A History of Free Verse

by Beyers, Chris

• ISBN13: 9781557287021
• ISBN10: 1557287023
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of Arkansas Pr

Summary

This book examines the most salient and misunderstood aspect of twentieth-century poetry, free verse.Although the form is generally approached as if it were one indissoluble lump, it is actually a group of differing poetic genres proceeding from much different assumptions. Separate chapters on T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, H.D., and William Carlos Williams elucidate many of these assumptions and procedures, while other chapters address more general theoretical questions and trace the continuity of Modern poetics in contemporary poetry.

Taking a historical and aesthetic approach, this study demonstrates that many of the forms considered to have been invented in the Modern period actually extend underappreciated traditions. Not only does this book examine the classical influence on Modern poetry, it also features discussions of the poetics of John Milton, Abraham Cowley, Matthew Arnold, and a host of lesser-known poets. Throughout it is an investigation of the prosodic issues that free verse foregrounds, particularly those focusing on the reader's part in interp

Author Biography

Chris Beyers is currently an assistant professor at Assumption College in Massachusetts where he teaches literature, composition, and poetry.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(12)
The Problem of Free Verse	13	(48)
The Loose Tradition in Verse from Cowley to Eliot	61	(40)
The Haunting of Wallace Stevens	101	(34)
Straight Talk, Straight as the Greeks	135	(44)
The Parsing Meter and Beyond	179	(44)
Conclusion: Avoiding Prosody?	223	(14)
Notes	237	(18)
Works Cited	255	(18)
Index	273