The first winner of the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize contains formal poetry of uncommon grace and profundity that touches betimes upon the infusion of the sacred into the profane, modernity's willful alienation from the sacred, and the delights of verbal wit."" --Booklist ""'Field Knowledge' is intelligent, remarkably dexterous and inventive in its use of form, and-line by line- often dazzling..."" --The Antioch Review
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*Starred Review* Aptly enough, Creech's second collection is the first winner of a prize named after the late Anthony Hecht, who with Richard Wilbur upheld the standard of formal poetry in the generation of American poets that came of age in the 1940s. There are a great many more formalists in or just ahead of Creech's contingent (he was born in 1970), but perhaps none combines gravity and grace as he does. Those qualities are consciously and consequentially on his mind in the three poems constituting "Some Notes on Grace and Gravity," which consider how Giotto, Leonardo, and Newton, respectively, confirmed the interdependence of grace and gravity. The muralist draws the feet of holy figures to the ground, the painter-scientist turns from rendering saintly flesh to sundering cadavers, and the theoretician unites gravity and grace, mass and motion, materially. If those poems concern the infusion of the sacred into the profane, others mourn modernity's willful alienation from the sacred, quite often by imaging gods in exile, as in the three poems, placed early, middle, and late in the book, about the travails of Orpheus. Besides such grave pieces, there is much that is witty. Throughout, there is a use of the European poetic tradition that is as gratifying and profound as it is assured. This man's good. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I believe this is one of the finest single volumes of contemporary verse on the present scene. Creech has a marvelous ear, a real handle on verse technique and the great tradition and he produces some truly stunning works here. For my money, he is one of our best poets. Unfortunately, nobody has heard of him. Buy it, you won't be disappointed. He's great.
Format:Paperback
Part philosopher, part unwitting preacher, Creech is once again a revelation.
You will want to spend hours combing all of these lines. There are lots of great and hidden truths.
I came close to tears reading "Firstfruits," an interesting parable of resurrection.
You will want to spend hours combing all of these lines. There are lots of great and hidden truths.
I came close to tears reading "Firstfruits," an interesting parable of resurrection.
Format:Paperback
It should come as to no surprise that a poet such as Morri Creech wins the first annual Anthony Hecht poetry prize. Creech is the perfect poet to carry on in Hecht's name. His poems carry a certain gravitas and darkness that Hecht had. And a formal beauty that few contemporary poets have today. (see "Wife of Job")
While I didn't quite like this book as much as I loved Paper Cathedrals (which is truly a spectacular book), this volume contained much of what is best in today's poetry (see "Wife of Job").
While I didn't quite like this book as much as I loved Paper Cathedrals (which is truly a spectacular book), this volume contained much of what is best in today's poetry (see "Wife of Job").
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