The Situation of Poetry

Rating:
Summary: Neat piece!
Review: Robert Pinsky gave our commencement speech at Stanford in 1999. Captivated by his wit and eloquence I got a copy of this book but promptly misplaced it in a move. Only recently did I have a chance to read it and how satisfying was the experience! Not only did Pinsky help me see some old favorites, such as John Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale", from a distinctively fresh perspective, he also introduced me to other unfamiliar poets whose work I subsequently had the pleasure of reading further. The essays both serve as a comprehensive general survey and contain in-depth analyses of some key pieces. Its style is crisp yet smooth, its language is poetic in its own charm, and the insights are sharp from both literature perspectives and philosophical angles. Great midnight read when "senses abandon their defenses" -- an intellectually stimulating experience that I would highly recommend.