Customer Reviews

The Voice That Is Great Within Us: American Poetry of the Twentieth Century (Bantam Classics)

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We venture to say that Hayden Carruth's anthology is necessary for understanding the trends, the vicissitudes, the heights and the depths of American poetry from the First World War to the time of the moonwalk (Neil Armstrong's moonwalk, not Michael Jackson's). A necessary book is not necessarily a perfect book, but there is something here for everyone.

We detect a slight preference for the "new" -- and often the radical -- in prosody and in politics. If we are looking for W H Auden in this book, we will not find him because he seems in the anthologist's opinion to have remained "essentially British." Auden disdained slang and anarchic versification, but I don't think that constitutes sufficient reason for declaring him un-American.

The oldest poet in this book is Robert Frost, born in 1874 (not 75, as the book claims); the youngest poet is Joel Sloman, born in 1943. The titanic modernists of the early part of the century are well-represented: Pound, Eliot, Stevens, Williams, Moore. And Carruth is unfailingly generous to the lesser figures: Aiken, Van Doren, Yvor Winters, MacLeish, Louise Bogan.

This anthology excels in presenting poets born between 1899 (Allen Tate, Hart Crane) and 1929 (Adrienne Rich). We could list the figures, familiar and not-so-familiar: Lowell, Berryman, Roethke, Duncan, Elizabeth Bishop, Charles Olson, Countee Cullen, Robert Hayden, Thomas Merton, Richard Wilbur, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, Robert Bly.

Donald Hall is not included, perhaps because he had not yet written his very best work; Richard Howard is not included, presumably because he wasn't a beatnik. James Merrill and John Ashbery are here, as is Hayden Carruth in an admirably modest selection prefaced by an endearingly humble biographical note.

When it comes to poets born after 1930, the anthology is at its least satisfying. There are Sylvia Plath and Wendell Berry, Gary Synder and Gregory Corso, but few others that seem to justify Carruth's endorsement. Robert Pinsky, Robert Hass, Louise Gluck, Charles Simic and Mark Strand are conspicuous by their absence; and of course, Seamus Heaney is Irish, and -- as we are often reminded in the preface -- this is an American anthology.

All in all, a capacious, generous, inclusive selection, sometimes culpably inclusive; one that should be read in conjunction with other anthologies, ones which contain the indisputably durable examples of the noble and demanding art of poetry.

I recently purchased my second one of these, because I wore out the first one.

Even if you are untrained in poetry, as I am, (even if you are an engineer, as I am), you will find poems in here that will move you, thrill you, and make you sigh.

See how much language can transcend words. It opened my eyes.

I purchased this anthology because I love poetry and because I wanted a primer for some college American lit classes. I did get a good book out of the deal, but the latter expectation was never fully satisfied. If you're deciding whether to invest in a collection of "American Poetry of the Twentieth Century," there are some things to consider.

First, it should more aptly be subtitled, "American Poetry of the Mid-Twentieth Century." This anthology was compiled in 1970 with the bulk of its poetry originally published in the 1950s and 1960s (some from a couple decades before). As a result, it's top heavy with Frost, Cummings, W.C. Williams, and Roethke, et al. Naturally this isn't a tremendous problem, but it did make me wonder, for example, why Langston Hughes enjoys a scant two pages of recognition out of more than 700 pages of poetry! Another thing I found was that though this anthology earns points for sheer volume of work, tens of American lit classes later, I have yet to run across many of the authors. While I admittedly was not alive for any of the original publications, clearly most of the writing, however unfortunate, has not survived the passing of time. Thus a twenty-first century reader may find the collection rather dated.

All this said though, I still recommend this anthology because it is, simply, a collection of good poetry. Some of the more famous poems from some of the more famous authors are curiously absent, but again, this isn't a substitute for the Norton Anthology. In fact, I discovered a wealth of good twentieth century American writing that has escaped the Norton and Heath publishers. Most of the work is modern with a few pieces creeping into the shadow of post-modernity. Small biographies are provided for each author. An academic primer you won't end up with, but for all other purposes, this is a sound collection.

I travel a lot, flying mostly for business, not pleasure. This little book is something I keep in my carry-on bag. It is small, inexpensive to replace, and presents a range of voices. That it comprises the personal choices of one editor gives it a voice of its own, which a fully general anthology of American poetry is bound to lack. Once getting ready at the last minute for an overseas flight, I could not find my passport. I almost panicked, but this little book proved itself a special friend - I was making sure that it was in my bag, and found my passport left inside as a bookmark.

I had a professor who used this book as a text. I was amazed at the depth and variety of poems and poets. I have used this book as a teacher also; it has many of those "everybody should read this" poems, as well as many other less known but wonderful titles. This is not a good book if you want commentary; it has poems and very short biographies only.

This anthology of twentieth century American poetry by Haydn Carruth, a minor poet in his own right, is most remarkable for its vast inclusiveness, incorporating the works of innumerable obscure poets, many of whom have been completely unknown to me. For this reason the book is a revelation, but also, Carruth has a great talent for mining out those nuggets from known and loved poets that have been frequently omitted by the armies of less discerning anthologists. For example, the book includes several poems from both Robinson Jeffers and Richard Eberhart (two of my favorite poets) that I had never seen before! Another good point is that each section has a paragraph to page long biography of the poet in question that is very informative and that read like short prose poems in and of themselves.

On the down side, Carruth demonstrates a patriotism towards poetry of his own generation at the expense of his fathers' generation, Eliot, Pound, Frost, etc. None of these later poets are really on a level with the early greats of the twentieth century. In particular, I felt the anthologist really slighted Conrad Aiken, another personal favorite, by not including enough of his poetry and not including his best poetry. On the other hand, I agree with Carruth's choice of not including Auden, since he is English, and including Eliot, even though he wanted to be English. I believe a poet belongs to that region where his education was completed, of whose educational system he is a product.

It's difficult to call any anthology of poetry bad, and this one's strengths more than compensate for its weaknesses. Indeed, the weaknesses are really its strengths, as far as I'm concerned, since the introduction to less well known poets is what most intrigued me about it.

Ordered a new copy of book I've had for over 20 years. The print quality in this version is poor in some places, with type too dark and heavy to read easily. It's a great book in that it was first written when many of the poets included were still alive (Ezra Pound, even) so it's neat to read about them in the present tense. I just wish the print looked as good as the words are to read.

I have owned and loved this book for some time. The poems were so thoughtfully selected. It is clearly the result of high respect for the works chosen, and a compilation displaying taste and erudition. One can dip in anywhere and be lost in yet another unique world view. My original edition was yellowing, so I treated myself to a fresh version. However, it must be noted that a side by side comparison of the old and the new shows that the publisher is now using production procedures that are usually reserved for cheap mass market books. The original version has a sharp and clear font, while the current version has a blurred and unrefined font. Bantam Press published both. For shame Bantam. This book is a classic, and deserves better. The reader would be well advised to search for an old version on the used market. Five stars for this work of art. One star for production quality.

My interest in poetry has slowly increased over the years, starting with a few poets here and there. I managed to find this anthology in a used bookstore before moving abroad for a year. There are so many amazing American poets I would have never encountered were it not for this book. I praise Carruth for this exhaustive collection.

The book was in excellent condition. It was sent on time. Outstanding.