Customer Reviews

Awash with Roses: The Collected Love Poems of Kenneth Patchen

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An excellent collection of love poetry by one of the greatest American poets. This volume, which is accompanied by a concise and compelling introduction, reveals the best of Patchen: his irrepressible sense of wonder, his ability to see things anew, his skill at waking us up to the moment, and his life-long love for the beautiful and intelligent woman in his life, Miriam Patchen. Since much of Patchen's work is now out of print, this collection is a rare opportunity to explore this acclaimed poet's writing which one hopes is just now beginning a resurgence. (I also suggest you look at his other writings, such as his daring "The Journal Of Albion Moonlight." Written during WWII, this poetic anti-war novel is still controversial in both form and content to this day.)

This review concerns the new 2011 re-issue of Patchen's classic love poems. Here's a piece of the review in the NYJNR by Sally D. Ketchum

Although Mr. Patchen, an outspoken pacifist, is famous for his vivid and tragic anti-war poetry, his remarkable love poems may be more important; and Awash with Roses: The Collected Love Poems of Kenneth Patchen is now available once again.

The reissue of his love poems testifies to his talents and perhaps meets the current need to cherish the beauty of life, love, and mankind. . . . Today, with political and economic unrest, with individual expression suppressed in many parts of the world, humankind yearns for a soothing of souls.

Mr. Patchen fervently loves both the individual and the integrity of man, and the importance and meaning of ordinary objects, always positive, enlightening and touching. ...
The opening biography, by Editor Larry Smith and his daughter, Laura, is well written and precise. The Patchens traveled widely in literary circles, and accounts of their relationships with many of the famous poets and writers of the era make very interesting reading. This material further enhances the poetry in Awash with Roses for readers.

Lovers, regardless of gender identification or sexual preference, will delight in this book.