The Strength of Poetry (Oxford Lectures)

James Fenton is unique among contemporary writers in having achieved equal distinction as a poet and--in his reportage & criticism--as a master of trenchant prose. What is more, he has shown himself a devoted critic of both American & British modern poetry, an explainer of each tradition to the other, & to itself. In these lectures, delivered at Oxford (where he succeeded Seamus Heaney as Professor of Poetry from 1994 to 1999), Fenton moves easily from Philip Larkin's laments for the British Empire, to Heaney's uneasy rebellion against it, to Robert Frost's celebrations of American conquest; from W. H. Auden on Shakespeare's homoeroticism to the vexed "feminism" of Elizabeth Bishop; from Wilfred Owen's juvenilia to Marianne Moore's youthful agitation for women's suffrage. In these lectures--many of which later appeared in The New York Review of Books--Fenton makes sense of the last century in poetry, & explores its antecedents & its legacies, with the lucidity, wit, & gusto that have made his criticism famous. "[Fenton's] essays educate, enlighten, surprise & thrill, unfailingly." --Robin Lippincott, New York Times Book Review.James Fenton is the author of 'The Strength of Poetry (Oxford Lectures)' with ISBN 9780374228453 and ISBN 0374228450.