Commonwealth of Wings: An Ornithological Biography Based on the Life of John James Audubon (Wesleyan Poetry Series) [Paperback]

Pamela Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1991 | Series: Wesleyan Poetry Series

Combining the best of poetry, nature writing, a biography, Pamela Alexander in her book-length "persona poem" brings to life John James Audubon and a world not yet aware of nature's limits. She distills the essence of this remarkable naturalistic-artist and gives him voice to tell his life story in fragments and letters, journal entries, actual vignettes, and lyrical passages. Captivating, and accessible, her poem reads with the authority of autobiography, the dramatic coherence of a novel, and the evocative clarity of an Audubon print. The reader, briefly transported to the natural world of America a century and a half ago, cannot help but contrast its condition today and feel a poignant sense of loss.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing on biographies, journals and letters, Alexander ( Navigable Waterways ) has fashioned a moving poetic account of the early 19th-century naturalist and artist. She takes us through Audubon's life, from the loss of his natural mother in Haiti, to his childhood in France amid the tumult of the Revolution, his unsuccessful business ventures in this country, his commitment to painting "all the Birds of America, / in the size of nature," and his journey to Europe in search of patrons and publishers. The poems are in Audubon's voice, and Alexander does a remarkable job of maintaining a consistent tone, but one that evolves naturally with the age of her subject. Alexander's language has an uncomplicated, lyrical quality that evokes the naturalist's love of nature's organic simplicity. Away from his wife for years at a time, Audubon wrote to her often. In "Letter to Lucy," he writes, "thy presence moves in my mind like a shy bird / that flies before me, bush to bush." Imagining himself a bird in the masterful "Air," he sees "thousands of gannets / surging upward, wings of the closest striking my face, / and I rise, momentarily, with them."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Audubon was a naturalist, an ornithologist, and an adventurer: "I am a collection of landscapes." Despite the title, these poems do not intend to stand as a biography. Alexander brings a touch of the poet to his story, playing fast and loose with the facts. She is quick to note that "many of the incidents and thoughts in the poems are fictional; others are inventions around a bare fact," and some are assembled from letters, journals, and such, recast in her own language. Audubon's was a curious life, but he enjoyed the world. Often we get the sense in these poems of that quiet, lovely America that Audubon knew. Alexander is sensitive to the details that matter. The artist and scientist is real in these lines, but one senses that much is missing. What we have, though, is considerable. --Louis McKee, Painted Bride Arts Ctr., Philadelphia
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: Wesleyan; 1st edition (April 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819511935
• ISBN-13: 978-0819511935
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,126,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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