[Robert Swagman]

I'm an amateur poet who has never had a fondness for free verse. I've always assumed that's due to my ignorance of it.

Can you recommend a list of authors or volumes to study, preferably of diverse styles, that might enhance my appreciation?

Thanks in advance.

[Roger Slater]

Here are some top-of-the head recommendations:

1. Walt Whitman
   T. S. Eliot
   Wallace Stevens
   Elizabeth Bishop
   William Matthews
   Richard Hugo
   James Wright
   Stephen Dunn
   Alan Dugan
   Stephen Dobyns
   Czelaw Milosz
   Charles Simic
   James Tate
   Jorie Graham
   

[Robert Swagman]

Thanks Roger. This will give me a great starting point.

If anyone else has a favorite, please post.

[MacArthur]

Someone you (still) may have gotten in school, but who tends to be ignored entirely: Edgar Lee Masters.
You would know him by his "Spoon River Anthology". I have an unshakeable personal taste for him...sorta like a yen for Big Mac's and Cheese. Critical opinion (to the extent he registers at all) is extremely harsh on this chap-- perhaps because he wasn't a "literary" figure...he was Clarence Darrow's law-partner.
His Big Book is still a profitable poetry title, and genuinely popular. His style and approach is, I believe, still covertly influential on American Free Verse: In part, because it just makes sense...there's something inevitable about it. If you were going to write accessible Free Verse, how different could it be from Master's?

[graywyvern]

Merwin has written a lot of bad poetry, but his
"The Lice" is essential. Also the collected Plath.

[This message has been edited by graywyvern (edited February 27, 2002).]

[Robert Swagman]

MacArthur - I spent several hours at Border's this evening going through the shelves, and I hovered over a copy of 'Spoon River Anthology', which I haven't looked at in 24 years - (I was forced into some FV readings during college ). Perhaps I'll wander back tomorrow.

graywyvern - I'm not that familiar with Plath, though this evening I picked up one of her volumes for a quick perusal. I'll go back and give it a more detailed look.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Roger - I purchased a copy of 'Landscape at the Edge of the Century' (Stephen Dunn) and 'Poems Seven' (Alan Dugan). I'll let you know what I think.

[MacArthur]

It's really not that bad. I posted two threads on Masters on the Free Verse Mastery board. Spoon River can usually be purchased really cheap used, as it's frequently assigned in college English. Powell's has innumerable copies.

[Robert Swagman]

MacArthur

I think the reason I have a mental block about FV is because I was forced to read what the professors thought was 'good' poetry in college. As a result I concentrated on prose, even throughout my graduate courses. That's why I added the in my last post. I am actually learning to appreciate much of it, however, thanks to what I see here.

I'll get a copy of the 'Anthology' this weekend. If a local store doesn't have it, one of my online book-finders will.

As a matter of fact, one of them had an autographed copy of 'Archaic Smile', which I am considering having sent down.

*Sigh* Maybe one day I'll even be able to post something that might resemble passable FV.



[This message has been edited by Robert Swagman (edited February 28, 2002).]

[bear_music]

Robert,

Galway Kinnell is a must, in my mind.

If you want a taste of him, look at my thread "For Galway Kinnell", Bob lawson posted a chunk of him in there. Marvelous poet, passionate and original.

(music)

[Curtis Gale Weeks]

Robert,

I absolutely recommend reading Kinnell's "When One Has Lived a Long Time Alone." I've a copy of The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988-1997 from Scribner Poetry (Simon & Schuster Inc.) in which it appears and to some degree justifies by itself the price of that book. (Others in the anthology have merit, however...)

Curtis.