Collected Poems

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST EVER
Review: Except for his last poems, JS is one of the best poets ever and deserves more attention. If you're unfamiliar with his work, look at the cover and it'll tell you almost everything you need to know before you bask in the light.

Rating:
Summary: Almost Perfect!
Review: James Schuyler's COLLECTED POEMS is a great volume of poetry. Ranging from aspects of daily life (such as plants, walks in the countryside, friends, urban life, etc.) to contemplation of death, life, one's interiority, and God, Schuyler's subjects are compelling and relevant. What I especially like is his ability to take a mundane, everyday object or concept (like a view from a building) and give it a new, intensely personal perspective. This is his major gift. One aspect that I didn't like about some of his poems (and this is true for all poets) is his tendency to be obscure at times (though only a small portion of his poems are abstruse) and his long, rambling prose poems, like "Hymn to Life." "The Morning of the Poem," though, is a fantastic and imaginative piece of literature, broad in its scope and revealing of Schuyler in its tone and subjects. Overall, this volume of poetry unites the works of a superb poet, who valued the artist's perspective and his or her obligation to record a view of the world different than that of the average person. This volume will, I fervently hope, remain in the continuum of literature and in discussions of it for many years to come.

Rating:
Summary: A great poet
Review: This collection should establish Schuyler as one of the great poets of his generation. I particularly admire his tautness--precise names and descriptions, inventive phrases--as well as his flexibility--a wide-ranging eye and ear and a free-flowing memory. Throughout these poems there lurks a clear intention to inform, to connect, to synthesize. I look forward to returning to this book many times for refreshment and illumination.