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History of My Heart: Poems
History of My Heart, winner of the William Carlos Williams Prize, first appeared in 1984. In The New Republic, J.D. McClatchy called it "one of the best books of the past decade." It is Pinsky's third volume of poems--and an ideal introduction to the work of a vital and original contemporary American poet.
Paperback, 64 pages
Published
September 1st 1997
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
(first published 1984)
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Dire one and desired one,
Savior, sentencer--
In an old allegory you would carry
A chained alphabet of tokens:
Ankh Badge Cross.
Dragon,
Engraved figure guarding a hallowed intaglio,
Jasper kinema of legendary Mind,
Naked omphalos pierced
By quills of rhyme or sense, torah-like: unborn
Vein of will, xenophile
Yearning out of Zero.
Untrusting I court you. Wavering
I seek your face, I read
That Crusoe's knife
Reeked of you, that to defile you
The soldier makes the rabbi spit on the torah.
"I'll drown my book" says...more
Savior, sentencer--
In an old allegory you would carry
A chained alphabet of tokens:
Ankh Badge Cross.
Dragon,
Engraved figure guarding a hallowed intaglio,
Jasper kinema of legendary Mind,
Naked omphalos pierced
By quills of rhyme or sense, torah-like: unborn
Vein of will, xenophile
Yearning out of Zero.
Untrusting I court you. Wavering
I seek your face, I read
That Crusoe's knife
Reeked of you, that to defile you
The soldier makes the rabbi spit on the torah.
"I'll drown my book" says...more
This book was published about twenty-five years ago. It's divided into three sections and includes poems that are very traditional: they have regular meter, line length, stanza size, and poetic devices (end rhyme, alliteration, etc.). They also tend to be very personal, if not exactly confessional.
I think that the strongest poems are those contained in the third section of the book. The title poem is the only one in section two, as it is a fairly long poem on its own, and begins, presumably, on...more
I think that the strongest poems are those contained in the third section of the book. The title poem is the only one in section two, as it is a fairly long poem on its own, and begins, presumably, on...more
Pinsky writes some of the most fun-to-read poetry I've read, but this is not to say that it is in any way trivialized for its entertainment value--he still packs a punch, and gives me shivers. Several of the poems in this book are amazing, but not all, hence the only four stars.
"History of My Heart" is a good collection where the poems pay homage to the speaker's past. It's been a while since I read this, but I labeled poems in my book which I thought were good.
"Three on Luck" is a poem that foreshadows the rest of the collection. Yes, the collection is separated into three sections; however, each section in "Three on Luck" is a dramatic monologue that encompasses and sometimes critiques the idea of memory or wanting a memory to be something when it's fuzzy at best.
Th...more
"Three on Luck" is a poem that foreshadows the rest of the collection. Yes, the collection is separated into three sections; however, each section in "Three on Luck" is a dramatic monologue that encompasses and sometimes critiques the idea of memory or wanting a memory to be something when it's fuzzy at best.
Th...more
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Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of which are collections of his own poetry. His published work also includes critically acclaimed translations, including The Inferno of Dante Alighieri and T...more
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