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135th out of 975 books
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1,012 voters
The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara
Available for the first time in paperback, The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara reflects the poet's growth as an artist from the earliest dazzling, experimental verses that he began writing in the late 1940s to the years before his accidental death at forty, when his poems became increasingly individual and reflective.
Paperback, 586 pages
Published
March 31st 1995
by University of California Press
(first published 1971)
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Frank O’Hara
Why I Am Not a Painter
I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,
for instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
"Sit down and have a drink" he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. "You have SARDINES in it."
"Yes, it needed something there."
"Oh." I go and the days go by
and I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. "Where's SARDINES?"
All that's left is just
letters...more
Why I Am Not a Painter
I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,
for instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
"Sit down and have a drink" he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. "You have SARDINES in it."
"Yes, it needed something there."
"Oh." I go and the days go by
and I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. "Where's SARDINES?"
All that's left is just
letters...more
If you haven't read O'Hara, do it. Fun, fun poetry. A contemporary of Kerouac and Ginsburg, but I really prefer him to either of those beatniks. He is irreverent, writes about all sorts of things from movie stars to life in Manhattan. I read him first back in college - when I was in San Francisco, I visited the famed City Lights bookstore and bought his collected poems there. Another poet I would rank as "accessible" - but don't let that fool you, accessible isn't necessarily simple... O'Hara is...more
Famously dour poetry critic William Logan smooths a few of the wrinkles from his creased visage and assess editor Mark Ford's new Selected Poems by Frank O'Hara with a surprisingly even hand. That is, he found some nice things to say about a poet you wouldn't have thought he'd consider to have any saving graces .The upshot is that he has a peeve against massive "Collected Poems" from dead writers where the good work is buried among limitless juvenilia and failed experiments. The poems of O'Hara,...more
Oooh, my name is Frank O'Hara and I like to write most of my poems on the go, on the back of important papers or on napkins or on anything that could be lost in an instant. After I die, my friends will turn my apartment inside out to try to find the poems that make up this book. Don't forget in between the couch cushions!
O'Hara's poetry is markedly that of a man looking back. Thankfully, though, he isn't broken and doesn't indulge in petty nostalgia. Instead, his clarity of thought and simple, enjoyable language can evoke a range of emotions and truly communicate with the reader. But even in the present tense, O'Hara is strong. In "A Step Away from Them", he begins walking the streets of New York, on a lunch break, acknowledging but remaining disconnected from the people he encounters (as we do). He passively me...more
There are not enough words to say about Frank O'Hara. He will continue to be hailed as one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. The immediacy of his voice, the absolutely contemporaneousness of his vision and his aesthetic approach, still remain breathtaking features of any reading of his poems. Even though he was well-schooled in the history of poetry, art and culture, there is no sense that he ever looked back to earlier works for reassurance of his own art. He is not a quotation-oriente...more
It was the beginning of my junior year in boarding school, and during the previous summer I had seen many of my friends leave the school. I, already prone to depression, took the change horribly, and seeing dozens of eager and attractive new students join the small school in their place did nothing to alleviate my sadness. Out of everyone I knew, it was Frank O'Hara who provided me the most comforting companionship during that autumn and winter.
Through his poetry and prose works which showed a w...more
Through his poetry and prose works which showed a w...more
if you haven't read frank o'hara, then you've been "cheated of some marvelous experience which is not going to go wasted on me which is why i'm telling you about it." maybe. that just seemed like such an apt way to begin; i don't know if i feel like actually writing a review...
howabout: one thing i value highly in artists is that they seem cute and nice, like they're probably good, honest people and good friends to those that know them (maybe it's the quaker blood that runs through the Schrock v...more
howabout: one thing i value highly in artists is that they seem cute and nice, like they're probably good, honest people and good friends to those that know them (maybe it's the quaker blood that runs through the Schrock v...more
Frank O'Hara was a brilliant creator; he loved to play with words as well as tell stories with a stream of consciousness twist on poetry. Some of his stuff is straight forward and lovely. Some of his stuff reminded me of some of Kenneth Koch's stuff, which is to say I believe that the two of them occasionally partook in the narcotic arts, or sometimes they were simply totally out of their respective gords. In any case, it was good stuff, inspiring, and made me want to write again.
The first I ever heard of O'Hara was in a Claes Oldenburg book (maybe it was Soft Book). Oldenburg had illustrated O'Hara's poem "Image of the Buddha Preaching". The illustration was a teapot. I loved the poem. A week later I was in a bookstore and spotted the collected which had recently come out. It was the first hardcover book I ever bought, I think. That copy had the second of the dust jackets done for the first edition. The first dust jacket was a Larry Rivers print of a naked O'Hara - the...more
Apr 30, 2007
alli
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
lovers of modern and post-modern american art, people who like Ashbury, people who like cities
Shelves:
jepoetry
I-do-this-I-do-that-I-do-it-all-in-manhattan
Frank O'Hara died on Fire Island after getting run over by a beach buggy.
Before that, O'Hara entered the art world, writing essays and reviews and working at MoMA's front desk. He was trying to do with words what his pals -- folks like Pollok, Jasper Johns and De Kooning -- were doing with the visual arts.
The result is something nearing pop poetry: stuff about partying and movies and fucking and celebrities.
Irreverance aside, his work can be surprisi...more
Frank O'Hara died on Fire Island after getting run over by a beach buggy.
Before that, O'Hara entered the art world, writing essays and reviews and working at MoMA's front desk. He was trying to do with words what his pals -- folks like Pollok, Jasper Johns and De Kooning -- were doing with the visual arts.
The result is something nearing pop poetry: stuff about partying and movies and fucking and celebrities.
Irreverance aside, his work can be surprisi...more
It's hard to argue with lines like "As they're putting up the Christmas trees on Park Avenue/I shall see my daydreams walking by with dogs in blankets/put to some use before all those coloured lights come on."
I often turn to this book when I need shot of whimsey or inspiration. It's a rich source for me.
I often turn to this book when I need shot of whimsey or inspiration. It's a rich source for me.
"What his work has always had to say to me, I guess, is to be more keenly interested while I'm still alive. And perhaps this is the most important thing art can say."
It took me a little over a year to finish reading this, as he's really only suitable for reading while you're in certain moods. Or at least that was the case for me. And I can't really say what that mood is, except that pick him up and see if you find yourself really interested in the rambling or really turned off by it, and go with...more
It took me a little over a year to finish reading this, as he's really only suitable for reading while you're in certain moods. Or at least that was the case for me. And I can't really say what that mood is, except that pick him up and see if you find yourself really interested in the rambling or really turned off by it, and go with...more
Frank O'Hara is one of my favorite poets. His poems seem effortless and natural. His style is refreshing and everyday like. I love poetry that feels non-constructed and that is exactly what Frank O'Hara's writing is. It feels spontanious, playful and confessional at the same time.
I defend Jackson Pollock's paintings relentlessly because they are brilliant. If Pollock had not put effort and craft and thought behind his every paint brush swing, his paintings would have turned out like this bilge.
Finally read the whole thing. Took about four months. Basically if you're not into Frank, then what the hell are you into exactly? I could go on all day but the typing on here is too slow. Can't they fix that?
Frank O'Hara is glorious. A review is inadequate. The poems speak for themselves. If you need a starting point though I highly recommend "Having a coke with you".
Acky gave me this book before I went to college. O'Hara is my all time favorite poet, and I would recomend him to those who want to start reading poetry.
If you happen to connect with this work you'll be devoted for life. There are those who don't and view his work as gibberish. I have nearly canonized him.
o'hara is my muse. he is my favorite poet. as an undergrad, my writing professor gave me his selected works. to me he is the american unsung hero of poetry.
Frank (pardon my familiarity) has been a solace and a companion since I first encountered his poems in 5th grade or so. For a long time, Song (p.367) was my all-time favorite. He really brought poetry into the core for me. And I still crack open the volume for a new pleasure.
When I feel low, I can go back to:
Today
Oh! Kangaroos, sequins, chocolate sodas!
You really are beautiful! Pearls,
harmonicas, jujubes aspirins! all
the stuff they've always talked about
still makes a poem a surprise!
These things...more
When I feel low, I can go back to:
Today
Oh! Kangaroos, sequins, chocolate sodas!
You really are beautiful! Pearls,
harmonicas, jujubes aspirins! all
the stuff they've always talked about
still makes a poem a surprise!
These things...more
Stunning, vibrant, incredibly moving poems that I related to so closely. Felt like this was written just for me.
A new discovery for me that has become an obsession. I love his scattered, simple, longing.
Actually my FIVE STARS plus goes to Mark Ford's Selected, which I can't find here.
What is more beautiful than night
and someone in your arms
that's what we love about art
it seems to prefer us and stays
and someone in your arms
that's what we love about art
it seems to prefer us and stays
Simple, accessible, and pure of heart. What more can you ask of urban poetry?
Jan 16, 2009
Abbi Dion
added it
Did you see my walking past the Buick repairs?
I was thinking of you.
I was thinking of you.
i'm currently working on my summer love poems series. a la frank o'hara.
I was mesmerised, especially when I watched a video of him on YouTube...
One of the greatest, and one of those poets who you're glad wrote so much because even his mediocre poems have a verve and spontaneity and humor lacking in so many "great" poems by "great" poets. Reading him is also a freeing experience, for the poet or non-poet, because his omnivorous interest in the world is enlivening and free-spirited and can open all the little spigots of imagination in one's mind causing an invigorating flowing sensation through the body which can inspire one to take a wid...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Ed. 1971 | 10 | 9 | Jul 19, 2012 09:11pm |
Frank O'Hara was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Grafton, Massachusetts. O'Hara served in the South Pacific and Japan as a sonarman on the destroyer USS Nicholas during World War II.
With the funding made available to veterans he attended Harvard University, where he roomed with artist/writer Edward Gorey. Although he majored in music and did some composing, his attendance was irregular...more
More about Frank O'Hara...
With the funding made available to veterans he attended Harvard University, where he roomed with artist/writer Edward Gorey. Although he majored in music and did some composing, his attendance was irregular...more
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“After the first glass of vodka
you can accept just about anything
of life even your own mysteriousness
you think it is nice that a box
of matches is purple and brown and is called La Petite and comes from Sweden
for they are words that you know and that is all you know words not their feelings or what they mean and you write because you know them not because you understand them because you don't you are stupid and lazy and will never be great but you do what you know because what else is there?”
—
164 people liked it
you can accept just about anything
of life even your own mysteriousness
you think it is nice that a box
of matches is purple and brown and is called La Petite and comes from Sweden
for they are words that you know and that is all you know words not their feelings or what they mean and you write because you know them not because you understand them because you don't you are stupid and lazy and will never be great but you do what you know because what else is there?”
“I am ashamed of my century, but I have to smile.”
—
35 people liked it
More quotes…
May 05, 2013 03:18pm
So glad Bennet! You are in for a treat with O'Hara! :)
May 06, 2013 04:29am