This Is My Beloved [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Walter Benton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 1949

Born in Austria of Russian parents, Walter Benton lived most of his life in the United States. After working on a farm, in a steel mill, as a window washer, as a salesman, and at various other jobs, he entered Ohio University in 1931, and in due course was graduated. He then spent five years as a social investigator in New York. During the second World War he served in the United States Army, being commissioned a lieutenant of the Signal Corps in the autumn of 1942 and later being promoted to a captaincy. After the war he returned to New York and devoted his time to writing.

This Is My Beloved, the remarkable diary in verse that has become one of the most popular books of poetry, was his first published volume, though his work was already familiar to readers of Poetry, Fantasy, the Yale Review, and the New Republic. Never a Greater Need, a second selection of his poems, was issued in 1948. Walter Benton died in 1976.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Never before has the delight and wonder experienced in young love, in which is implicit physical discovery, been conveyed with such touching honesty or with rhapsody so involving unconscious pathos. Those who seek to drag any honest writing through the gutters of their own minds will do the same with this. Those who are not afraid of the strange miracle of life will understand this brave verse."

-- William Rose Benet

"I certainly do not find these poems pornographic. They are direct and free, quick with life and warm with remembered passion. The imagery is sensuous and exact, but no more graphic -- or pornographic -- than the images in the Song of Songs. It is remarkable how Benton has varied the erotic theme and the overtones of physical love."

-- Louis Untermeyer

"Walter Benton's verse seems to me full of real poetic feeling. He has sometimes splendid images -- 'like God striking a match across the cathedral ceiling -- and other expressions of unusual beauty; and his emotional quality is direct and intense."

-- Van Wyck Brooks

From the Inside Flap

Born in Austria of Russian parents, Walter Benton lived most of his life in the United States. After working on a farm, in a steel mill, as a window washer, as a salesman, and at various other jobs, he entered Ohio University in 1931, and in due course was graduated. He then spent five years as a social investigator in New York. During the second World War he served in the United States Army, being commissioned a lieutenant of the Signal Corps in the autumn of 1942 and later being promoted to a captaincy. After the war he returned to New York and devoted his time to writing.

This Is My Beloved, the remarkable diary in verse that has become one of the most popular books of poetry, was his first published volume, though his work was already familiar to readers of Poetry, Fantasy, the Yale Review, and the New Republic. Never a Greater Need, a second selection of his poems, was issued in 1948. Walter Benton died in 1976.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 34th Edition edition (June 27, 1949)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394404580
• ISBN-13: 978-0394404585
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.6 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If one must love, then let it be in this way, September 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: This Is My Beloved (Hardcover)

I first came across this work late one night when my father, just in from a very long hard day of work, sat in our dark living room nursing a short glass of scotch while Arthur Prysock's recording of This Is My Beloved spun on the turntable. The captivating words, though not yet understood by my young mind, wove a spell about me as I sat in my pajamas there in the hallway, unwilling to disturb my father in that quiet moment. Years later, when I lost the first love of my life. I asked my father about the record. He strode over to his cabinet - the one with all of his 'priceless' records - and put the tattered record jacket into my hands. As he handed the record to me, he rested his other hand on my shoulder and said, "Son, if you must love, love like this". Those words, especially from a man that didn't usually have much to say, touched me deeply. The sheer poetic power of Benton's words and majesty of his unique phrases also has touched me deeply over the years. It eventually led to a lifelong love of literature and a degree in English Literature. As with other masterpieces that speak to the soul, I discover a new gem with each reading. Throughout my life and loves, I've never been without a copy. It's the quintessential definition of love's pain and the bittersweet memories it leaves, like the tang of a lemon on your tongue. ..and as for the music, the recording by Prysock is now in my "priceless" cd collection, but I do have another copy, unopened, for when my son loses his first love.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful poetry, capturing the full sense of the emotional, August 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: This Is My Beloved (Hardcover)

"This is my Beloved," published during WWII, captures the full sense of the emotional and physical aspects of a doomed love, the joy of time together and the despair at the end of the affair. This is continued in the second volume, "No Greater Need," which is out of print. Both should be required reading for those who understand or have experienced such deep committments or who have lost their soulmate. One reviewer noted that "This is my Beloved" was recorded by Lawrence Harvey, and this is true. It was an excellent reading. However, there is a second recording, done by Arthur Prysock. It is a censored verson of Benton's poetry (some of the more descriptive lines left out and some poems merged in the reading) and Prysock does not always read the lines as one would expect, but it's still captures much of Benton's emotion and the musical background adds a lot. It's worth the few bucks for the CD.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is my favorite collection of poetry., October 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: This Is My Beloved (Hardcover)

This book is a sensual look of how a man sees a women when he loves her. I recomend this to all my fiends and feel it is some of the best poetry I have ever read and as a creative writing major I have read quite a few pieces of poetry.