The Light Within the Light: Portraits of Donald Hall, Richard Wilbur, Maxine Kumin, and Stanley Kunitz - Hardcover

Braham, Jeanne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 156792316X ISBN 13: 9781567923162

Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher, 2007

Synopsis

Since the death of Robert Frost, American poetry has seen few major poets create important work in their seventh decade and beyond. Yet today Donald Hall (77), Richard Wilbur (85), Maxine Kumin (81), and, until last year, Stanley Kunitz (100) continue to move from strength to strength. Each has published a new book in the past year and collected further accolades, including the Harvard Arts Medal (awarded to Kumin) and the Ruth Lilly Prize (awarded to Wilbur).

These are poets who bear, in individual and collective ways, the imprint of Frost's legacy: a clear commitment to form; a belief that, "like a piece of ice on a hot stove, a poem must ride on its own melting"; a willingness, even an eagerness, to assume the role of poet-as-witness. Perhaps most appealingly, their poems capture a corner of New England imbued with a spirit that is both of the place and of the poet. Against the backdrop of a dark world, all four create poems that are illumined from within, holding a vision of human possibility steady in the light.

Each poet-profile in The Light Within the Light is based on intimate personal interviews and explores the landscapes, lives, and artistic achievements of the poet. Several poems are woven into each essay, allowing the reader to experience the poet's world in his or her own words. Since the paths of the four poets cross frequently, the essays "converse" with one another, layering the narrative. Detailed informational endnotes and a list of selected readings cite primary and secondary sources of interest for each poet, making the book useful to the lay reader and literary specialist alike.

The book design is by Barry Moser, one of New England's favorite artists and a wood engraver sensitive to poets and their works. He provides a full-page portrait of each of the four poets as well as spot illustrations of great beauty and charm.

About this title

About the Author

Jeanne Braham, the author of four books on American arts and letters, writes frequently about contemporary American poets. She is the founding editor of Heatherstone Press, a publisher of poetery chapbooks, and serves as the poetry editor of New England Watershed magazine.

Review

Mouth watering for those country folk who fall all over themselves to get more of Barry Moser illustrations, appropriately attached to text portraits by the author of Donald Hall, Richard Wilbur, Maxine Kumin & Stanley Kunitz. . . Done with insight and care, marvelously selective and a perfect preamble on your way to the four author's tomes. --Bob Arnold, Longhouse Publishers & Booksellers

Edition details

• Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 156792316X
• ISBN 13: 9781567923162
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128
• Illustrator: Moser Barry