The Color Wheel (Johns Hopkins: Poetry and Fiction) [Paperback]

Timothy Steele (Author)

Book Description

Series: Johns Hopkins: Poetry and Fiction | Publication Date: October 10, 1994

Through his collections of poems Timothy Steele has earned the reputation as a highly regarded poet who continue to work in meter. This volume brings together 35 new poems that extend the scope and deepen the spirit of his previous work. While always faithful to the richness and complexity of experience, the poems in The Color Wheel aim to be clear and accessible. They blend imaginistic detail and reflection and bring to contemporary subjects what Steele calls "the preservative virtues of formal care".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his third collection, Steele (Uncertainties and Rest) sounds a tone that is pleasantly reminiscent of the 18th-century: rational, clear and balanced. The tone accommodates a broad range of thought, play and form. Steele's natural sound here, effortlessly elaborated, is that of a hushed lyric with energy to spare. His decorum is flexibly contemporary, absorbing easily the jauntiness of Los Angeles in "Fae," and the regrets of a retired prizefighter in "Cory in April." Technically, Steele is superbly commanding, offering witty and subtle rhymes that lilt just slightly at the end of carefully metrical lines ("wind"/ "capuchinned"; "Merciful"/ "swell"; "his"/ "lettuces"). His technical esprit, in fact, is so impressive that one may be tempted to read the poems as abstracted formal expressions. But to do so would mean missing Steele's thematic range, from satirizing urge to wistfulness and a more profound consciousness of pain. He is also a deft portraitist (of women; of sea lions). The "moderating squeeze" of his aesthetic is both prudent and liberating.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

In his third collection, Steele ( Uncertainties and Rest) sounds a tone that is pleasantly reminiscent of the 18th-century: rational, clear and balanced. The tone accommodates a broad range of thought, play and form. Steele's natural sound here, effortlessly elaborated, is that of a hushed lyric with energy to spare. His decorum is flexibly contemporary, absorbing easily the jauntiness of Los Angeles in "Fae," and the regrets of a retired prizefighter in "Cory in April." Technically, Steele is superbly commanding, offering witty and subtle rhymes that lilt just slightly at the end of carefully metrical lines ("wind"/ "capuchinned"; "Merciful"/ "swell"; "his"/ "lettuces"). His technical esprit, in fact, is so impressive that one may be tempted to read the poems as abstracted formal expressions. But to do so would mean missing Steele's thematic range, from satirizing urge to wistfulness and a more profound consciousness of pain. He is also a deft portraitist (of women; of sea lions). The "moderating squeeze" of his aesthetic is both prudent and liberating.

(Publishers Weekly )

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (October 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801849527
• ISBN-13: 978-0801849527
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,049,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best and Most Neglected Poets of Our Time, February 6, 2000

By 

Kevin Durkin - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Color Wheel (Johns Hopkins: Poetry and Fiction) (Paperback)

Extending the range and depth of his two previous collections of poetry (available from the University of Arkansas Press as a single volume, SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES), THE COLOR WHEEL confidently establishes Steele not only as the premiere metrical poet of his generation, but also as one of the very best poets writing in English today.

THE COLOR WHEEL takes its title from one of the volume's central poems, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Child," a witty and wise meditation that begins with a description of a small child coloring with crayons and segues smoothly into the poet's memory of first seeing a color wheel, a spectrum of choices not only for the budding artist, but also, on a metaphorical level, for the poet and reader. The poem ends with one of the most beautiful passages I've seen in recent poetry: "You're off and traveling through the wheel/Of contrasts and of complements,/Where every shade divides and blends,/Where you find those that you prefer,/Where being is not linear,/But bright and deep, and never ends."

This enticing invitation to choose freely from the world's variety extends to Steele's entire collection, which ranges from a mock-Stevensian anecdote about a sugar bowl to a sobering recollection of doomed Holsteins in "Georgics." The Horatian alcaics of "Luck," in which the poet confronts the good fortunes of others, complements the mildly brooding blank verse of "Pacific Rim," in which the poet hints at the luckless victims of 20th century brutality. Yet the tenor of the collection is decidedly hopeful, and perhaps no title (or poem) in the book better exemplifies this than the charming "Beatitudes, While Setting Out the Trash."

Steele's art, which frequently explores the interrelationships between nature and human nature, regards human consciousness as fragile and in need of preservation. His superb meditation on "The Library" draws upon and condenses some of the material to be found in his magisterial prose critique of the free verse movement, MISSING MEASURES, and yet the emphasis in this poem is on the wit of foraging squirrels as well as the cleverness of archiving humans.

The volume contains a number of exquisite lyrics, including the opening "Aurora" with its subtle echoes of Valery, and the delicate homage to Thom Gunn, "Vermont Spring." Readers who admire the poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson will certainly enjoy "Cory in April," a poem about a drunken homeless man who was once a boxer, and admirers of Frost will be tickled by the humorous and moving "Fae," one of the most memorable poems in Steele's outstanding ouevre.

With his flawless ear, deft rhymes, and penetrating intelligence, Steele is already a poet for the ages. Read THE COLOR WHEEL and SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES to discover why.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best and Most Neglected Poets of Our Time, February 10, 2000

By 

Kevin Durkin - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Color Wheel (Johns Hopkins: Poetry and Fiction) (Hardcover)

Extending the range and depth of his two previous collections of poetry (available from the University of Arkansas Press as a single volume, SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES), THE COLOR WHEEL confidently establishes Steele not only as the premiere metrical poet of his generation, but also as one of the very best poets writing in English today.

THE COLOR WHEEL takes its title from one of the volume's central poems, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Child," a witty and wise meditation that begins with a description of a small child coloring with crayons and segues smoothly into the poet's memory of first seeing a color wheel, a spectrum of choices not only for the budding artist, but also, on a metaphorical level, for the poet and reader. The poem ends with one of the most beautiful passages I've seen in recent poetry: "You're off and traveling through the wheel/Of contrasts and of complements,/Where every shade divides and blends,/Where you find those that you prefer,/Where being is not linear,/But bright and deep, and never ends."

This enticing invitation to choose freely from the world's variety extends to Steele's entire collection, which ranges from a mock-Stevensian anecdote about a sugar bowl to a sobering recollection of doomed Holsteins in "Georgics." The Horatian alcaics of "Luck," in which the poet confronts the good fortunes of others,complements the mildly brooding blank verse of "Pacific Rim," in which the poet hints at the luckless victims of 20th century brutality. Yet the tenor of the collection is decidedly hopeful, and perhaps no title (or poem) in the book better exemplifies this than the charming "Beatitudes, While Setting Out the Trash."

Steele's art, which frequently explores the interrelationships between nature and human nature, regards human consciousness as fragile and in need of preservation. His superb meditation on "The Library" draws upon and condenses some of the material to be found in his magisterial prose critique of the free verse movement, MISSING MEASURES, and yet the emphasis in this poem is on the wit of foraging squirrels as well as the cleverness of archiving humans.

The volume contains a number of exquisite lyrics, including the opening "Aurora" with its subtle echoes of Valery, and the delicate homage to Thom Gunn, "Vermont Spring." Readers who admire the poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson will certainly enjoy "Cory in April," a poem about a drunken homeless man who was once a boxer, and admirers of Frost will be tickled by the humorous and moving "Fae," one of the most memorable poems in Steele's outstanding ouevre.

With his flawless ear, deft rhymes, and penetrating intelligence,Steele is already a poet for the ages. Read THE COLOR WHEEL and SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES to discover why.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best and Most Neglected Poets of Our Time, February 6, 2000

By 

Kevin Durkin - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Color Wheel (Johns Hopkins: Poetry and Fiction) (Paperback)

Extending the range and depth of his two previous collections of poetry (available from the University of Arkansas Press as a single volume, SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES), THE COLOR WHEEL confidently establishes Steele not only as the premiere metrical poet of his generation, but also as one of the very best poets writing in English today.

THE COLOR WHEEL takes its title from one of the volume's central poems, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Child," a witty and wise meditation that begins with a description of a small child coloring with crayons and segues smoothly into the poet's memory of first seeing a color wheel, a spectrum of choices not only for the budding artist, but also, on a metaphorical level, for the poet and reader. The poem ends with one of the most beautiful passages I've seen in recent poetry: "You're off and traveling through the wheel/Of contrasts and of complements,/Where every shade divides and blends,/Where you find those that you prefer,/Where being is not linear,/But bright and deep, and never ends."

This enticing invitation to choose freely from the world's variety extends to Steele's entire collection, which ranges from a mock-Stevensian anecdote about a sugar bowl to a sobering recollection of doomed Holsteins in "Georgics." The Horatian alcaics of "Luck," in which the poet confronts the good fortunes of others, complements the mildly brooding blank verse of "Pacific Rim," in which the poet hints at the luckless victims of 20th century brutality. Yet the tenor of the collection is decidedly hopeful, and perhaps no title (or poem) in the book better exemplifies this than the charming "Beatitudes, While Setting Out the Trash."

Steele's art, which frequently explores the interrelationships between nature and human nature, regards human consciousness as fragile and in need of preservation. His superb meditation on "The Library" draws upon and condenses some of the material to be found in his magisterial prose critique of the free verse movement, MISSING MEASURES, and yet the emphasis in this poem is on the wit of foraging squirrels as well as the cleverness of archiving humans.

The volume contains a number of exquisite lyrics, including the opening "Aurora" with its subtle echoes of Valery, and the delicate homage to Thom Gunn, "Vermont Spring." Readers who admire the poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson will certainly enjoy "Cory in April," a poem about a drunken homeless man who was once a boxer, and admirers of Frost will be tickled by the humorous and moving "Fae," one of the most memorable poems in Steele's outstanding ouevre.

With his flawless ear, deft rhymes, and penetrating intelligence, Steele is already a poet for the ages. Read THE COLOR WHEEL and SAPPHICS AND UNCERTAINTIES to discover why.