A New Theory for American PoetryHarvard University Press, 2009 M06 30 - 336 pages Amid gloomy forecasts of the decline of the humanities and the death of poetry, Angus Fletcher, a wise and dedicated literary voice, sounds a note of powerful, tempered optimism. He lays out a fresh approach to American poetry at large, the first in several decades, expounding a defense of the art that will resonate well into the new century. Breaking with the tired habit of treating American poets as the happy or rebellious children of European romanticism, Fletcher uncovers a distinct lineage for American poetry. His point of departure is the fascinating English writer, John Clare; he then centers on the radically American vision expressed by Emerson and Walt Whitman. With Whitman this book insists that the whole theory and nature of poetry needs inspiration from science if it is to achieve a truly democratic vista. Drawing variously on Complexity Theory and on fundamentals of art and grammar, Fletcher argues that our finest poetry is nature-based, environmentally shaped, and descriptive in aim, enabling poets like John Ashbery and other contemporaries to discover a mysterious pragmatism. Intense, resonant, and deeply literary, this account of an American poetics shows how today's consumerist and conformist culture subverts the imagination of a free people. While centering on American vision, the argument extends our horizon, striking a blow against all economically sanctioned attacks upon the finer, stronger human capacities. Poetry, the author maintains, is central to any coherent vision of life. |
Contents
1 | |
1 Clares Horizon | 17 |
2 The Argument of Form | 23 |
3 Description | 43 |
4 Ashberys Clare | 57 |
5 Diurnal Knowledge | 75 |
6 The Whitman Phrase | 94 |
7 The EnvironmentPoem | 117 |
9 Middle Voice | 165 |
10 Ashbery and the Becoming of the Poem | 175 |
11 Meditating Chaos and Complexity | 190 |
12 The Long Amazing and Unprecedented Way | 209 |
13 Coherence | 225 |
An Epilogue | 246 |
Notes | 257 |
311 | |
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Common terms and phrases
American ancient Ashbery's become called Cambridge chaos chora coherence complex critical democracy democratic diurnal diurnal knowledge ecological Emerson environment environment-poem environmental essay etry existence expression fact fiction final Flow Chart Gérard Genette Greek Harold Bloom hence Hesiod horizon human idea images imaginative John Ashbery John Clare John Hollander John Shoptaw kind landscape language Leaves of Grass lines literary literature living lyric meaning meditation ment metaphor metonymy middle voice mind mode modern natural numbers observed Ossian paradox perception perhaps philosophy phrase Platonic poem poet poet's poetic forms poetry political Presocratic principle prose question Raymond Roussel reader rhyme rhythm role Romantic Romanticism scale scene seems sense sestina social Song sonnet space story sublime surrounding theory things thought tion tradition tropes verb verse vision vista Wallace Stevens Walt Whitman waves words Wordsworth writing York