From Publishers Weekly
The title of this volume stands for the 100 poems in Chappell's ( Source ) collection and suggests the technical compression that pervades the text. More than a quarter of the poems are imitations of the Latin poets and of a variety of European writers, including Eduard Morike and Paul Eluard. The balance of the volume is patterned on the classical forms of epigram, satire and riddle. In general, the verse is amusing and intelligent, the work of a well-educated reader of poetry, reflecting his familiarity with and fondness for classical literature. When the work falls short, it does so because the poems do not seem completely contemporary. One poem, for instance, compares the epigrams in the volume to telegrams delivering "intelligence / With such a sudden blaze / The shine can make us wince." Though the language is pleasing, it is anachronistic in the age of fax to think of telegrams representing speedy communication. Sometimes the language is forced to fit the form (". . . To see the ducklings paddle as the sun / Rays through the trees / "), resulting in self-conscious diction. Though the lines scan properly, the tone is often theatrical and emotionally unconvincing.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The Roman numeral of the title refers to the 100 lyrics that constitute Chappell's latest book. Written under the demanding influence of the Latin epigrammatist Martial, these tightly armatured, rigorously formal poems would in spirit find welcome in both the Roman and English Augustan ages. Brief, witty, and often tart, the poems skewer modern times ("The morning headlines write our satire for us"), academe ("Blossom's footnotes never shirk/ The task of touting his own work"), and other subjects with equal zest. But nectar is served with the venom, as in pieces like "A Field of Orchard Grass": "Feminfinite sea, wavelight breaking/ on the afternoon like the silence of harps." Not every poem earns its existence or feels comfortable in the 1990s, but the impressive display of prosodic skill is in itself enjoyable.
- Fred Mura tori, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Fred Mura tori, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
