The Republic of Poetry: Poems [Hardcover]

Martin Espada (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2006

The heart of this collection is a cycle of Chile poems by "the Pablo Neruda of North American authors" (Sandra Cisneros).

In his eighth collection of poems, Martín Espada celebrates the power of poetry itself. The Republic of Poetry is a place of odes and elegies, collective memory and hidden history, miraculous happenings and redemptive justice. Here poets return from the dead, visit in dreams, even rent a helicopter to drop poems on bookmarks.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Espada's compact, forceful follow-up to his well-received new-and-selected, Alabanza (2004), describes, in its three parts, three versions of his "republic." The first is Chile, where the Massachusetts-based, Brooklyn-bred poet has recently traveled, and where poets past and present (Neruda among them) reacted to the atrocities of the Pinochet dictatorship, hoping their verse could "make the soldiers/ vanish from the garden." The second "republic" unites the poets, from various lands, whom Espada has admired—the lately deceased Robert Creeley, the South African protest poet Dennis Brutus and all those who have used their verse to speak for social justice: "I want to write," Espada explains, "a poem useful as a coat to a coughing man." Finally, there is the American republic, heir to democratic ideals traduced or shattered (in Espada's view) by the current administration and its wars, though "Sometimes a song drifts up/ through.../ machine guns and sobbing." Espada (himself of Puerto Rican descent) remains one of the nation's best-known and most outspoken Latino poets. (Oct.)
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Review

"He's the best new poet I've read for years." Adrian Mitchell, The Guardian" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton (October 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393062562
• ISBN-13: 978-0393062564
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,690,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The eighth poetry collection by editor, translator, creative writing teacher, and award-winning poet Martin Espada, January 4, 2007

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Republic of Poetry: Poems (Hardcover)

The eighth poetry collection by editor, translator, creative writing teacher, and award-winning poet Martin Espada, The Republic of Poetry speaks to the collective power of history, imagination, miracles, justice, and redemption. The first part of the anthology consists of poems speaking to the heart of Chile, once under the harsh heel of the 1973 military coup, now growing as a democracy; the second part is a series of elegies written to poets; and the third and final part consists of powerful anti-war poetry. Written with passion, and scorn toward tyrants, The Republic of Poetry is an unforgettable, immersive experience and highly rewarding reading. "Black Islands (for Dario)": At Isla Negra, / between Neruda's tomb / and the anchor in the garden, / a man with stonecutter's hands / lifted up his boy of five / so the boy's eyes could search mine. / The boy's eyes were black olives. / "Son," the father said, "this is a poet, / like Pablo Neruda." / The boy's eyes were black glass. / "My son is called Dario, for the poet of Nicaragua," / the father said. / The boy's eyes were black stones. / The boy said nothing, / searching my face for poetry, / searching my eyes for his own eyes. / The boy's eyes were black islands.