The King's Question: Poems [Paperback]

Brian Culhane (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1555975119 | ISBN-13: 978-1555975111 | Publication Date: September 30, 2008 | Edition: First Edition

Brian Culhane’s deeply felt and accomplished debut, winner of the poetry foundation’s Emily Dickinson First Book Award

 

Let just one of those quicksilver hours be returned to me,

With my knowledge now of the world, and not a boy’s,

With all that I have become a lighted room. One hour

To ask the question that burned, once, in a King’s throat.

                                                 —from “The King’s Question”

 

In the poet Brian Culhane’s The King’s Question, fragments of the ancient past emerge from contemporary life to reveal rich and resonant correspondences. So the glow of a writer’s desk lamp evokes the torchlight of Viking raiders at Lindisfarne; a father’s scattered library summons the lost Library of Alexandria; the voice of a psychotherapist echoes the murmur of the Delphic oracle. With skilled craft, erudition, and daring intelligence, Culhane grapples with profound questions of time and existence, while the gods, as always, deny any certitude.

Selected by the Poetry Foundation from more than 1,600 submissions, The King’s Question is the winner of the Emily Dickinson First Book Award, which recognizes an American poet over the age of fifty who has yet to publish a book of poetry.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian Culhane was born in New York in 1954. His poetry has appeared in The Hudson Review, The New Republic, and The Paris Review. He teaches at Lakeside School and lives in Seattle, Washington.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Graywolf Press; First Edition edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555975119
• ISBN-13: 978-1555975111
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #909,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Debut, October 3, 2008

By 

Robert Doggett (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The King's Question: Poems (Paperback)

These are magnificent poems, and the depth of feeling, mastery of poetic forms, and range of scholarship they demonstrate show that the committee awarding Brian Culhane the Emily Dickinson First Book Award knew what it was doing. My five favorites are "Chekhov's 'The Student' (April, 1894), "For One Who First Showed Me Scipio's Dream," "The King's Question," Library," and "Poshumous," but, then, all twenty four are so good that on rereading them next week I'll probably have several more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Voice, Imagery, December 15, 2008

By 

Luke Rona (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The King's Question: Poems (Paperback)

"Voice" is one of the more amorphous poetic skills to define and develop. Culhane's compilation shows that voice is undoubtedly worth pursuing. It develops over time, becoming more unique and undeniable as reflections, beliefs, and questions are fused into a whole.

Culhane's poems draw inspiration from an impressive range of traditions and myths. But they resonate because of his ability to connect that literary experience with what is urgent in his own history. The poems linger because of his unique voice - they could not have been created by anyone else. Some of my favorite lines:

1. From "Library" - creative use of structure/punctuation to complement the story being told (I January 1938 and Property of are italicized):
"Some are dated in the first blank page: I
January 1938 this reads, as if a resolution
Made (and kept?); this ruddy leather edition
States simply Property of--with no name given."

2. From "Another Europe" - strong verbs; striking imagery follows after this line:
"There is a region in the past that summons memory just to
bruise it."

3. From "Shadow Work" - an original juxtaposition:
"Sunlight will fall like dust"

4. From "Envoi" - sensitivity to sound, syllables, and space:
"page

on page clumped together, smutched idioms sundered"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is my favorite book in a good long time., October 3, 2008

By 

beck (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The King's Question: Poems (Paperback)

What is The King's Question? As you read this book in order to find out you will enter the universe of a very accomplished and wonderful poet. You will travel to real and imagined mindscapes that are crafted of memories, deep feelings and turns of phrase that yield surprising and profound insights. You will encounter conversations with heroes and heroines both mythological and personal that have clearly shaped the poet's life. This is my favorite book in a good long time.