The Body of Poetry is a highly personal and unusually unified book of poetics, interweaving manifesto, prosody, reviews, and essays in a deeply personal matrix of poems, memoir and a lyrical opening anecdote about the process of inspiration. Including such groundbreaking essays as "Confessions of a Postmodern Poetess," "Metrical Diversity," "How to Create a Poetic Tradition," and the revolutionary title essay on formalism and the Goddess, this book should especially interest readers who care about women's poetry, those who value the poetry of spirit, and all who love the rhythm and magic of the art of poetry.
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Contents
Preface
A Horse With Two Wings
A Horse With Two Wings: On Poetry and Criticism
Metrical Diversity
Metrical Subversions: Prosody, Poetry, and My Affair with the Amphibrach
A Carol for Carolyn
Langpo, Pomo, Newfo
Omniformalism: A Manifesto
The Body of Poetry
The Body of Poetry
Liturgy
Walk With Me: On Poetry and Music
Passion in Translation: Louise Labé
H.D., "Imagiste"?
Technology and Inspiration
Poetics: A Taxonomy
Repetition, Repetition
How to Create a Poetic Tradition
How to Create a Poetic Tradition
Mother Dickinson
Letter for Emily Dickinson
The Heart of Phillis Wheatley
Unnecessary Burdens: Cooper, Gluck, Graham
Carolyn Kizer and the Chain of Women
My Teasdale Talisman
Female Tradition, Feminist Innovation
Confessions of a Postmodern Poetess
Coherent Decentering
Desks
Stein the Romantic, Mallarme the Radical
Victorian Self-Making and the Contemporary Poet
Confessions of a Postmodern Poetess
A Many-Sounding Sea
The Dactyl: A Many-Sounding Sea
A Rock in the River: Maxine Kumin's Rhythmic Countercurrents
The Ghost of Meter Revisited
Making Shattered Faces Whole: The Metrical Code in Audre Lorde
In Defense of Meter
Limping Prosody
Forms of Memory: Marilyn Hacker
John Peck's Hypnagogic Poetry
The Muse
Writing The Body of Poetry taught me that my intellect, my heart, and my spirit are one, and that poetry has room for all of them. It was a joy to write, and I hope all that joy comes out to you; feel free to browse and dream!