American Wits: An Anthology of Light Verse: (American Poets Project #7)
- ISBN-10
- 1931082499
- ISBN-13
- 9781931082495
- Category
- Literary Collections / American / General
- Pages
- 219
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2003-10-13
- Publisher
- Library of America
- Author
- John Hollander
Description
Irreverent, playful, and inventive, the American light verse of the past century offers a brimming feast of urbane pleasures. Bubbling over with engaging parodies, sparkling aphorisms, and wisecracking asides, the poems gathered here display a sure-footed handling of the poet’s art. The foremost practitioners of light verse “took delight not only in what they had to say but in their precise manner of saying it,” writes John Hollander in his introduction. “What makes it mean something is . . . the unique pleasure that poets and readers alike can take in that craft.” The poets in this volume included journalists, playwrights, screenwriters, and also some of the greatest poets of the century. We have Frost, Eliot, Millay, and Cummings, Don Marquis’ free-verse tales of Archy and Mehitabel, Newman Levy’s comic twists on grand opera, Samuel Hoffenstein’s disenchanted parsing of romantic sentiment, Dorothy Parker’s bitter epigrams, Ogden Nash’s brilliantly funny exercises in irregular meter: all are among the highlights from a century’s worth of poetic humor. About the American Poets Project Elegantly designed in compact editions, printed on acid-free paper, and textually authoritative, the American Poets Project makes available the full range of the American poetic accomplishment, selected and introduced by today’s most discerning poets and critics.
Get the book
Similar books
-
苏珊·桑塔格文集套装（套装共16册）
By 苏珊·桑塔格苏珊·桑塔格1933年生于美国纽约，毕业于芝加哥大学。1993年当选为美国文学艺术学院院士。她是当前美国声名卓著的“新知识分子”，和西蒙·波伏娃、汉娜·阿伦特被并称为西方当 ...
-
星星和印第安人的土地
By （美）玛丽·奥斯汀著, 范培文, 曹柠译打手矿是吉姆·卡尔金斯(Jim Calkins)发现的,吉姆·巴克(Jim Baker)则找到了特雷萨金矿。 ... 吉姆在她临终前一直安慰着她,然后埋葬了她,徒步走了十八英里,回到了波索(Poso),婴儿被他裹在粗斜纹棉布衬衫里,露着小脑袋小猫一样喵喵叫着, ...
-
The Quotable Jefferson
By Thomas Jefferson"Succeeding admirably in condensing the best quotes from around twenty thousand letters, this book will awaken some readers to the wit and wisdom of Jefferson, and enable others to rediscover it.
-
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: January 1-October 31, 1876
By Ulysses Simpson GrantAfter whites massacred black militia in South Carolina, Grant warned that unchecked persecution would lead to "bloody revolution." As violence spread, Grant struggled to position limited forces where they could do the most good.
-
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: January 1-May 31, 1864
By Ulysses Simpson GrantJanuary 1-May 31, 1864 Ulysses S. Grant John Y. Simon. ( Continued from front flap ) Major General William T. Sherman . He established an effective partnership with Abraham Lincoln , most notably through a letter of May 1 thanking the ...
-
The Quotable Mark Twain: His Essential Aphorisms, Witticisms & Concise Opinions
By Mark TwainHere are more than 1,800 quotations, organized from A-to-Z, from America's consummate author--Mark Twain.
-
Look at Me Now and Here I Am: Writings and Lectures, 1911-1945
By Gertrude SteinOnce he came and brought with him Gertrude Atherton . He said so sweetly , I want the two Gertrudes whom I love so much to know each other . It was a perfectly delightful afternoon . Every one was pleased and charmed and as for me a ...
-
Richard Wright: Early Works (LOA #55): Lawd Today! / Uncle Tom's Children / Native Son
By Richard WrightThe text printed in this volume restores the changes and cuts--including the replacement of an entire scene--that Wright was forced to make by book club editors who feared offending their readers.
-
The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature, addresses, and lectures
By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jean Ferguson Carr, Alfred Riggs FergusonRecords the creative and intellectual development of Emerson as a man of letters through a collection of his writings
-
The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson
By Ralph Waldo EmersonRecords the creative and intellectual development of Emerson as a man of letters through a collection of his writings