Power, plain English, and the rise of modern poetry / David Rosen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosen, David, 1971-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965--Criticism and interpretation.

Eliot, T. S.

Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939--Criticism and interpretation.

Yeats, W. B.

Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973--Criticism and interpretation.

Auden, W. H.

Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850--Criticism and interpretation.

Wordsworth, William.

Locke, John, 1632-1704--Influence.

Locke, John.

English poetry--20th century--History and criticism.

English poetry.

English poetry--19th century--History and criticism.

English language--Style.

English language.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource (x, 212 p.))

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this engaging book David Rosen offers a radically new account of Modern poetry and revises our understanding of its relation to Romanticism. British poets from Wordsworth to Auden attempted to present themselves simultaneously as persons of power and as moral voices in their communities. The modern lyric derives its characteristic complexities-psychological, ethical, formal-from the extraordinary difficulty of this effort.The low register of our language-a register of short, concrete, native words arranged in simple syntax-is deeply implicated in this story. Rosen shows how the peculiar reputation of "plain English" for truthfulness is employed by Modern poets to conceal the rift between their (probably irreconcilable) ambitions for themselves. With a deep appreciation for poetic accomplishment and a wonderful iconoclasm, Rosen sheds new light on the innovative as well as the self-deceptive aspects of Modern poetry. This book alters our understanding of the history of poetry in the English language.

Contents:

Prologue: the secret reference of John Locke

Wordsworth's empirical imagination

Certain good: W. B. Yeats and the language of autobiography

The lost youth of modern poetry: T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-199) and index.

ISBN:

9786611730291

9781281730299

1281730297

9780300129489

0300129483

OCLC:

1024022636