Collected Poems 1951-1971

Rating:
Summary: Poor Organization
Review: I love Ammons and think this colletion of poetry is wonderful--a 17 star collection, but how the poems are organized bothers me. Instead of putting certain poems under the heading of which its respective book came out of, they are listed under what appears to be randomly selected years. For instance, let's say (since I don't have the book with me) that poems 1-37 would be listed under 1951-55 instead of under one of his first books of poetry like Doxology. I would like to know which books of poetry certain poems came out of so that I could buy the book for collector's sake. There is minimal if any editorial comments about why the poems are divided under the years 1951-71. The last set is under a near 10 year division. But the point is these poems are wonderful and in a handy collection. Ammons has influence from the conciseness of William C. Williams and the philosophical observations of a Wallace Stevens. New Ammons readers should start here and then perhaps move to Sphere, Garbage and then the latest Glare.

Rating:
Summary: A Rare Eye, a Rare Voice
Review: People rarely read poetry these days. It is a shame considering that poets like Ammons are out there. Ammons possesses a knack with detail and can make anything spring to life. Consider 'Catalyst'. 'Honor the maggot/ Supreme catalyst/ he spurs the rate of change/ (all scavengers are honorable/ I love them all/ will scribble hard as I can for them'. Only Ammons can write a poem in praise of a maggot and have the reader ready to shout 'Yay, maggots!' by the end. Ammons also has an impressive ability to turn a phrase, such as 'and the wind whipped my throat/ gaming for the sounds of my voice.' Another one of the elements of Ammons poetry is his humor. 'As soon as you stop having trouble getting down to earth you start having trouble getting off the ground.' read one of his shortest poems. 'I Went Out to The Sun' is another great example of humor. 'The moon has been talking about you/ well what is it this time?/ she says it's her own light' I won't lie to you, though. It does drags in parts. Ammons scientific knowledge and his use of technical, while it does provide a certain richness, can get in the way. Another problem is the length of some of the poems included. This is a personal bias, but I HATE long poems. Ammons more than makes up for it, however. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.