
The Strength of Poetry
Fenton(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 20. February 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
276 pages
978-0-19-926139-0 (ISBN)
Description
Why should a poet feel the need to be original? What is the relationship between genius and apprenticeship? James Fenton, Oxford Professor of Poetry 1994-1999 and winner of the Whitbread Prize for Poetry, examines some of the most intriguing questions behind the making of the art - issues of creativity and the 'earning' of success, of judgement, tutorage, rivalry, and ambition. With the contextual richness of a former foreign-correspondent, Fenton goes on to consider the juvenilia of Wilfred Owen, the 'scarred' lines of Philip Larkin, the inheritance of imperialism, and issues of 'constituency' in Seamus Heaney. He looks too at Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Sylvia Plath, and their contrasting 'feminisms', at D. H. Lawrence, 'welcoming the dark'; and in the end, W. H. Auden - that defining influence upon Fenton's own poetry - who receives extended coverage in the final quarter of the book.
Immensely readable, The Strength of Poetry is a major account of modern poetry from one of its leading figures.
Immensely readable, The Strength of Poetry is a major account of modern poetry from one of its leading figures.
Reviews / Votes
[Fenton's] formidable intelligence, elegance and dry wit makes this a rare beast: a collection of poetry criticism that richly rewards rereading. * Sunday Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 139 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
335 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-926139-0 (9780199261390)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
James Fenton is one of the country's most acclaimed poets and author of The Memory of War and Children in Exile (1983) and the Whitbread Prize winning Out of Danger (1994). Formerly a critic for New Statesman and The Times, and for many years a far east correspondent for The Independent, Fenton succeeded Seamus Heaney as the Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1994.
Content
1. A Lesson from Michelangelo ; 2. Wilfred Owen's Juvenilia ; 3. Philip Larkin: Wounded by Unschrapnel ; 4. Goodbye to All That ; 5. The Orpheus of Ulster ; 6. Becoming Marianne Moore ; 7. The Many Arts of Elizabeth Bishop ; 8. Lady Lazarus ; 9. Men, Women, and Beasts ; 10. Auden on Shakespeare's Sonnets ; 11. Blake Auden and James Auden ; 12. Auden in the End