Synopses & Reviews
In this new edition of
Best Words, Best Order, Stephen Dobyns further explains the mystery of the poet's work. Through essays on memory and metaphor, pacing, and the intricacies of voice and tone, and thoughtful appreciations of Chekhov, Ritsos, Mandelstam, and Rilke, Dobyns guides readers and writers through poetry's mysterious twilight communiques. For this new second edition, Dobyns has added two new essays, one dealing with the idea of "beauty" in poetry and another dealing with the almost mystical way poets connect seemingly disparate elements in a single work.
Review
"These essays are wonderfully efficient litte machines, reproducing in the reader Dobyns's deep understanding of and affection for the work of such peers as Rilke, Mandelstan, and Chekhov." --
Library Journal "Few writers are as versatile or prolific as Stephen Dobyns. . .Mr. Dobyns celebrates a plain-spoken poetry that is alert to structure and open to tension and surprise. He provides us with informed, resonant readings of contemporary poems. . ." --
The New York Times Book Review"...painstaking, admirable and enjoyable."--The Times Literary Supplement
Review
"These essays are wonderfully efficient litte machines, reproducing in the reader Dobyns's deep understanding of and affection for the work of such peers as Rilke, Mandelstan, and Chekhov." --
Library Journal "Few writers are as versatile or prolific as Stephen Dobyns. . .Mr. Dobyns celebrates a plain-spoken poetry that is alert to structure and open to tension and surprise. He provides us with informed, resonant readings of contemporary poems. . ." --
The New York Times Book Review"...painstaking, admirable and enjoyable."--The Times Literary Supplement
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p.[369]-386) and index.
Synopsis
In this new edition of Best Words, Best Order, Stephen Dobyns further explains the mystery of the poet's work. Through essays on memory and metaphor, pacing, and the intricacies of voice and tone, and thoughtful appreciations of Chekhov, Ritsos, Mandelstam, and Rilke, Dobyns guides readers and writers through poetry's mysterious twilight communiques. For this new second edition, Dobyns has added two new essays, one dealing with the idea of "beauty" in poetry and another dealing with the almost mystical way poets connect seemingly disparate elements in a single work.
Synopsis
In this new edition of
Best Words, Best Order, Stephen Dobyns further explains the mystery of the poet's work. Through essays on memory and metaphor, pacing, and the intricacies of voice and tone, and thoughtful appreciations of Chekhov, Ritsos, Mandelstam, and Rilke, Dobyns guides readers and writers through poetry's mysterious twilight communiques. Dobyns, a poet and teacher, has the rare ability to speak to readers about his art. For this new second edition, Dobyns has added two new essays, one dealing with the idea of "beauty" in poetry and another dealing with the almost mystical way poets connect seemingly disparate things in a single poem. Anyone interested in the beauty and intricacy of writing will find great pleasure in this new edition of an enduring classic
.
About the Author
Stephen Dobyns is the author of eight volumes of poetry, among them Cemetery Nights and Velocities. He has also written 17 novels.
Table of Contents
Preface * Deceptions * Metaphor and the Authenticating Act of Memory * Writing the Reader's Life * Notes on Free Verse * Pacing: The Ways a Poem Moves * The Function of Tone * The Voices One Listens To * The Traffic between Two Worlds * Rilke's Growth as a Poet * Mandelstam: The Poem as Event * Chekhov's Sense of Writing as Seen through His Letters * Ritsos and the Metaphysical Moment * Cemetery Nights * The Maker's Manipulation of Time * The Passerby in the Birdless Street * The Problem of Beauty and the Requirements of Art