Robinson: Poems

by Edwin Arlington Robinson

A best seller in his lifetime though neglected in recent years, Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) is due to be restored to his rightful place in literary history as one of the first of the great American Modernist poets. His poetry was revolutionary, though because it was written in metre and rhyme it looked deceptively conventional. He cast aside the stiff archaism and prettiness favoured by his contemporaries, employing instead everyday language with dramatic power, wit and sensitivity. His lyric poems illuminate the most unlikely subjects - ordinary people, especially the downtrodden, the bereft and the mistunderstood. In the process he created the gallery of character portraits for which he is most fondly remembered, among them Eben Flood, Aunt Imogen, Isaac and Archibald, Miniver Cheevy and Richard Cory.Scott Donaldson, editor of this volume, is the author of a forthcoming biography of Robinson, to be published in February 2007.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

Hardcover

First published February 6, 2007

About the author

Works of American poet Edwin Arlington Arlington include long narratives and character studies of New Englanders, including "Miniver Cheevy" (1907).

Edwin Arlington Robinson won three Pulitzer Prizes for his work. His family moved to Gardiner, Maine, in 1870. He described his childhood as "stark and unhappy."

Early difficulties of Robinson led to a dark pessimism, and his stories dealt with "an American dream gone awry."

In 1896, he self-published his first book, "The Torrent and the Night Before", paying 100 dollars for 500 copies. His second volume, "The Children of the Night", had a somewhat wider circulation.

Edwin Arlington Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1922 for his first "Collected Poems," in 1925 for "The Man Who Died Twice," and in 1928 for "Tristram."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Ar...

Reviews

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly poems set in a fictitious little town, or about the people who live there. Many have a twist toward the end, though it's generally more clever than funny.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

needs to be re-introduced into current critical poetic thought--
Won the Pulitzer Prize in the 1920's & America's leading poet
though unrecognized by the mainstream literary world in-retrospect--

[Atwalys Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un poète magistral !

[Momkersch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edwin Arlington Robinson is the quintessential American poet. His character studies examine the essence of what it means to be a New Englander.