Poetry and the Age: Expanded Edition [Paperback]

Randall Jarrell, a poet of great stature as well as a critic, in 20 or so essays, discusses poets, poetry, criticism, and the merits of several specific modern poets and selected of their works. We would expect a poet to be passionate about poetry, and that he is. But more than that, he is also passionate in his conviction that "Poetry does not need to be defended, poetry...has been an indispensable part of any culture we know anything about" and "Human life without some form of poetry is not human life but animal existence." He contends that the average person of today finds it more difficult to appreciate, or even comprehend, poetry than in previous ages because of the diminished role of reading and the onslaught of television in modern America. This was in 1953!

But in rejecting poetry we are rejecting the richest form of human expression, a form that if properly experienced can convey from a very gifted individual(the poet), to the rest of us: impressions of strange beauty, and unique ways of perceiving time, existence, truth, love or any other thing or concept. He acknowledges that the capacity to appreciate poetry will probably be limited to the few, but does not condone elitism. True poetry has not to do with insiders' use of technical devices to show off their superiority, but has to do with the communication of some sort of truth between humans in a form that uses only the right words in the proper order with the proper accents, and uses no more words than necessary, to communicate that truth.

There is a nice essay on criticism and what makes a good critic, which I found quite interesting. I think his guidelines for critical integrity could be applied even at the level of Amazon reviewers. And then, there are many essays devoted to the poets such as Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, William Carlos Williams, and several others. I learned much, but feel as though I only scratched the surface of understanding much of what he critiqued. However, I have the sense that there is much worth digging for beneath that surface.

The main negative to this collection was to me the constant practice of Jarrell to say things with such ironic juxtaposition, evidently to impart a piquancy and to give just that exact delicate shade of meaning to his discussions. For instance "... it is possible to tell part of the truth about the world in terms that are false, limited, and fantastic..." or "Originality is one of his major virtues and minor vices." This is all very clever, but sometimes began to seem a bit much.

But Jarrell did not spare even poets whom he considered to be great from some rather rigorous criticism. In the same spirit, I thought this was a splendid book, although sometimes its style seemed a little exalted. At 245 pages, this was rather a lot of poetry criticism to digest. Poetry, this quest for the highest level of perfection of expression, and books like this, which help prepare our minds to receive it, seem to me important human endeavors which will hopefully continue to be appreciated, at least by a few.

I believe books like this are well worth exploring, even by non-academic types like myself, who are seeking to broaden their comprehension of our culture. I am personally acquainted with only one other person, a guy in Davenport, Iowa, who willingly reads these sorts of books for personal enrichment. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I think there are many who would find it rewarding to try at least one or two such as this.

This is, without doubt, the best literary criticism - or explication - I've ever read. Among other things, Jarrell does his best to bury the popular notion of Frost as avuncular, non-threatening nature poet, bringing this dark, primal writer alive as nobody else has ever done for me.
The essays on Frost, plus the author's take on such poets as Whitman, WC Williams and Marianne Moore, both enlighten and entertain.
Jarrell, too, was a fine poet but, based on the evidence herein, he was an absolute master of English prose. I think this book is the one thing that he wrote that is destined to last. . .

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