Videos of Glory
/William Shakespeare meets Halo 2 in Colby Somerville's new chapbook Death TV (1-6): the drone of bees in ancient glades and the drone of Lockheed Martin. What's the poet onto?
Read MoreToday He Wrote Something
/Matvei Yankelevich's poetry may seem direct and plainspoken, but as a new collection shows, his verse reveals a long battle with the uncertainty of language.
Read MoreGood in the Good Sense: Antonio Machado
/The great Antonio Machado loved his native Spain and was disgusted by its descent into fascism; that fusion of enchantment and grief vivifies his unforgettable poetry.
Read MoreOne More Favor
/a poem
Read MoreAloof in Ceasar’s Empire
/In Soviet Russia, Joseph Brodsky was persecuted by the authorities, but memorized by ordinary people. In the capitalist West, he was feted by the authorities, but ignored by ordinary people. Perhaps it's just as well he thought reality "nonsense or a nuisance."
Read MoreHumane to Hornets: The Poetry of James Schuyler
/The verses of the neglected poet James Schuyler seem to ramble, but they don't really ramble; they seem dishevelled, but they aren't; they seem miniaturist, but they contain whole worlds. Stephen Akey makes the case for your renewed attention.
Read MorePeruvian Pan Flutes
/a poem
Read MoreDeus in Machina: poetic technique in Derek Walcott’s Omeros
/Derek Walcott's long Homeric tribute "Omeros" will likely stand as his masterpiece and reward detailed study for centuries. And as with Homer, even small fragments of the world can yield fascinating insights.
Read MoreBad for You
/Known as much for how she exited her life as for the poetry she wrote during it, Sylvia Plath remains a polarizing figure in the world of verse. What are we reading, when we subject ourselves to her poems?
Read MoreSTATE OF THE UNION
/a poem
Read MoreOdi et Amo
/The work of the Roman poet Catullus has always challenged the received idioms of poetry and society, and a daring new translation both underscores and undermines that iconoclastic Catullan stance.
Read MoreDownright Rude: Reading Catullus
/The raw sexuality of the Catullus' love poems keeps them alive even today, and the things he implied about Julius Caesar STILL can't be repeated in polite conversation - how do we deal with this young man who's always making us feel just a bit uncomfortable?
Read MoreThe People’s Prisoner
/When the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 2010, it was given to an empty chair. Its recipient, Liu Xiaobo, was in prison for advocating human rights in China. Though he is still incarcerated, a collection of essays sheds light on his thought and struggle.
Read MoreFrom: The Butterfly Nail
/a poem
Read MoreThe Knower and the Sayer
/Most criticism is reactive, but in his essay "The Poet," Ralph Waldo Emerson proved prophetic. He set a challenge and Walt Whitman took him up on it.
Read MoreWallace Stevens: A Spirit Storming
/Wallace Stevens, so long considered the driest and most cerebral of poets, can in fact touch the soul. It all hangs on the nature of poetry itself, what it is.
Read MoreThe Drifter
/a poem
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