Torque (Pitt Poetry Series) - Softcover

Rivard, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0822954109 ISBN 13: 9780822954101

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988

Synopsis

"Frost said, 'The loveliest theme of poetry is the voices of the people,' and in this book David Rivard gives voice to the voiceless, unlovely, white, male, urban working-class not through the masks of a monologist like Masters or Robinson, but in the guise of himself, as he was and is, with relentless honesty."--Michael Ryan

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

Published in the Pitt Poetry Series, this winner of the 1987 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is empowered by the vitality of its imagery and by the author's volatile, at times explosive, tone. Each poem tells a story, examining childhood memories, family relationships and the details of daily life by encapsulating moments and emotions. Combining the colloquial with the cerebral, the verses are replete with dramatic tension, which stems both from the bold use of language and from startling symbolism. In "Late?" for example, Rivard juxtaposes a bleak urban landscape with religious iconography to depict the corruption of ideals: "And, on the corner variety / store's wall, a crude, sun-washed mural of the angel Gabriel / defaced by thick black sideburns so he looks like a street punk, / a strutting cholo, so he seems the only creature on earth / who hasn't heard the news that everything can be lost." Unfortunately, the author does not sustain an incisive, high-voltage quality throughout, and those poems wherein metaphor is subverted by idiom fall flat. He observes in "The Temptations": "I'm far enough inside myself / that I am not myself. Not a man / who notices most what's missing. / And, Jesus, whatever is not mine, / or gone, or stolen from me, / sticks in my throat, / so I'm forced to always talk about it." On the whole, though, this collection marks the debut of a talent worth watching.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

1966
After
Ariadne
Arrival Song
Consolation
Cures
Double Indemnity
Fall River
The Fast Long Time
Firestone
For Michaela
Hecatombic Blues
How It Will Always Seem
The Judges In Us All
Late
Leaving The Gateway Cinema
Lies
Like An Enormous Yes
Masks
The Mission
One Reason
One Too Many Mornings
The Road Out
Secured Town
Simon Says
Sometimes
Temptations
There
To The God
Torque
Vapor Lock
The Venice Of The North
Walking By
The Wheel Of The Hungry Is Turning
Zeus And Apollo
-- Table of Poems from Poem FinderŪ

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0822954109
• ISBN 13: 9780822954101
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 72