The new anthology of American poetry Vol. 3, Postmodernisms 1950-present

561 Pages·2012·1.62 MB·English

by  Axelrod

the new anthology of american poetry

The New Anthology
American Poetry
of
VOLUME THREE
Postmodernisms
1950–Present
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EDITED BY
Steven Gould Axelrod
Camille Roman
Thomas Travisano
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, AND LONDON
This collection copyright © 2012 by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
For copyrights to individual pieces, see page 523–529.
All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The new anthology of American poetry / edited by Steven Gould Axelrod,
Camille Roman, and Thomas Travisano.
p. cm.
Vol. 3.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v. 3. Postmodernisms, 1950–Present.
isbn 0-8135-5155-5 (cloth : alk. paper)—isbn 0-8135-5156-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. American poetry. I. Axelrod, Steven Gould, 1944– II. Roman, Camille,
1948– III. Travisano, Thomas J., 1951–
ps586.n49 2003
811.008—dc21 2002070502
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the
British Library.
To Our Families and Students

CONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Acknowledgments and a Note on the Cover Art . . . . . xxiii
PART ONE: MID-TWENTIETH-CENTURY POETRY
Introduction 3
GEORGE OPPEN (1908–1984) . . . . . . . . . 9
Tug against the river 11
She lies, hip high 12
Eclogue 12
Birthplace: New Rochelle 13
Time of the Missile 13
O Western Wind 14
Squall 15
Still Life 15
Of Being Numerous #7 16
Anniversary Poem 16
Till Other Voices Wake Us 18
THEODORE ROETHKE (1908–1963) . . . . . . . . 19
Cuttings 20
Cuttings (later) 20
My Papa’s Waltz 21
The Waking 22
In a Dark Time 22
CHARLES OLSON (1910–1970) . . . . . . . . . 23
As the Dead Prey Upon Us 25
vii
viii (cid:216) Contents
The Distances 32
The Songs of Maximus 34
ELIZABETH BISHOP (1911–1979) . . . . . . . . . 38
The Man-Moth 41
The Fish 42
At the Fishhouses 44
Insomnia 47
Questions of Travel 47
The Armadillo 49
First Death in Nova Scotia 51
In the Waiting Room 52
Poem 55
One Art 57
Pink Dog 58
Sonnet 60
CARLOS BULOSAN (1911?–1956) . . . . . . . . . 61
History of a Moment 62
ROBERT HAYDEN (1913–1980) . . . . . . . . . 64
Night, Death, Mississippi 65
The Ballad of Sue Ellen Westerfield 66
Those Winter Sundays 68
MURIEL RUKEYSER (1913–1980) . . . . . . . . . 69
To Enter That Rhythm Where the Self Is Lost 70
The Poem as Mask 71
Poem (I lived in the first century of world wars) 72
The Speed of Darkness 73
Waking This Morning 76
Myth 77
St. Roach 77
JOHN BERRYMAN (1914–1972) . . . . . . . . . 78
The Ball Poem 80
Dream Song 1 81
Dream Song 4 82
Contents (cid:216) ix
Dream Song 13 83
Dream Song 26 83
Dream Song 29 84
Dream Song 76 85
Dream Song 77 85
Dream Song 90 86
Dream Song 101 87
Dream Song 385 87
JULIA DE BURGOS (1914–1953) . . . . . . . . . 88
A Julia de Burgos/To Julia de Burgos 89
RANDALL JARRELL (1914–1965) . . . . . . . . . 93
Losses 94
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner 96
Protocols 96
Eighth Air Force 97
A Quilt-Pattern 98
The Black Swan 101
The Woman at the Washington Zoo 102
Next Day 103
The House in the Woods 105
GWENDOLYN BROOKS (1917–2000) . . . . . . . . 106
a song of the front yard 109
Sadie and Maud 110
Boy Breaking Glass 110
The Life of Lincoln West 111
The Boy Died in My Alley 115
ROBERT LOWELL (1917–1977) . . . . . . . . . 117
Where the Rainbow Ends 119
Commander Lowell 121
Waking in the Blue 123
Skunk Hour 125
For the Union Dead 127
Waking Early Sunday Morning 130
For Robert Kennedy 1925–68 134
x (cid:216) Contents
Reading Myself 135
End of a Year 135
Dolphin 136
Epilogue 137
ROBERT DUNCAN (1919–1988) . . . . . . . . . 138
Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow 139
Poetry, A Natural Thing 140
Roots and Branches 141
My Mother Would Be a Falconress 142
Childhood’s Retreat 144
JAMES DICKEY (1923–1997) . . . . . . . . . 145
A Birth 146
Falling 147
The Sheep Child 152
DENISE LEVERTOV (1923–1997) . . . . . . . . . 154
Illustrious Ancestors 155
To the Reader 156
A Solitude 156
What Were They Like? 158
A Woman Alone 159
The May Mornings 161
MITSUYE YAMADA (b. 1923) . . . . . . . . . 161
What Your Mother Tells You 162
Evacuation 163
Harmony at the Fair Grounds 163
Block 4 Barrack 4 Apt C 164
Thirty Years Under 165
Cincinnati 166
Mirror Mirror 167
Drowning in My Own Language 167
ROBERT CREELEY (1926–2005) . . . . . . . . . 169
The Rain 170
For No Clear Reason 170