EBOOK
About
Daniel Brown's Subjects in Poetry is the first book to examine the broad and imposing topic of poetic subject matter, probing both what poems are, about and how that influences the way, they're made. It comprises one poet's attempt, to plumb the nature of his art, to ask how the selection of material remains a crucial yet unexplored area of poetic craft, and to, suggest the vast range of possible subjects, for poems.
The book begins by venturing a novel definition of "subject," derived from Robert Frost's dictum that poetry constitutes an "art of having something to say." Brown posits that a poem can say something by expressing, evoking, or addressing. He considers each of these ways-of-saying in turn, first defining it and then looking at poems in which it predominates. Brown next makes a wide-ranging case for the value of subjects to poems, poets, and the art of poetry, especially at a time when many poems appear subjectless. He concludes the book with practical guidance on finding subjects, improving them, and realizing their potential.
Replete with thoughtful readings of poems both classic and contemporary, Subjects in Poetry should appeal to poets across all levels and readers interested in understanding the art and practice of poetry.
The book begins by venturing a novel definition of "subject," derived from Robert Frost's dictum that poetry constitutes an "art of having something to say." Brown posits that a poem can say something by expressing, evoking, or addressing. He considers each of these ways-of-saying in turn, first defining it and then looking at poems in which it predominates. Brown next makes a wide-ranging case for the value of subjects to poems, poets, and the art of poetry, especially at a time when many poems appear subjectless. He concludes the book with practical guidance on finding subjects, improving them, and realizing their potential.
Replete with thoughtful readings of poems both classic and contemporary, Subjects in Poetry should appeal to poets across all levels and readers interested in understanding the art and practice of poetry.
Related Subjects
Reviews
"With its reader friendliness, its distilled brevity, its infectious (can I still use that word?) enthusiasms, Subjects in Poetry seems destined to be a classic, a guidebook that belongs in the hands of students and practitioners alike."
A. E. Stallings, MacArthur winner and Pulitzer finalist
"Subjects in Poetry is a surprising, lively, and illuminating look at a 'subject' I would have thought ungraspable."
Christian Wiman, author of Survival Is a Style
"This wholly original book is the most enlivening look at poetry I've come across in a while. There are notable observations-insightful, funny, arresting-on every page; the writing is consistently instinct with wit. Brown is unafraid to state what may seem obvious but is a too often obscured truth: that what subjects give poetry is humanness. Nobody to my knowledge has written a book that so direc
William H. Pritchard, Henry Clay Folger Professor of English Emeritus, Amherst College