
Questions of Possibility
Contemporary Poetry and Poetic Form
David Caplan(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 26. October 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-19-531325-3 (ISBN)
Description
Questions of Possibility examines the particular forms that contemporary American poets favor and those they neglect. The poets' choices reveal both their ambitions and their limitations, the new possibilities they discover and the traditions they find unimaginable.
By means of close attention to the sestina, ghazal, love sonnet, ballad, and heroic couplet, this study advances a new understanding of contemporary American poetry. Rather than pitting "closed" verse against "open" and "traditional" poetry against "experimental," Questions of Possibility explores how poets associated with different movements inspire and inform each other's work. Discussing a range of authors, from Charles Bernstein, Derek Walcott, and Marilyn Hacker to Agha Shahid Ali, David Caplan treats these poets as contemporaries who share the language, not as partisans assigned to rival camps. The most interesting contemporary poetry crosses the boundaries that literary criticism draws, synthesizing diverse influences and establishing surprising affinities. In a series of lively readings, Caplan charts the diverse characteristics and accomplishments of modern poetry, from the gay and lesbian love sonnet to the currently popular sestina.
By means of close attention to the sestina, ghazal, love sonnet, ballad, and heroic couplet, this study advances a new understanding of contemporary American poetry. Rather than pitting "closed" verse against "open" and "traditional" poetry against "experimental," Questions of Possibility explores how poets associated with different movements inspire and inform each other's work. Discussing a range of authors, from Charles Bernstein, Derek Walcott, and Marilyn Hacker to Agha Shahid Ali, David Caplan treats these poets as contemporaries who share the language, not as partisans assigned to rival camps. The most interesting contemporary poetry crosses the boundaries that literary criticism draws, synthesizing diverse influences and establishing surprising affinities. In a series of lively readings, Caplan charts the diverse characteristics and accomplishments of modern poetry, from the gay and lesbian love sonnet to the currently popular sestina.
Reviews / Votes
"Poetic discourse in the century past was taken up disproportionately by what David Caplan, in this excellent book, calls 'the prosody wars.'... Caplan has the eminently reasonable idea of seeing what it is that poets are actually doing with poetic form.... Drawing from the works of Adrienne Rich, Anthony Hecht, Derek Walcott, and Seamus Heaney, among others, Caplan has written a book that working poets and serious readers of poetry alike will find of great value."--Virginia Quarterly Review "In a lively, intelligent study unencumbered by the jargon that infests much current work, Caplan offers a sensitive and convincing consideration of poetic form within social and political contexts.... Caplan's study is valuable.... Highly recommended."--Choice "David Caplan's Questions of Possibility: Contemporary Poetry and Poetic Form is a good and necessary book that teaches or reinforces some vital lessons about poetry and poetic form.... An astute book that offers much, supplying a generous amount of information on the details of recent poetic history."--Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing [An] excellent book...superb analysis...deeply engaging * Essays in Criticism *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
265 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-531325-3 (9780195313253)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
12/2004
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€28.99
Available for download

E-Book
12/2004
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€28.99
Available for download
Person
David Caplan is Assistant Professor of English at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Author
Assistant Professor, Department of EnglishAssistant Professor, Department of English, Ohio Wesleyan University