The collected early poems and plays / Robert Duncan ; edited by Peter Quartermain.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Duncan, Robert, 1919-1988.

Contributor:

Quartermain, Peter.

Series:

Duncan, Robert, 1919-1988. 2011 Works.

The collected writings of Robert Duncan ; 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Duncan, Robert, 1919-1988.

Duncan, Robert.

American literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (876 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A landmark in the publication of twentieth-century American poetry, this first volume of the long-awaited collected poetry, non-critical prose, and plays of Robert Duncan gathers all of Duncan's books and magazine publications up to and including Letters: Poems 1953-1956. Deftly edited, it thoroughly documents the first phase of Duncan's distinguished life in writing, making it possible to trace the poet's development as he approaches the brilliant work of his middle period. This volume includes the celebrated works Medieval Scenes and The Venice Poem, all of Duncan's long unavailable major ventures into drama, his extensive "imitations" of Gertrude Stein, and the remarkable poems written in Majorca as responses to a series of collaged paste-ups by Duncan's life-long partner, the painter Jess. Books appear in chronological order of publication, with uncollected periodical and other publications arranged chronologically, following each book. The introduction includes a biographical commentary on Duncan's early life and works, and clears an initial path through the textual complexities of his early writing. Notes offer brief commentaries on each book and on many of the poems. The volume to follow, The Collected Later Poetry and Plays, will include The Opening of the Field (1960), Roots and Branches (1964), Bending the Bow (1968), Ground Work (1984), and Ground Work II (1987).

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Introduction: Disturbing Poetics

Acknowledgments

The Years As Catches: Early Poems 1939-1945

Heavenly City, Earthly City

Uncollected Work 1933-1947

Medieval Scenes

Poems 1948-1949

Uncollected Work 1948-1951

Fragments of a Disordered Devotion

Caesar's Gate: Poems 1949-1950

A Book of Resemblances: Poems 1950-1953

Names of People: Stein Imitations from 1952

Play Time Pseudo Stein: From the Laboratory Records Notebook 1953

Writing Writing

Uncollected Work 1952-1956

The Cat and the Blackbird

Faust Foutu: A Comic Masque

Medea at Kolchis: The Maiden Head

Letters: Poems mcmliii-mcmlvi

Appendix 1. Tables of Contents

Appendix 2. Jacket Blurb to The First Decade

Appendix 3. Preface (1972) to Caesar's Gate: Poems 1949-50

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index of Titles and First Lines

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781283687713

1283687712

9780520953628

0520953622

OCLC:

818817959