- 5-1/4 x 8.
- 428pp.
- Hardcover
- 1990
- Available
- 978-0-472-09403-5
Add to Cart
- $75.00 U.S.
James Wright: The Heart of the Light collects the finest critical writing on one of the masters of contemporary American poetry. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1972, James Wright was described in The New York Times Book Review as "a national treasure." This volume traces the evolution of Wright's critical reception, from W. H. Auden's foreword to The Green Wall to recent essays on This Journey, published after Wright's death. The volume opens with a new critical and biographical essay by Peter Stitt, Wright's authorized biographer.
Contents
Introduction
Peter Stitt 1
Part One: On The Green Wall
From "A Foreword to James Wright's The Green Wall"
W. H. Auden 21
The Poetry of James Wright: A First Collection
J. E. Palmer 26
From "Five Young Poets"
Dudley Fitts 34
A World Redeemed
Philip Booth 37
From "Younger Poets: The Lyric Difficulty"
Howard Nemerov 39
Part Two: On Saint Judas
From "Between New Voice and Old Master"
Daniel G. Hoffman 43
From "The Anguish of the Spirit and the Letter"
Anthony Hecht 46
Two Poems and Two Poets
Jane Robinett 49
Part Three: Essays on the Early Work
James Wright
Ralph J. Mills, Jr. 59
In the Mode of Robinson and Frost: James Wright's Early Poetry
Henry Taylor 77
The Work of James Wright
Robert Bly 94
A Redefinition of the Poetic Self: Amenities of Stone
Kevin Stein 117
Part Four: On The Branch Will Not Break
From "Beyond the Middle Style"
Geoffrey H. Hartman 141
The Quest Motif in The Branch Will Not Break
Peter Stitt 144
From "Revelations of What Is Present"
Louis D. Rubin, Jr. 157
From "Modes of Control"
Thom Gunn 159
Wright's "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota"
Bruce Henricksen, R. J. Spendal, David Jauss 162
Part Five: On Shall We Gather at the River
From "Entering the World"
William Matthews 169
From "Samples"
Robert Stilwell 179
From "Pieces of a Broken Mirror"
Paul Zweig 182
James Wright: Words of Grass
Laurence Lieberman 186
Part Six: Essays at Mid-Career
The Present State of American Poetry: Robert Bly and James Wright
G. A. M. Janssens 191
"This Is What I Wanted": James Wright and the Other World
Edward Lense 221
Part Seven: On Collected Poems
Review of James Wright's Collected Poems
Peter Stitt 239
A World Immeasurably Alive and Good: A Look at James Wright's Collected Poems
James Seay 243
From "Three Visionary Poets"
Peter Davison 254
From "Making and Unmaking"
Paul Zweig 257
Part Eight: Essays after Collected Poems
James Wright: "The Body Wakes to Burial"
Richard Howard 263
James Wright
Robert Hass 278
Open Secrets
Stephen Yenser 305
Part Nine: On Two Citizens
Review of James Wright's Two Citizens
Calvin Bedient 331
Indignation Born of Love: James Wright's Ohio Poems
William S. Saunders 335
Review of James Wright's Two Citizens
Richard Howard 352
From "Discovering America and Asia"
Edward Engelberg 355
From "'History Has to Live with What Was Here' . . ."
Alan Williamson 358
Part Ten: On To a Blossoming Pear Tree
Review of James Wright's To a Blossoming Pear Tree
Hugh Kenner 363
Light, Motion, Life
Robert Pinsky 365
From "That We Keep Them Alive"
Marvin Bell 370
Sentimental Forms
Stanley Plumly 373
Review of James Wright's To a Blossoming Pear Tree
Richard Howard 381
Part Eleven: On This Journey
From "Stepping through the Ruins"
Edward Hirsch 387
The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Fano: James Wright's This Journey
Kathy Callaway 390
Exploring the Ruins
Robert B. Shaw 406
An American Lyricist
Alan Williamson 411
Select Bibliography of Secondary Sources 415