Collected Prose

Series

• Poets on Poetry

"A collection of essays on poetry and the experiences that influenced poet Robert Hayden. Contents include "The History of Punchinello: A Baroque Play in One Act," Hayden's introductory remarks to volumes like Kaleidoscope: Poems by American Negro Poet and The New Negro, and interviews with Hayden."

Contents

I. ADDRESSES AND A PLAY
"How It Strikes a Contemporary": Reflections on Poetry and the Role of the Poet - 3
From The Life: Some Remembrances - 17
The History of Punchinello: A Baroque Play in One Act - 28

II. ESSAYS AND INTRODUCTIONS
Counterpoise - 41
Twentieth-Century American Poetry - 43
Introduction to Kaleidoscope: Poems by American Negro Poets - 55
Preface to The New Negro - 60
Foreword to "A Portfolio of Recent American Poetry: Portfolio II" - 68
Foreword to "Anne Frank: The Child and the Legend" - 71
"Something Patterned, Wild, and Free" - 74

III. INTERVIEWS AND CONVERSATIONS
A Conversation During the Bicentennial - 79
"A Certain Vision" - 90
A "Romantic Realist" - 115
The Poet and His Art: A Conversation - 129