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James Arlington Wright (1927–1980)

Author of Poems

26+ Works 1,502 Members 13 Reviews 2 Favorited

About the Author

Works by James Arlington Wright

Associated Works

The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,254 copies
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry (1990) — Contributor — 749 copies
Wandering: Notes and Sketches (1972) — Translator, some editions — 413 copies
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology (1992) — Contributor — 388 copies
Contemporary American Poetry (1962) — Contributor, some editions — 384 copies
The Art of Losing (2010) — Contributor — 197 copies
American Religious Poems: An Anthology (2006) — Contributor — 162 copies
The Faber Book of Beasts (1997) — Contributor — 140 copies
The Rider on the White Horse and Selected Stories (1888) — Translator, some editions — 138 copies
Emergency Kit (1996) — Contributor, some editions — 108 copies
A Life in Medicine: A Literary Anthology (2002) — Contributor — 81 copies
American Sonnets: An Anthology (2007) — Contributor — 65 copies
The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink (2012) — Contributor — 63 copies
Lament for the Makers: A Memorial Anthology (1996) — Contributor — 49 copies
The Yale Younger Poets Anthology (1998) — Contributor — 33 copies
Birds in the Hand: Fiction and Poetry about Birds (2004) — Contributor — 32 copies
60 Years of American Poetry (1996) — Contributor — 28 copies
A Good Man: Fathers and Sons in Poetry and Prose (1993) — Contributor — 20 copies
Selected Poetry, 1937-1990 (Wesleyan Poetry) (1994) — Translator — 20 copies
Fire and Sleet and Candlelight: New Poems of the Macabre (1961) — Contributor — 16 copies
unmuzzled ox 13 — Contributor — 7 copies
Big Table 3 (1959) — Contributor — 6 copies

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Reviews

I think this has been on my list since I was a broke teen scanning the very-used-book shelves for deals from authors I loved. Interesting to finally get to it. I don't know that I'd pick this up just as a book of poetry, but I enjoyed the added insight into Hesse.
 
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Kiramke | 5 other reviews | Aug 31, 2023 |
These are not the best poems you will ever read. They are repetitive, juvenile, and excessively obsessed with flowers and death. I find such vulnerability appealing, but even I had to chuckle a bit at the third or fourth nature allegory to the impermanence of a man's life. Hesse is a long-time favorite of mine, and I bought this book mainly to help complete my collection of his works, but this book is way down on the bottom of my list of Hesse favorites.
 
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woolgathering | 5 other reviews | Jun 24, 2020 |
Great autumn primer.
 
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kvschnitzer | 2 other reviews | Dec 8, 2019 |
Starting with the disclaimer that I have absolutely no interest in dissecting poems with respect to rhyme, structure, symbolism, whether the author was suffering from a headache when he/she wrote it, and what-not. A poem either speaks to me (on whatever level) or it doesn't.

With Hesse, I was curious to see how his poetry compared to his novels and how his poetry reflected the themes of his novels, because to my mind Hesse's novels are works of beauty but they are also very complex. I've been trying to write a review of Steppenwolf for several months now and just don't know where to start...

Anyway, the great thing about this collection is that it is a complete collection of all of the poems that Hesse wanted to publish. I have not counted but there seem to be 700 of them and they are in chronological order. The order helps to relate the poems to different events in Hesse's life (if you want to do that) and to his novels.

What is stark with Hesse is there is not just the expected change in the themes and complexity of his work if you compare the early works with the later ones, but there is a marked differentiation of his approach to dealing with themes of darkness and isolation which interchange with other themes. The poems that tend to be on the "existential" side are the ones that draw me in most, simply because it seems Hesse doesn't need to try to compose them, they just seem to flow. It is this seemingly effortless expression of doubt, anger, frustration, anxiety and the simplicity in which he expresses them that are captivating.

By comparison, his love poetry (especially the early ones) kinda fail to persuade me that they were anything but writing exercises.

3.5*
… (more)
 
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BrokenTune | 5 other reviews | Aug 21, 2016 |

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Works
26
Also by
26
Members
1,502
Popularity
#17,108
Rating
3.9
Reviews
13
ISBNs
66
Languages
3
Favorited
2

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