Brilliant. [Lasdun] seems to me certainly among the most gifted, vivid, and deft poets now writing in English, and far better than many who are more famous. His capacities are solidly established; his promise is nearly infinite.
I'm filled with admiration, delight, and gratitude at discovering James Lasdun's poems in A Jump Start. He has wit, speed, intelligence, a keen eye, precision, and imagination of a high order.
Mysteries, like the Masonic rites, are ones parents and elders are sworn not to reveal to the uninitiated, which include all children. And so we sought for signs.
Merely to have survived is not an index of excellence.
Poetry operates by hints and dark suggestions. It is full of secrets and hidden formulae, like a witch's brew.
Children know from a remarkably early age that things are being kept from them, that grown-ups participate in a world of mysteries.
I look and look, / As though I could be saved simply by looking
There's not a good poet I know who has not at the beck and call of his memory a vast quantity of poetry that composes his mental library.
It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.
A lot of the fun lies in trying to penetrate the mystery; and this is best done by saying over the lines to yourself again and again, till they pass through the stage of sounding like nonsense, and finally return to a full sense that had at first escaped notice.
If the heart has its reasons, perhaps the body Has its own lumbering sort of carnal spirit, Felt in the tingling bruises of collision, And known to captains as esprit de corps.
Author details
Anthony Hecht: Biography and Life Work
Anthony Hecht was a notable Poet. The story of Anthony Hecht began on January 16, 1923 in New York City, New York. The legacy of Anthony Hecht continues today, following their passing on October 20, 2004 in Washington, D.C., U.S..
Anthony Evan Hecht (January 16, 1923 – October 20, 2004) was an American poet . His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the Second World War , in which he fought, and the Holocaust being recurrent themes in his work.
Legacy and Personal Influence
Academic foundations were established at Bard College, Kenyon College, Columbia University, University of Iowa.
Philosophical Views and Reflections
In spring, 1947, he taught at Kenyon. His first poems, "Once Removed" and "To a Soldier Killed in Germany", were published in The Kenyon Review . Later that year, he suffered a nervous breakdown and returned to his parents' home in New York City and entered psychoanalysis. In 1948, his poems began to appear in The Hudson Review , Poetry , and Furioso . He later won the Furioso Poetry Award and enrolled at Columbia University as a candidate for a master's degree in English literature.
Hecht was known for his masterful use of traditional forms and linguistic control. Extraordinarily erudite, his verse often features allusions to French literature, Greek myth, and tragedy, and English poets and poetry stretching from Wallace Stevens to John Donne. He was often described as a "traditionalist". In The Hard Hours (1967), Hecht drew upon his experiences as a soldier in Europe during World War II.
