- Paperback: 168 pages
- Publisher: Stanford University Press; Reissue edition (Jan 1 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0804723680
- ISBN-13: 978-0804723688
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.7 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 209 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,196,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
“He is the most powerful living poet.”—New Republic
“The interest of these essays as part of the Hill oeuvre should not obscure their value as a contribution to seventeenth-century literary studies. They represent an exacting and meticulous scholarship illuminated by the acute ear of one of our finest poets and the argumentative abilities of one of the most subtle of critics.”—The Times Literary Supplement
“A remarkable little book . . . meticulously researched and brilliantly written. . . . Hill has not only made a valuable contribution to literary history but has also provided us with a rich and thoughtful commentary on problems as enduring as they are currently fashionable.”—Cleanth Brooks, The New Criterion
“This is an important book of literary criticism and theory by the finest British poet of our time. It engages a number of fascinating questions, including language and belief; the sometimes warring concerns of poets, intellectuals, and scholars; of self-realized imagination and institutionalized knowledge; and poetic work and literary career. That Hill is so very powerful, original, and profound a poet is of considerable importance for this exploration of what for poets is frequently ‘the enemy’s country’ governed by institutional power, whether directly political, literary, academic, or that of intellectual, or at least discursive, fashion.”—John Hollander, Yale University
From the Back Cover
“He is the most powerful living poet.”—New Republic
“The interest of these essays as part of the Hill oeuvre should not obscure their value as a contribution to seventeenth-century literary studies. They represent an exacting and meticulous scholarship illuminated by the acute ear of one of our finest poets and the argumentative abilities of one of the most subtle of critics.”—The Times Literary Supplement
“The interest of these essays as part of the Hill oeuvre should not obscure their value as a contribution to seventeenth-century literary studies. They represent an exacting and meticulous scholarship illuminated by the acute ear of one of our finest poets and the argumentative abilities of one of the most subtle of critics.”—The Times Literary Supplement
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dense but brilliant book of criticism by a great poet,
This review is from: The Enemy's Country: Words, Contexture, and Other Circumstances of Language (Hardcover)
The Enemy's Country is Hill's second book of criticism, collected from lectures he gave at Cambridge University. Each essay takes on a different topic, ranging from Dryden, Walton and Donne to Ezra Pound. Yet they all fit together in complex ways. The overall theme is the poet's need to operate within the 'contextures' of language and society. The poet should not give way to 'compleasance', yet he must realize the dangers and cannot simply pretend to operate his art from a non-topos, or utopia. He is very much within the world around him, and so is his art. Only the artist who realizes this can struggle against it - his language becomes his resistance.Hill has given more to the English language than any other 20th century poet, and this volume of criticism only continues that. His prose is almost as dense as his poetry; it makes very hard reading for the uninitiated, but (as with his poetry) over time it yields its secrets and proves very deep and provocative. For those interested in 16th and 17th century literature in English, this book is indispensible, but even for others, there is much to learn here from a master.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dense but brilliant book of criticism by a great poet,
By The Light Fantastic - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Enemy's Country: Words, Contexture, and Other Circumstances of Language (Hardcover)
The Enemy's Country is Hill's second book of criticism, collected from lectures he gave at Cambridge University. Each essay takes on a different topic, ranging from Dryden, Walton and Donne to Ezra Pound. Yet they all fit together in complex ways. The overall theme is the poet's need to operate within the 'contextures' of language and society. The poet should not give way to 'compleasance', yet he must realize the dangers and cannot simply pretend to operate his art from a non-topos, or utopia. He is very much within the world around him, and so is his art. Only the artist who realizes this can struggle against it - his language becomes his resistance.Hill has given more to the English language than any other 20th century poet, and this volume of criticism only continues that. His prose is almost as dense as his poetry; it makes very hard reading for the uninitiated, but (as with his poetry) over time it yields its secrets and proves very deep and provocative. For those interested in 16th and 17th century literature in English, this book is indispensible, but even for others, there is much to learn here from a master. |
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