Description
Book SynopsisEver since Wordsworth redefined poetry as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, poets in English have sought to represent a sincere self-consciousness through their work. Forbes's generative insight is that this project can only succeed by staging its own failures.
Trade ReviewThe ambitious project undertaken by Deborah Forbes in
Sincerity's Shadow is to reinvigorate sincerity as a critical concept...Overall...this is a wonderfully stimulating book, which should energize debate about poetic selfhood. * Year's Work in English Studies *
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Personal Universal Sincerity as Integrity in the Poetry of Wordsworth and Rich 2. Before and After Sincerity as Form in the Poetry of Wordsworth, Lowell, Rich, and Plath 3. Sincerity and the Staged Confession The Monologues of Browning, Eliot, Berryman, and Plath 4. The Drama of Breakdown and the Breakdown of Drama The Charismatic Poetry of Byron and Sexton 5. Agnostic Sincerity The Poet as Observer in the Work of Keats, Bishop, and Merrill Conclusion Notes Index
