Archaic Smile: Poems [Hardcover]

A. E. Stallings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1999

Archaic Smile, by A.E. Stallings, recipient of the 1999 Richard Wilbur Award, uniquely juxtaposes poetic meditations on mythological themes with poems about the everyday occurances of contemporary life -- such as losing an umbrella or fishing with one's father. In doing so, Archaic Smile continually bridges the gap between these two distant but interrelated worlds with striking insights. James Dickey, having praised the author's accomplished critical skills, also points out that she has "the most indispensable quality that a poet must have: an original way of looking at things." A.R. Ammons aptly characterizes the power of her mythological poems in his comments on "Apollo Takes Charge of His Muses" which he chose for The Best American Poetry: "It delivers the ancient past into our present with such astonishing justness that I'm silenced with appreciation." Archaic Smile is a powerful debut collection by a provacative poet who has found strikingly original ways to personalize our myths and conjure the deep significances of our everyday life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A.E. Stallings is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Oxford University in classical studies. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies including Poetry, Sparrow, The Formalist, Atlanta Review, Pushcart Prize XXII, and The Best American Poetry (1994). She has also received the 1997 Eunice Tietjens Memorial Prize from Poetry magazine and the 1991 James Dickey Prize from Five Points. A native of Georgia, she currently lives in Athens, Greece.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 69 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Evansville Pr; 1st edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930982525
• ISBN-13: 978-0930982522
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A. E. Stallings first collection is a jewel!, May 20, 2000

By 

Kimberly Martz (Phenix City, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Archaic Smile: Poems (Hardcover)

From mythology and its great figures to the small, yet pertinent moments of personal experience, Ms. Stallings' first collection leaves in its wake an immense feeling awe and satisfaction. There is nothing archaic in Stallings' use of language or the image -- she allows "old" figures to speak from new perspectives, and in doing so recreates for us the world of their stories. Her book is inspiring for its demonstration that classical forms can have pertinent use and meaning in the contemporary world of poetry.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ARCHAIC SMILE IN NEO-FORMALIST STYLE, December 11, 2000

By 

B.D. (Rancho San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Archaic Smile: Poems (Hardcover)

If you like the poetry of Thomas Hardy, Y.B.Yeats, Robert Frost, Edwin Arlington Robinson, George Santayana, Walter de la Mare, Richard Wilbur, Elizabeth Daryush, Elizabeth Jennings, Catherine Breese Davis, John Masefield, Stanley Kunitz and Gjertrud Schnackenburg, you will enjoy this new entry into the New Formalist roster. Compression of thought, clarity of expression, vivid metaphors, technical mastery of rhyme/meter all coalesce into strong poetry that asks to be read and re-read. Some powerful favorites include Tour of Labyrinth, Why the Saying is 'As the Crow Flies' and the following excerpt, The Mistake:

The mistake was light and easy in my hand,/ A seed meant to be scattered upon the land;/ I did not have to bury it or blow/ But opened up my palm and let it go./ The mistake was dry and small and without weight/ So wind could quickly snatch it toward its fate/ And even had I sought to circumvent/ Nobody dared inform me where it went./ The mistake would never meet my thoughts again,/ Until the spring came, soft and full of rain./ There in the yard fresh dandelions grew/ Compounding my misstep - then (oops!) they blew.

Technical mastery is a necessary but not sufficient condition of outstanding poetry. I look forward to further work that builds on the solid foundation found here,well on the way to excellence. While most of her themes are rooted in classical Greek mythology, the more she can bring her themes into the 21st Century will show whether she is capable of joining the list of poets mentioned above who have passed the true test of time.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dazzling smile, June 26, 2003

By 

Eileen M. Moore (Cambridge, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Archaic Smile: Poems (Hardcover)

That over-used tag 'collector's item' is well-deserved by this publication. Readers whose knowledge of Greek myth is rusty or rudimentary need have nothing to fear. A.A.Stallings wears her learning as lightly as she holds the reins of her metrical horses. Humour bubbles up from time to time as does a tenderness which never slurps into sentimentality.
Themes range from the personal (housework, lost belongings, garden disasters) to the public (the instability of urban civilization, the festering scars of war). Practising poets have much to learn from Stallings' easy switches from myth to modern
reality, from colloquial to formal registers. Hers is indeed an art which conceals art.
More, please!