Defensive measures: the poetry of Niedecker, Bishop, Glück, and Carson

144 Pages·2005·0.647 MB·English

by  Bishop, Elizabeth;Carson, Anne;Glück, Louise;Niedecker, Lorine;Upton, Lee

Defensive Measures
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Defensive Measures
The Poetry of Niedecker,
Bishop, Glu¨ck, and Carson
Lee Upton
Lewisburg
Bucknell UniversityPress
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Upton,Lee,1953–
Defensivemeasures:thepoetryofNiedecker,Bishop,Glu¨ck,and
Carson/LeeUpton.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8387-5607-7(alk.paper)
1.Americanpoetry—20thcentury—Historyandcriticism. 2.Women
andliterature—UnitedStates—History—20thcentury. 3.American
poetry—Womenauthors—Historyandcriticism. 4.Bishop,Elizabeth,
1911–1979—Criticismandinterpretation. 5.Glu¨ck,Louise,1943—
Criticismandinterpretation. 6.Carson,Anne,1950—Criticismand
interpretation. 7.Niedecker,Lorine—Criticismandinterpretation. I.
Title.
PS151.U68 2005
811(cid:1).5099287—dc22 2004062343
PRINTEDINTHEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA
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for Cecilia
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Contents
Acknowledgments 9
Introduction:Poetry asDefense 13
1. HumilityDoesNotCancelStubbornness:Defensive
Positioning inLorine Niedecker 32
2. Tiltingat Sense:Defensive NonsenseinElizabeth
Bishop 56
3. Erotic Distances:Defensive ElevationsinLouiseGlu¨ck 80
4. ScholarshipandDebasement:OverlayingtheDefenses
inAnne Carson 99
Afterword:ThePriceWePayforMakingClaims 120
Notes 127
Bibliography 136
Index 142
7
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Acknowledgments
I am gratefulto Lafayette College and itsprovost, June Schlueter,
for an enhanced sabbatical during which most of this book was
written.
Special thanks to Greg Clingham, director of Bucknell Univer-
sity Press, for his support of my work, and to Malcolm Hayward,
editor of Studies in the Humanities, who first published my writing
about Elizabeth Bishop. I am also grateful to Julien Yoseloff and
ChristineA.RetzofAssociatedUniversityPresses.
The staffof SkillmanLibrary has longbeen greatly helpful, and
Iwanttoexpressmygratitudetothedirector,NeilMcElroy.
IamdeeplyindebtedtoJillRiefenstahl,ouradmirableadminis-
trativeassistantintheEnglishDepartmentofLafayetteCollege.
Special thanks to the following for their support: Susan Blake,
Carla Beers, Anna Duhl, Alexis Fisher, Bill Osborn, Diane Shaw,
CarolynnVanDyke,andSylviaWatanabe.
AlthoughI’mwritingaboutdefense,TheodoraandCeciliaZiol-
kowski have no need of any defense whatsoever; they are beyond
perfection. Rose Upton has enriched our lives immeasurably by
joining our household permanently. Finally, as always, I thank
Eric Ziolkowski for unsurpassed integrity and imagination—and
forkindnessbeyondmeasure.
Gratefulacknowledgmentismadetoindividualsandpublishers
whogavepermissiontoreprintcopyrightedmaterial.
Excerpts from GLASS, IRONY AND GOD, by Anne Carson,
copyright (cid:1) 1922, 1994, 1995 by Anne Carson. Reprinted by per-
missionofNewDirectionsPublishingCorporation.
‘‘Poetry’’ reprinted with the permission of Scribner, an imprint
of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, from THE COL-
LECTED POEMS OF MARIANNE MOORE by Marianne Moore.
Copyright(cid:1)1935byMarianneMoore;copyrightrenewed(cid:1)1963
byMarianne MooreandT.S.Eliot.
Excerpts from THE COMPLETE POEMS: 1927–1979 by Eliza-
9
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10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
beth Bishop. Copyright (cid:1) 1979, 1983 by Alice Helen Methfessel.
ReprintedbypermissionofFarrar,StrausandGiroux,LLC.
Portions from ‘‘Through the Lens of Edward Lear: Contesting
Sense in the Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop,’’ by Lee Upton, Studies in
theHumanities19.1(1992):68–79.ReprintedbypermissionofMal-
colmHayward,Editor,StudiesintheHumanities.
ExcerptsfromTHESEVENAGESbyLouiseGlu¨ck,copyright(cid:1)
2001 by Louise Glu¨ck. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins
PublishersInc.
ExcerptsfromTHEFIRSTFOURBOOKSOFPOEMSbyLou-
ise Glu¨ck, copyright 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976,
1977,1978,1979,1980,1985,1995byLouiseGlu¨ck.Reprintedby
permissionofHarperCollinsPublishersInc.
Excerpts from Lorine Niedecker: Collected Works, edited by Jenny
Lynn Penberthy, copyright (cid:1) 2002 The Regents of the University
of California. Reprinted by permission of the Regents of the Uni-
versityofCalifornia.
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