Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford (edition 2014)

by William Stafford, Kim Stafford (Editor)

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"In our time there has been no poet who revived human hearts and spirits more convincingly than William Stafford." -Naomi Shihab NyeSome time when the river is ice ask memistakes I have made. Ask me whetherwhat I have done is my life. -from "Ask Me" In celebration of the poet's centennial, Ask Me collects one hundred of William Stafford's essential poems. As a conscientious objector during World War II, while assigned to Civilian Public Service camps Stafford began his daily writing practice, a lifelong early-morning ritual of witness. His poetry reveals the consequences of violence, the daily necessity of moral decisions, and the bounty of art. Selected and with a note by Kim Stafford, Ask Me presents the best from a profound and original American voice.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	Lcwilson45
Title:	Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford
Authors:	William Stafford
Other authors:	Kim Stafford (Editor)
Info:	Graywolf Press (2014), Paperback, 128 pages
Collections:	poetry, Currently reading, To read, Your library
Rating:
Tags:	Poetry, tbr

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Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford by William Stafford

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I think you either like poetry or you don't. As it happens, I love it. There is never a time (so far) that I can't pick up a poem and read it. It doesn't matter who wrote it or what era it came from. I don't like them all, but I am always glad I read them. And my favorite poet of all time is William Stafford. He looked around our world and saw things that the rest of us walk carelessly past every day. Astounding things. He has opened my eyes to so much. I will be forever grateful for the day I found Fall Journey and took the time to read it. I've been stocking my shelves ever since. (

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lorsomething | May 2, 2020 |

this will be heretical here in portland, where william stafford is almost idolized, but most of these poems just didn't resonate with me at all. i liked that they were often about nature (the ones that weren't were usually about war, which i wasn't as interested in) but in general it's just not my kind of poetry.

the few poems that i really did like were: A Message from the Wanderer, Traveling through the Dark, Malheur before Dawn, and When I Met My Muse (especially Traveling through the Dark and When i Met My Muse).

and a couple of lines stood out to me: "if roads are unconnected we must make a path (from Watching the Jet Planes Dive) and "Even the upper end of the river / believes in the ocean." (from Climbing along the River). (

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overlycriticalelisa | Jan 24, 2017 |

I'm still not fond of poems. (

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bschaffer | Mar 9, 2014 |

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"In our time there has been no poet who revived human hearts and spirits more convincingly than William Stafford." -Naomi Shihab NyeSome time when the river is ice ask memistakes I have made. Ask me whetherwhat I have done is my life. -from "Ask Me" In celebration of the poet's centennial, Ask Me collects one hundred of William Stafford's essential poems. As a conscientious objector during World War II, while assigned to Civilian Public Service camps Stafford began his daily writing practice, a lifelong early-morning ritual of witness. His poetry reveals the consequences of violence, the daily necessity of moral decisions, and the bounty of art. Selected and with a note by Kim Stafford, Ask Me presents the best from a profound and original American voice.

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