Poets thinking : Pope, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats /
Vendler, Helen, 1933-
Poets thinking : Pope, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats / Helen Vendler. - Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, ©2006. - 1 online resource (1 volume)
Originally published: 2004.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Frontmatter -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 Alexander Pope Thinking Miniaturizing, Modeling, and Mocking Ideas -- 2 Walt Whitman Thinking Transcription, Reprise, and Temptations Resisted -- 3 Emily Dickinson Thinking Rearranging Seriality -- 4 W. B. Yeats Thinking Thinking in Images, Thinking in Assertions -- Notes -- Index
Poetry has often been considered an irrational genre, more expressive than logical, more meditative than given to coherent argument. And yet, in each of the four very different poets she considers here, Helen Vendler reveals a style of thinking in operation; although they may prefer different means, she argues, all poets of any value are thinkers. The four poets taken up in this volume--Alexander Pope, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and William Butler Yeats--come from three centuries and three nations, and their styles of thinking are characteristically idiosyncratic. Vendler shows us Pope performing as a satiric miniaturizer, remaking in verse the form of the essay, Whitman writing as a poet of repetitive insistence for whom thinking must be followed by rethinking, Dickinson experimenting with plot to characterize life's unfolding, and Yeats thinking in images, using montage in lieu of argument. With customary lucidity and spirit, Vendler traces through these poets' lines to find evidence of thought in lyric, the silent stylistic measures representing changes of mind, the condensed power of poetic thinking. Her work argues against the reduction of poetry to its (frequently well-worn) themes and demonstrates, instead, that there is always in admirable poetry a strenuous process of thinking, evident in an evolving style--however ancient the theme--that is powerful and original.
9780674044623 (electronic bk.) 0674044622 (electronic bk.) 9780674021105 067402110X (Perfect)
9780674021105
22573/ctvk0356g JSTOR
Yeats, W. B. 1865-1939 --Criticism and interpretation.
Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886 --Criticism and interpretation.
Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744 --Criticism and interpretation.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 --Criticism and interpretation.
Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886.
Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892.
Yeats, W. B. 1865-1939.
1800-1899
English poetry--History and criticism.
American poetry--History and criticism.--19th century
Thought and thinking.
Thinking
Poésie anglaise--Histoire et critique.
Poésie américaine--Histoire et critique.--19e siècle
Pensée.
thinking.
POETRY--English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh.
POETRY--General.
American poetry.
English poetry.
Intellectual life.
Thought and thinking.
English-speaking countries--Intellectual life.
English-speaking countries.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
PR502 / .V465 2006eb
821.009
Poets thinking : Pope, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats / Helen Vendler. - Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, ©2006. - 1 online resource (1 volume)
Originally published: 2004.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Frontmatter -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 Alexander Pope Thinking Miniaturizing, Modeling, and Mocking Ideas -- 2 Walt Whitman Thinking Transcription, Reprise, and Temptations Resisted -- 3 Emily Dickinson Thinking Rearranging Seriality -- 4 W. B. Yeats Thinking Thinking in Images, Thinking in Assertions -- Notes -- Index
Poetry has often been considered an irrational genre, more expressive than logical, more meditative than given to coherent argument. And yet, in each of the four very different poets she considers here, Helen Vendler reveals a style of thinking in operation; although they may prefer different means, she argues, all poets of any value are thinkers. The four poets taken up in this volume--Alexander Pope, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and William Butler Yeats--come from three centuries and three nations, and their styles of thinking are characteristically idiosyncratic. Vendler shows us Pope performing as a satiric miniaturizer, remaking in verse the form of the essay, Whitman writing as a poet of repetitive insistence for whom thinking must be followed by rethinking, Dickinson experimenting with plot to characterize life's unfolding, and Yeats thinking in images, using montage in lieu of argument. With customary lucidity and spirit, Vendler traces through these poets' lines to find evidence of thought in lyric, the silent stylistic measures representing changes of mind, the condensed power of poetic thinking. Her work argues against the reduction of poetry to its (frequently well-worn) themes and demonstrates, instead, that there is always in admirable poetry a strenuous process of thinking, evident in an evolving style--however ancient the theme--that is powerful and original.
9780674044623 (electronic bk.) 0674044622 (electronic bk.) 9780674021105 067402110X (Perfect)
9780674021105
22573/ctvk0356g JSTOR
Yeats, W. B. 1865-1939 --Criticism and interpretation.
Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886 --Criticism and interpretation.
Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744 --Criticism and interpretation.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 --Criticism and interpretation.
Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886.
Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892.
Yeats, W. B. 1865-1939.
1800-1899
English poetry--History and criticism.
American poetry--History and criticism.--19th century
Thought and thinking.
Thinking
Poésie anglaise--Histoire et critique.
Poésie américaine--Histoire et critique.--19e siècle
Pensée.
thinking.
POETRY--English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh.
POETRY--General.
American poetry.
English poetry.
Intellectual life.
Thought and thinking.
English-speaking countries--Intellectual life.
English-speaking countries.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
PR502 / .V465 2006eb
821.009