Book SynopsisAt the time of his death in 1882, Ralph Waldo Emerson was counted among the greatest poets in nineteenth-century America. This variorum edition of all the poems published during his lifetime offers the reader the opportunity to situate Emerson’s poetic achievement alongside his celebrated essays and to consider their interrelationship.Trade ReviewThe Emerson Revival, now entering its fourth decade of sustained analysis and exposition of Emerson's powerful essays, has largely bypassed his poems, works to which he devoted enormous labor and craft throughout his life. These are the writings that lay closest to Emerson's heart. Expertly edited, brilliantly introduced, and exhaustively annotated, this variorum edition will stimulate a reassessment of Emerson's considerable poetic achievement, and find new readers for him in our era. This volume offers authoritative texts of the poems, a detailed history of their context and construction, and richly informative annotations which will provide important dimensions of appreciation for the reader. -- David M. Robinson, Oregon State University and author of Emerson and the Conduct of LifeThis is the ninth volume of an intended ten of The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Like other titles in the sequence, this one is remarkable, and the editorial work by von Frank and Wortham establishes the volume as the chief source for a critical investigation into Emerson's poetry. The volume collects Emerson's poetry published in his lifetime, and the poems are arranged chronologically. Emerson's poems often appeared in different publications, and the poems were edited and often revised for each occasion. The notes list the variants and the sources, forming a historical collation of the poetry, often with references to the more obscure allusions. In addition, von Frank provides a "historical introduction," surveying the poems through Emerson's life and critical reception. By the end of his life, and throughout much of the 20th century, Emerson's significance as an American poet was secured. However, in recent decades, his poetry has become an afterthought to his essays. This volume invites a reconsideration of Emerson as a poet, one engaged in experimental prosody and one for whom the poetry becomes a map of the creative process and thought itself. -- R. T. Prus * Choice *
Read more less
