Selected Poems: Expanded Edition: Including selections from Day by Day [Paperback]

Robert Lowell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0374530068 | ISBN-13: 978-0374530068 | Publication Date: January 9, 2007 | Edition: 2nd

Selected Poems includes over 200 works culled from Robert Lowell's books of verse--Lord Weary's Castle, The Mills of the Kavanaughs, Life Studies, For the Union Dead, Near the Ocean, History, For Lizzie and Harriet, and The Dolphin. Edited and with a foreword by the poet Frank Bidart, who also edited Collected Poems of Robert Lowell, this volume is a perfectly chosen representation of "the greatest American poet of the mid-century" (Richard Poirier, Book Week).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. With Collected Poems (2003) and last year's Letters, this selection—a much-expanded version by Bidart of Lowell's own late-life culling—brings the Herculean effort of restoring Lowell's oeuvre to print and prominence near completion. Next to the colossal Collected Poems, this is a formidable book in its own right, offering a distilled view of the arc of Lowell's whole career and of each of his individual books. From the early formal triumphs of Lord Weary's Castle and The Mills of the Kavanaughs to the seminal Life Studies (which is presented here in its entirety and includes what may be Lowell's most overarching characterization of his work: "I myself am hell"); from the tense and arguably unscrupulous sonnets of History and For Lizzie and Harriet to the dark resolve of The Dolphin and Day by Day: all of Lowell's varied modes are generously represented, along with Bidart's notes from Collected Poems. This book finally makes the breadth of Lowell's great achievement accessible in a single, portable volume. (Nov.)
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Review

"By far the most famous poet of his era . . . Lowell transformed American poetry." --Charles McGrath, The New York Times Magazine

"Robert Lowell was one of the three or four greatest American poets of the twentieth century . . . his real peers are the classics of American literature: Melville and Whitman, Eliot and Frost . . . Lowell's torrential eloquence, his historical consciousness, his moral and political seriousness are a standing challenge." --Adam Kirsch, The Times Literary Supplement

"Lowell's genius and his grinding labor brought to verse in English not only technical mastery on a scale otherwise scarcely attempted in [the twentieth] century, but then his courage and honesty brought ... a new generosity and dignity to the whole enterprise of poetry." --John Thompson, The New York Review of Books

"The best American poet of his generation." --Time

"The subjects of these poems will eventually become extinct, like all other natural species devoured by time, but the indelible mark of their impression on a single sensibility will remain, in Lowell's votive sculpture, bronzed to imperishability." --Helen Vendler, The Atlantic Monthly

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Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 2nd edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374530068
• ISBN-13: 978-0374530068
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #389,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shared reading experience, August 20, 2000

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Selected Poems: Revised Edition (Paperback)

This is a good book. The revised edition (which this is) contains a wide and well-chosen selection of Lowell's poetry. He notes in the foreword that he tried to choose possible sequences rather than just greatest hits out of context. This effort is visible and the book flows together like almost one book instead of a career's overview.

What was interesting for me as I read it was that I was reading a used copy which was liberally marked up with underlines and notes of various kinds. Normally, this drives me crazy and as it was in pencil I began by first erasing five pages worth of notes and then reading on myself. Gradually, however, about one third through the book I noticed that whoever it was that had owned the book before shared a lot of tastes with me. I started enjoying his/her remarks and notitions and it felt like I was having a little conversation about the book.

The former owner underlined without comment the line where Lowell comments he "lies to friends and tells the truth in print". He circled the "Long Summer" sequence titles and placed an awed exclamation point after Lowell's poem for Ford Madox Ford. We both, apparently love "Margaret Fuller Drowned" as it rated one of only three poems marked with a star in the whole book.

It was a wonderful book, and while this shouldn't be construed as license to mark up books (I still find it a barbaric habit), it was also a good conversation.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get the new 'Collected Poems' instead, July 24, 2003

By 

J. Ott "John Ott" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Selected Poems: Revised Edition (Paperback)

I made the mistake of getting this edition just as the new COLLECTED POEMS OF ROBERT LOWELL (edited by Frank Bidart) was coming out. The new book has all the notes, introductory biographical info (Lowell writes about his life as if you already know about it) and additional Lowell that THE SELECTED POEMS lacks.

However, if you want to go cheap (or don't need notes) this is not a bad 'Selected Poems'. It's fairly comprehensive, yet not too long -- and it gives you a good sense of the poet. It's been all people had for years (other than buying each of his many books). I think with the new COLLECTED, however, it has probably run its course.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Robert Lowell was a transgressive artist???, December 21, 2010

By 

York Brun Luethje (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Selected Poems: Expanded Edition: Including selections from Day by Day (Paperback)

OK, the foreword almost made me throw away the book right there. Its first sentence reads `Robert Lowell was a transgressive artist.'

This sounds like a parody of a 1980ies English lit major thesis - mercifully you can skip the foreword as it doesn't add anything at all. It's short though so skipping is easily done.

The selection itself is generous and one gets a good idea of Lowell's breadth of writing styles. As another reviewer has noted this edition is probably all you need.