With Swarm, her first new collection since The Errancy, Pulitzer Prize-winner Jorie Graham has given us a book-length sequence of poems stunning in its sober encounter with destiny, eros, and law. The narrator, at times almost vertigo-ridden by the problem of who is addressed-whom there still is to address-negotiates passionately with those powers human beings feel themselves to be "underneath": God, matter, law, custom, the force of love.

To "swarm" is to leave an originating organism'a hive, a home country, a stable sense of one's body, a stable hierarchy of values -- in an attempt, by coming apart, to found a new form that will hold. The Roman Empire, its distillation in the Forum's remains, the Romantic imagination of that buried past ("underneath"), as well as the collapse of the erotic border between lovers' bodies, are persistent metaphors for the destabilization and reformation of the idea and sensation of personhood.

The "first" person and "enjambment" are characters in this book, as are the fragment, the gap, the sentence. And everywhere lovers seek to find the borders that must break as well as those that must at all cost hold. Clytemnestra await-ing Agamemnon, Calypso veiling Ulysses, Daphne accepting Apollo -- a variety of mythological characters reappear here, ea-ger to plead their stories into sense, desper-ate for some insight into the buried justice of natural law.

About the Author

Jorie Graham is the author of fourteen collections of poems. She has been widely translated and has been the recipient of numerous awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize, the Forward Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and the International Nonino Prize. She lives in Massachusetts and teaches at Harvard University.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

ThriftBooks is a fully independent seller of used books, having sold more than 160 million used and new books since we started in 2003. Each quality used book is sorted, graded, shelved and shipped by hand by our team of dedicated employees in our seven warehouses across the US. We have the best selection of books, in the right condition and format, at everyday low prices. We also have a dedicated, US-based Customer Service team, ranked in the top three by Newsweek for Best Customer Service in 2018 and 2019, so you can shop with confidence. We support and invest in our employees, appreciate and value our customers, and truly believe in the power of the written word to educate, energize, and engage readers of all ages and interests.

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Thrift Books Global LLC
18300 Cascade Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98188, U.S.A.

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

We guarantee each book that we send you. If you have any problems, please contact
our dedicated customer service department. They will do everything possible to
ensure you are happy with your order.

Shipping Terms

All domestic Standard shipments are distributed from our warehouses by OSM, then handed off to the USPS for final delivery.

2-Day Shipping is delivered by FedEx, which does not deliver to PO boxes.

International shipments are tendered to the local postal service in the destination country for final delivery – We do not use courier services for international deliveries.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.
Order quantity	4 to 8 business days	4 to 8 business days
First item	US$ 0.00	US$ 0.00

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.