Poems in the Manner Of is an illuminating journey through centuries
of writers who continue to influence new work today, including that of
respected poet and series editor of The Best American Poetry David
Lehman.
"Very few writers can actually shape how you see the world. David Lehman
is such a writer," says Robert Olen Butler. Now the Best American
Poetry series editor and New School writing professor channels,
translates, and imagines a collection of "poems in the manner of" Emily
Dickinson, Robert Frost, Shakespeare, W.B. Yeats, Rilke, William Carlos
Williams, and more.
Lehman has been writing "poems in the manner of" for years, in homage to
the poems and people that have left an impression, experimenting with
styles and voices that have lingered in his mind. Finally, he has
gathered these pieces, creating a striking book of poems that channels
poets from Walt Whitman to Sylvia Plath and also calls upon jazz
standards, Freudian questionnaires, and astrological profiles for
inspiration.
Intelligent and sparkling, this is a great gift for poetry fans and a
useful resource for creative writers. These are poems of wit and humor
but also deep emotion and clear intelligence, informed by Lehman's
genuine and knowledgeable love of poetry and literature. From Catullus
and Lady Murasaki to Wordsworth, Neruda, Virginia Woolf, W.H. Auden, and
Charles Bukowski, Poems in the Manner Of shows how much life there is
in poets of the past. And like Edward Hirsch's How to Read a Poem and
Robert Pinsky's Singing School, this book gives you more than poetry.
Whether you're reading for pure enjoyment or examining how a poet can
use references and influences in their own work, Poems in the Manner
Of is a treasure trove of literary pleasures and food for thought.
