Undersong: Chosen Poems Old and New [Paperback]

Audre Lorde (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 1992

"Undersong is a remarkable poetic document...."--Adrienne Rich

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Audre Lord's writing was complex enough to be both fierce and subtle, and this collection is the best overview of her impressive career. Adrienne Rich has said that Lord wrote with power and clarity, especially about "love and anger, family, politics, sexuality, and the body of the city." True enough: "Gemini" is a stunning intertwining of personal and political issues; "Love Poem," evokes the rhythms of sex, time and the heavens; and the haiku-influenced "Separation" shows the clarity and economy other writers have so admired in Lord's work. These poems still have a lot to teach us all.

Review

... It comprises a thoroughgoing revision of Lorde's early poems, 1950-1979, along with nine hitherto unpublished poems from that period, and an essay describing the revision process. Readers new to Lorde's work will meet here a major American poet whose concerns are international, and whose words have left their mark on many lives. Readers of The Black Unicorn, Sister Outsider, The Cancer Journals, A Burst of Light, and Our Dead Behind Us, and the thousands who have attended her poetry readings and speeches, will recognize in this book the roots and the growing-points of a transformative writer. Never has a poet left so clear and conscious a track of artistic choices made in the trajectory of a life. Far from rewriting old poems to fit a changes historical moment, she has finely rehoned formal elements to illuminate the original poems. Throughout, Lorde's lifelong themes of love and anger, family politics, sexuality, and the body of the city can be seen gathering in power and clarity. (Adrienne Rich )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 17, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393309754
• ISBN-13: 978-0393309751
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Poet, novelist, activist, and mother of two, AUDRE LORDE grew up Harlem in the 1930s. She earned a master's degree in library science from Columbia University and received a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She is the author of 12 books. She died in 1992.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable potic document, October 27, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Undersong: Chosen Poems Old and New (Paperback)

"Undersong" collects Lord's early and later poems. She bravely revealed her feelings in her love poems. The power and the clarity spread out in this book, especially when she wrote about anger, family, politics, and sexuality. The images are unforgettable. This is a book you shouldn't miss.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable poetic document with power and clarity, October 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Undersong: Chosen Poems Old and New (Hardcover)

Undersong collects a thoroughgoing revision of Lorde's earky poems along with several later poems. Lorde's powerful words and direct expression touch my heart. Especially about love and anger, family, and sexuality, she wrote with truth and faith. The images and feelings are unforgettable. These poems let us think deeply. If you like poem, this is a book you sould not miss it.