Customer Reviews

Monica

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Anrennen gegen Sprachegrenze!--Well, let's grant
We know what language can perform and what it can't

We know its pictures of the world are all we've got;
We know it's not a cage, but do we know why not?

Ingenious engineers have so designed our zoos
The animals are fenced, but bars don't block the views;

Instead, concealed to men, deep slanted pitfalls gape.
And that's what language is: No bars, but no escape[.]

Most contemporary poetry harps unendingly upon the personal problems or pseudo-revelations of hacks who can not rhyme. Klein's "Monica," however, revives the tradition of having a character narrate the poem who does not make a claim to being the ultimate humanist. This makes for poetry which is not self-indulgent or self-congratulatory (like the works of Wordsworth, for example--can you believe people STILL read Wordsworth?!?!?!). Instead, Klein creates a viscious narrative voice, following the example of such poets as Robert Browning, Tourneur, and Beddoes, whose mores may not be universally acceptable, but are indeed unendingly scathing and witty. "Monica" reminds the reader of what it means to be inventive in a poetic mode, and how language itself may induce vertigo, contemplation, and the pleasure of a laugh at the expense of societal norms