- Paperback: 360 pages
- Publisher: Anvil Press Poetry; New edition edition (Jun 1 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0856462756
- ISBN-13: 978-0856462757
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 13.7 x 2.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,939,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
'This is virtually an encyclopaedia of modern poetry; as such it has, I think, no rival, simply because there is no other critic with the linguistic and technical knowledge to have attempted it. And it is not merely a work which provides useful and otherwise inaccessible information on so many poets of importance (in half a dozen languages); it also offers a theory of modern poetry' - Frank Kermode'There cannot be many readers of poetry with Mr Hamburger's range: he is at home in French, German, English, Italian and Spanish. His knowledge extends to Portuguese and, via translations at least, to Polish and Russian verse... Used simply as a guide to the most important European and American poetry of the period from the 1880s to the present, this book has great value' - George Steiner, Sunday Times'Mr Hamburger... is not only a poet and critic but scholar as well, and these three often warring pursuits seem in him to live in harmony' - Times Literary Supplement'We have, in 'The Truth of Poetry', a profound contribution to modern aesthetics and, as an incidental bonus, a critical introduction to twentieth-century world poetry' - Times Educational Supplement
Book Description
What kind of truth does modern poetry offer? Michael Hamburger's approach to this question ranges over European and American poetry since Baudelaire and the result is one of the best introductions available to twentieth-century poetry and its antecedents. Stressing the tensions and conflicts in and behind the work of almost every major poet of the period, Hamburger's non-partisan approach and practitioner's appreciation of the aesthetic problems ensure that the many different possibilities open to poets since Baudelaire are lucidly and sympathetically discussed.
Michael Hamburger was born in Berlin in 1924, and came to Britain as a child. He has taught widely in America and Britain and is the outstanding contemporary translator and critic of German literature. His awards include the German Federal Republic's Goethe Medal in 1986 for services to German literature. Anvil publishes several of his translations, including editions of Goethe, Hölderlin, Rilke and Poems of Paul Celan', which received the EC's European Translation Prize in 1990. His poem-sequence Late' appeared in 1997.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indispensable study of modern poetry,
By
This review is from: The Truth of Poetry (Paperback)
Michael Hamburger is one of those academic writers you just want to call up and thank. He seems to delight in making complex concepts plain, but without dumbing them down. Anyone who finds twentieth-century poetry "difficult" or irritating or considers it grossly inferior to the lyrical work that came before it should read this book. Hamburger narrates the century-long story of poetry wrestling with itself as it tries to find new ways to make meaning, and confronts (or evades) the political, philosophical and psychological developments of modern life. His observations on the use of "personae" and the problematic distinction between public and private poetry are particularly valuable, as is the breadth of this study which isn't limited to poetry written in English. Unlike so many academics, Hamburger recongnises that plenty of the works influencing a poet's practice were not even written in the same language (think of the French Symbolists' influence - it even got as far as Australia). Hamburger seems to be an ardent modernist, but he doesn't let his enthusiasm blind him to modernism's failings and contradictions - indeed, they're some of things that make it so interesting. His analysis of the work of several canonical modern poets is refreshingly evenhanded. His insightful exploration of Pound and Eliot is superb, particularly the way in which he relates Eliot's poetry to his philosophy and criticism. Those crouched at Eliot's feet might do well to look up for five minutes and read it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indispensable study of modern poetry,
By Steven Reynolds - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Truth of Poetry (Paperback)
Michael Hamburger is one of those academic writers you just want to call up and thank. He seems to delight in making complex concepts plain, but without dumbing them down. Anyone who finds twentieth-century poetry "difficult" or irritating or considers it grossly inferior to the lyrical work that came before it should read this book. Hamburger narrates the century-long story of poetry wrestling with itself as it tries to find new ways to make meaning, and confronts (or evades) the political, philosophical and psychological developments of modern life. His observations on the use of "personae" and the problematic distinction between public and private poetry are particularly valuable, as is the breadth of this study which isn't limited to poetry written in English. Unlike so many academics, Hamburger recongnises that plenty of the works influencing a poet's practice were not even written in the same language (think of the French Symbolists' influence - it even got as far as Australia). Hamburger seems to be an ardent modernist, but he doesn't let his enthusiasm blind him to modernism's failings and contradictions - indeed, they're some of things that make it so interesting. His analysis of the work of several canonical modern poets is refreshingly evenhanded. His insightful exploration of Pound and Eliot is superb, particularly the way in which he relates Eliot's poetry to his philosophy and criticism. Those crouched at Eliot's feet might do well to look up for five minutes and read it.
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