Allen R. Grossman (1932–2014)

I'm really only a few pages in, and the book's already sparked an essay! https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/actions-of-judgment-against-self-erasure/

Upon finishing: some interesting (if thick/dense—pick the adjective of your choice) essays that get overshadowed by the overly long and often baffling "The Passion of Laocoön," which had me going straight to tropey jokes that wonder what in the world the author was smoking, and whether said drug was to be praised or lamented for enabling such show more feats of writerly endurance. show less

This is a theoretical text, so it's not really fun reading for the most part, but it's brilliant and highly perceptive work from two men who have thought carefully and systematically about the art of poetry. Grossman's Summa Lyrica is the second of the two works contained in the book, and I consider it a really important text because it seeks to undertake an examination and justification for the project of lyric poetry, with consideration of historical antecedent and contemporary concerns. A show more really valuable and highly learned work if you are studying poetry or want to write lyric poetry. show less