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The Fall and Other Poems
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 24, 2025
This collection didn't catch my fancy in quite the same way as "Spending the Winter," but there were still some excellent poems here.
August 19, 2008
J. Bottum, The Fall and Other Poems (St. Augustine's, 2001)
I'd not thought this was going to be any great shakes, being both a book of nothing but formal poetry (I can't think of a poet save Marilyn Hacker who's been able to pull such a thing off for thirty years or so) and released under a Christian imprint, but oh how wrong I was. There was a magazine in the Poet's Market who used to say they'd only take religious poetry (forgive my awful paraphrasing) if you could do it like John Donne did or Will Inman does; Bottum certainly qualifies. In addition, the Christian messages to be found here are not delivered with the iron mallet one normally finds in religious poetry, and Bottum also has a great sense of humor, as he shows in his review-in-rhyme for the book Modern Catholic Verse:
“Oh, and did I mention the pope?
But don't let the contents-page raise too much hope,
for it's after John Paul that things start to get worse:
There aren't enough Catholics writing good verse.
“Contemporary”, I thought, means just today.
It makes you wonder if old Claude McKay
knew when he died more than fifty years back
that Craig and McCann would dig him up for their claque?”
As with most books of poetry, it does flag now and again, but all in all, it's one of the better poetry collections I've read this year. Bottum's ear for language is tuned quite fine, as is his ability to take more controversial subjects and treat them with the delicate touch required. Very good stuff, this, and highly recommended. ****
I'd not thought this was going to be any great shakes, being both a book of nothing but formal poetry (I can't think of a poet save Marilyn Hacker who's been able to pull such a thing off for thirty years or so) and released under a Christian imprint, but oh how wrong I was. There was a magazine in the Poet's Market who used to say they'd only take religious poetry (forgive my awful paraphrasing) if you could do it like John Donne did or Will Inman does; Bottum certainly qualifies. In addition, the Christian messages to be found here are not delivered with the iron mallet one normally finds in religious poetry, and Bottum also has a great sense of humor, as he shows in his review-in-rhyme for the book Modern Catholic Verse:
“Oh, and did I mention the pope?
But don't let the contents-page raise too much hope,
for it's after John Paul that things start to get worse:
There aren't enough Catholics writing good verse.
“Contemporary”, I thought, means just today.
It makes you wonder if old Claude McKay
knew when he died more than fifty years back
that Craig and McCann would dig him up for their claque?”
As with most books of poetry, it does flag now and again, but all in all, it's one of the better poetry collections I've read this year. Bottum's ear for language is tuned quite fine, as is his ability to take more controversial subjects and treat them with the delicate touch required. Very good stuff, this, and highly recommended. ****
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews