Thinking" is lucid, accessible, and
inspired...Vendler's own voice is that rare academic combination of
expertise and accommodation...Her arguments provide ample
explanation and exempla for the lay reader while provoking the
academic to revisit old assumptions. She is at ease with the broad
sweep of American and English poetry and with the critical methods
of the last half-century. Her conclusions seem remarkably
self-evident, a voice of trustworthiness and reason that encourages
us to lean closer, to listen carefully.--Lynnell Edwards "Georgia
Review "
In her challenging and entertaining new book, "Poets Thinking",
Helen Vendler argues that poetry in all its manifestations, however
ostensibly irrational, is a mode of thinking that commands not just
our aesthetic appreciation but also our intellectual
respect...Vendler is a wonderful elucidator of individual poems.
Nobody writes more insightfully about a poem's stylistic armature,
and the emotional and intellectual purposes that armature serves.
And by examining the distinctive strategies of thinking in the work
of such radically different poets as Pope, Whitman, Dickinson, and
Yeats, Vendler makes visible aspects of style and language that
other critics simply haven't seen.--Alan Shapiro"Harvard Magazine"
(01/01/2005)
One of the most distinguished critics of poetry in the
English-speaking world...Vendler engages in close reading to find a
poem's distinctiveness of language and literary form...Vendler is
really trying to enlarge our idea of what poetry can be...In
reminding us to look at and listen to the actual words on the page,
and not to leap too soon to some hackneyed idea that they recall,
Vendler invites us to expand our own response to
experience.--Christopher Benfey"New York Review of Books"
(04/28/2005)
Poetry is often regarded as the product of inspiration rather than
intellect. Vendler seeks to emphasize the importance of thought in
poetry...She shows poetic thought as reflected in poetic voice,
structure, and prosody in four poets: Alexander Pope, Walt Whitman,
Emily Dickinson, and W. B. Yeats...Vendler's convincing and
illuminating arguments make this book highly recommended.--Amy K.
Weiss"Library Journal" (08/01/2004)
Vendler's close readings lay bare the process of poetic reflection:
"Poets Thinking" is about how rather than what poets think, about
the act of the mind rather than any 'embalmed thought' that readers
might want to extract from verse...Vendler is exceptionally skilled
at demonstrating that poetry offers us pictures of the mind at work
rather than settled axioms to take away...["Poets Thinking"] has a
good deal to offer in the way of thought-provoking and sometimes
dazzling readings of British and American poetry.--Fiona
Green"Times Literary Supplement" (10/07/2005)
"Poet's Thinking," if it is read as widely as it ought to be, will
help considerably to correct this misperception.
conclusions seem remarkably self-evident, a voice of
trustworthiness and reason that encourages us to lean closer, to
listen carefully.
insights regarding form constitute the strongest argument for this
position.
language that other critics simply haven't seen.
our idea of what poetry can be...In reminding us to look at and
listen to the actual words on the page, and not to leap too soon to
some hackneyed idea that they recall, Vendler invites us to expand
our own response to experience.
prosody in four poets: Alexander Pope, Walt Whitman, Emily
Dickinson, and W. B. Yeats...Vendler's convincing and illuminating
arguments make this book highly recommended.
Thinking"] has a good deal to offer in the way of thought-provoking
and sometimes dazzling readings of British and American poetry.
ÝVendler's¨ thoughtful and insightful readings of poems by
Alexander Pope, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and William Butler
Yeats demonstrate the central and indeed essential role of
sophisticated thinking in the poetic enterprise...To navigate the
intricacies of thought that a poem contains, it is hard to imagine
a better guide than Vendler herself. Her most admirable achievement
is perhaps her ability to illuminate the connection between what a
poem says and the formally oriented issue of how it says it. One
might have expected a book explicitly on poetic thinking to neglect
form, and focus only on content. But Vendler considers this
approach a serious mistake, and her insights regarding form
constitute the strongest argument for this position. -- Troy
Jollimore "San Francisco Chronicle" (10/10/2004)
Some people seem surprised by the idea that poets do any thinking
at all. There is a popular image of the poet as a wild, inspired,
untutored and half-mad figure striding across the heath. Helen
Vendler's new book, "Poet's Thinking," if it is read as widely as
it ought to be, will help considerably to correct this
misperception.
Ask a Question About this Product More... |