The Art of the Poetic Line PDF

[Denny Ates]

The Art of the Poetic Line by Longenbach consists of eighty-six poems collected in this volume. James Longenbach is the foremost poet of our times, renowned for his ability to describe vivid scenes with enormous detail, bringing to life the people and places that he depicts. Longenbach has been described as "the true American lyric writer"; his verse delivers a message that is often difficult to interpret in a single line. The poems of The Art of the Poetic Line by James Longenbach are united in their subject and theme through their very structure: each poem flows from the last one, creating a continuous chain reaction of feelings and emotions that build and climax on the last one. This structure would make it difficult to classify the poems into different themes or genres.

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However, by placing the emphasis on individual incidents and its representation as a segment of the larger work, Longenbach breaks down the literary device of verse into elements that can be easily assimilated into other forms of creative writing. Each poem maintains the central theme of the previous one, but does so in a different and more memorable way. In addition to maintaining the central theme, each poem strives to add something new and unexpected. The result is that The Art of the Poetic Line becomes more than a collection of literary works: it is the complete statement of an artist's personality, his creative temperament, and the philosophy that underlies all of it.

This collection of poems is extremely valuable to anyone who appreciates the beauty of poetry. The poems are simple, often quotable, and convey a strong message. As Longenbach states in his preface to this book, "The aim of this book is not to make popular literature out of popular poetry...but to supply an interpretation of poems, in their original form, which may serve as a model for future work". It is an interesting philosophical look into the nature of poetry that grounds it solidly in the study of aesthetics. Combining this with the personal style of Robert Frost is a recipe for success.