Review by Booklist Review
/*STARRED REVIEW*/ The new prose collection by one of America's finest poets is this year's second vital book about poetry. But unlike Dana Gioia in Can Poetry Matter? , Levertov is not concerned about winning modern poetry more readers by making it more consequential to their interests and experiences. Utterly convinced of poetry's consequence (as well she might be, for she has unstintingly brought the great public issues of her lifetime into her work), she is instead concerned with technique, with how poetry speaks to its readers. Not that she forgets consequence: in "Some Affinities of Content," she writes about the kinds of poetic subject matter she now prefers and contrasts these content-related preferences with her youthful greater interest in poetic technique. But some of the best other pieces here are technical: the four essays on W. C. Williams' variable foot, for instance--some of the most illuminating, sensible, exciting Williams commentary ever written. Still other rewarding essays explore the interrelations of technique and content, the social obligations of the poet, and Levertov's own intentions as a poet. Next to poetry itself, this is ideal reading for lovers of poetry. (Reviewed Oct. 15, 1992)0811212173Ray Olson
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
What I might write five years from now could be as different from what I say now as that is from what I might have written five years ago, although the direction of my development has, I believe, been consistent, Levertov asserts in a 1984 essay that responded to a question about her religious beliefs. It is a statement that might be applied to the majority of the concepts embodied in the 30-year period these skillful but repetitive essays span, and this volume is arranged to highlight subtle shifts in thought. For the most part, Levertov explores and questions her own poetics, which are themselves a unique blend of her English schooling (Gerard Manley Hopkins) and American poetic influences (William Carlos Williams, Robert Creeley and Robert Duncan). A 1965 essay that is basically levertov's attempt to understand Charles Olson's theory of projective verse is placed next to a 1986 essay in which she makes a case for new ways of defining poetic form. One crucial theme repeated in various ways throughout these essays is her belief that the great work of art is always greater than the consciousness of its author. Such a statement made by a lesser poet might sound naive; Levertov's poems bear witness to its validity. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
