Poems of the American West

by Robert Mezey (Editor)

In this provocative and thoughtful anthology, many voices join in illuminating the remarkably vast and varied American West. The verse collected here ranges from American Indian tribal poems to old folk songs like “The Streets of Laredo,” from country-western lyrics to the work of such foreign poets as Bertolt Brecht and Zbigniew Herbert. Here is the West in all its rich variety–the harsh life of farms and ranches; man’s destructive invasion into forest and desert solitudes; the bars and bistros of San Francisco and Hollywood; Pacific surf and endless highways; the ghost towns, the poverty, and the legendary world of cowpunchers and gunslingers.

From Robert Frost’s “Once by the Pacific” to Charles Bukowski’s “Vegas,” from Fred Koller’s “Lone Star State of Mind” to Thom Gunn’s “San Francisco Streets”–the West is evoked in all its incarnations, both actual and mythic.

Genres: Poetry

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2002

Reviews

[Anna P (whatIreallyRead) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was lovely! This collection, unlike most of the Everyman's Library Pocket Poets anthologies I've previously read, is not a collection of classics. It features only a couple of poems by Robert Frost, some folksongs and Native American tribal poems, but for the most part, it relies on lesser-known 20th-century poets.

For life begins in breaking and will break,
Your beauty, grace, and youth spilled from the cup
Presented as a gift and taken back

This little book gave me both of the two main things I was looking for:
- a sense of discovery of "the American West", whatever the term may mean
- a discovery of some great poems and poets I wouldn't have otherwise encountered

So, I'm very pleased. This little book made for some highly enjoyable reading!



I own a copy of Poems of the American South as well, which I've recently read also. They give the impression of being companions, but in terms of contents and my enjoyment, they were very different for me. I didn't like Poems of the American South nearly as much as I did Poems of the American West.

[Sophie Timucin · Rating 5 out of 5]

so so so so good. if i could give this 6 stars i would. the entire thing felt like evergreen by ricky mitch and the coal miners. sublime. i’m not sure exactly what i was being taught, but i learned to much from this collection, and i’m not sure i can move away from the west anymore.

[Kem White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fine book of poetry but it is not my favorite in the Everyman's series. Nearly all of the poems are 20th Century or later so they lack that "poetry" feeling many readers expect. A lot of them read like prose. Perhaps I'm reading them wrong. Some of the poems I found to be inscrutable (Charles Bukowski's "Vegas" and William Dickey's "The Coyote's Song" are two.) Others are quite beautiful. I loved B. H. Fairchild's "The Men", David Wagoner's "Fire by the River", and Dick Barnes' "Few and Far Between". And while for most of the poems I could see the connection to the American West, the connection for a few, such as "The Marsh, New Year's Day" by Peter Everwine eluded me. I'm glad I read this anthology, as I am a fan of literature about the West, but I'm also glad to move on to my next poetry anthology in the Everyman's series. Recommended.

[Colette · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you like free verse in varying degrees of obscenity, this is for you. If you prefer clean poetry that actually rhymes and even makes sense, you might want to choose another book.
This one contains an overwhelming proportion of the former, with a very, very, very light sprinkling of the latter.
Disappointing.

[Gemma Laurence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good poems in here, but I couldn’t help but notice a lack of female voices. A solid collection of poems exploring the wild beautiful vast expansiveness of The Wild West but not my favorite Everyman’s Pocket Poets Collection.

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay little collection, most of which I've read before.

Nothing really new, here.

[Maisie Kirn · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is a tourist-trap of a book compiled by someone from Philadelphia who neglected to include some of the greats of western poetry.

[Chantel Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

(#4) (EC: Poetry Collection)
Genre & Format: Western | Print
Title: Poems of the American West
Author or Creator: Robert Mezey
Publisher: Everyman’s Library
Number of pages: 246
Year of publication/release: 2002

My apologies in advance, but I’ve never been a fan of western books or poetry, so why I decided to combine these two genres/formats into one read, I’m not sure. But I’m glad I did. I often feel that poetry is a bit pretentious. Poetry is that guest who you sort of don’t want to invite to dinner but you have to because they're among the group of people you were initially intending to ask, the one that consistently speaks in riddles and you simply want them to get to the point. What I liked about this book was that many of the poems were simple. Almost like short, short stories. I can easily see them being tall tales told around the fire, giving me a unique look into the Wild Wild West and some of her characters.

[Lawrence Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good.

[Kevin Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice collection with a fairly expansive idea of what constitutes the western subject. Uniformly pretty high quality.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poetry is subjective but this collection was mostly junk with some gems cast throughout.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read as I was traveling through Colorado on vacation! It really matched the beautiful landscape. Great little book!

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to read, lovely to look at.