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Something We Have That They Don't: British and American Poetic Relations since 1925
There is some connexion
(I like the way the English spell it
They’re so clever about some things
Probably smarter generally than we are
Although there is supposed to be something
We have that they don’'t—'don’t ask me
What it is. . . .)
—John Ashbery, “Tenth Symphony”
Something We Have That They Don’t presents a variety of essays on the relationship between British and American poetry since 1925. The essays collected here all explore some aspect of the rich and complex history of Anglo-American poetic relations of the last seventy years. Since the dawn of Modernism poets either side of the Atlantic have frequently inspired each other’s developments, from Frost’s galvanizing advice to Edward Thomas to rearrange his prose as verse, to Eliot’s and Auden’s enormous influence on the poetry of their adopted nations (“whichever Auden is,” Eliot once replied when asked if he were a British or an American poet, “I suppose, I must be the other”); from the impact of Charles Olson and other Black Mountain poets on J. H. Prynne and the Cambridge School, to the widespread influence of Frank O'Hara and Robert Lowell on a diverse range of contemporary British poets. Clark and Ford’s study aims to chart some of the currents of these ever-shifting relations. Poets discussed in these essays include John Ashbery, W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, T. S. Eliot, Mark Ford, Robert Graves, Thom Gunn, Lee Harwood, Geoffrey Hill, Michael Hofmann, Susan Howe, Robert Lowell, and W. B. Yeats.
“Poetry and sovereignty,” Philip Larkin remarked in an interview of 1982, “are very primitive things”: these essays consider the ways in which even seemingly very “unprimitive” poetries can be seen as reflecting and engaging with issues of national sovereignty and self-interest, and in the process they pose a series of fascinating questions about the national narratives that currently dominate definitions of the British and American poetic traditions.
This innovative and exciting new collection will be of great interest to students and scholars of British and American poetry and comparative literature.
(I like the way the English spell it
They’re so clever about some things
Probably smarter generally than we are
Although there is supposed to be something
We have that they don’'t—'don’t ask me
What it is. . . .)
—John Ashbery, “Tenth Symphony”
Something We Have That They Don’t presents a variety of essays on the relationship between British and American poetry since 1925. The essays collected here all explore some aspect of the rich and complex history of Anglo-American poetic relations of the last seventy years. Since the dawn of Modernism poets either side of the Atlantic have frequently inspired each other’s developments, from Frost’s galvanizing advice to Edward Thomas to rearrange his prose as verse, to Eliot’s and Auden’s enormous influence on the poetry of their adopted nations (“whichever Auden is,” Eliot once replied when asked if he were a British or an American poet, “I suppose, I must be the other”); from the impact of Charles Olson and other Black Mountain poets on J. H. Prynne and the Cambridge School, to the widespread influence of Frank O'Hara and Robert Lowell on a diverse range of contemporary British poets. Clark and Ford’s study aims to chart some of the currents of these ever-shifting relations. Poets discussed in these essays include John Ashbery, W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, T. S. Eliot, Mark Ford, Robert Graves, Thom Gunn, Lee Harwood, Geoffrey Hill, Michael Hofmann, Susan Howe, Robert Lowell, and W. B. Yeats.
“Poetry and sovereignty,” Philip Larkin remarked in an interview of 1982, “are very primitive things”: these essays consider the ways in which even seemingly very “unprimitive” poetries can be seen as reflecting and engaging with issues of national sovereignty and self-interest, and in the process they pose a series of fascinating questions about the national narratives that currently dominate definitions of the British and American poetic traditions.
This innovative and exciting new collection will be of great interest to students and scholars of British and American poetry and comparative literature.
234 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2004
2 people want to read
About the author
Steve Clark
177 books5 followersDad, journalist & media consultant. Sunday Times bestselling author. Books include Only Fools & Horses: The Official Inside Story.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 17, 2020
Since the age of Modernism, poets of Britain and the USA have had a mutual influence on each other, at least until recent decades when it has been mainly British poets who respond to American ones and not vice versa. This 2004 collection of eleven papers examines various cases of trans-Atlantic influence. For fans of the poets concerned, it is a fun read.
After the introduction by editors Steve Clark and Mark Ford, Edna Longley writes about how Yeats struggled with the Modernism ushered in by the two American figures T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.
Stan Smith’s contribution deals with how British poets of the 1930s (Auden, Graves) responded to American poetry and the American continent.
Nicholas Jenkins’ provocative papers views Auden as a sort of “anti-Eliot”. T.S. Eliot in the 1930s was already infamous for some anti-Semitic remarks and was stridently nostalgic for a rural society rooted in a particular place. Auden, on the other hand, became an international poet and sympathized with the plight of the Jews in this era.
Auden is not generally among the poets to whom Elizabeth Bishop is compared, but Bonnie Costello traces Bishop’s enthusiastic reading of Auden in her early years.
Langdon Hammer’s paper is on the American poetry of Thom Gunn and Geoffrey Hill, two British poets who made their careers in the United States.
Tony Lopez’s rather enigmatically titled “The White Room in the New York Schoolhouse” deals in fact with how Lee Harwood’s poetry in the 1960s was marked by his acquaintance with John Ashbery and experiences of America.
Michael Hofmann, German-born but British-educated and writing in English, wrote a dissertation on Robert Lowell. Stephen Burt explores this esteem and influence.
Alan Golding’s paper on Susan Howe deals with how the American poet Susan Howe has drawn on her Irish ancestry in her poetry.
Mark Ford has often been viewed as a sort of British version of John Ashbery, and Helen Vendler's contribution looks at how the two figures overlap in terms of style and concerns, and how they differ.
After the introduction by editors Steve Clark and Mark Ford, Edna Longley writes about how Yeats struggled with the Modernism ushered in by the two American figures T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.
Stan Smith’s contribution deals with how British poets of the 1930s (Auden, Graves) responded to American poetry and the American continent.
Nicholas Jenkins’ provocative papers views Auden as a sort of “anti-Eliot”. T.S. Eliot in the 1930s was already infamous for some anti-Semitic remarks and was stridently nostalgic for a rural society rooted in a particular place. Auden, on the other hand, became an international poet and sympathized with the plight of the Jews in this era.
Auden is not generally among the poets to whom Elizabeth Bishop is compared, but Bonnie Costello traces Bishop’s enthusiastic reading of Auden in her early years.
Langdon Hammer’s paper is on the American poetry of Thom Gunn and Geoffrey Hill, two British poets who made their careers in the United States.
Tony Lopez’s rather enigmatically titled “The White Room in the New York Schoolhouse” deals in fact with how Lee Harwood’s poetry in the 1960s was marked by his acquaintance with John Ashbery and experiences of America.
Michael Hofmann, German-born but British-educated and writing in English, wrote a dissertation on Robert Lowell. Stephen Burt explores this esteem and influence.
Alan Golding’s paper on Susan Howe deals with how the American poet Susan Howe has drawn on her Irish ancestry in her poetry.
Mark Ford has often been viewed as a sort of British version of John Ashbery, and Helen Vendler's contribution looks at how the two figures overlap in terms of style and concerns, and how they differ.
Displaying 1 of 1 review