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God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike: New & Later Collected Poems
With nearly seventy-five new poems and over two hundred selected from his previous books, God Breaketh Not All Men’s Hearts Alike is the book of a lifetime in poetry, one that will lead to the author being recognized as among American’s best living poets. A work of intense illumination, these poems investigate meanings and subjects usually left in darkness. A dramatic excitement, a surprising beauty, a song draws us from poem to poem. It has been pointed out by Hayden Carruth that "in many voices, in lines rugged yet eloquent with various learnings, Moss sings us his disconcerting and extraordinarily moving songs of unbelievable belief."
- GenresPoetry
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
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June 11, 2022
God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike
Educated at Trinity University and Yale, Stanley Moss (b. 1925) is a private art dealer specializing in Spanish and Italian Old Masters. He is also an editor and the founder of a publishing house devoted to contemporary poetry. Although Moss has been writing for many years, he is not well-known among readers of contemporary poetry. This new book, "God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike" may well change that situation. It includes over 75 new poems together with over 200 poems selected from six earlier collections.
The poems are generally presented in reverse chronological order. This arrangement focuses on Moss' most recent poems, written in his 80s, which I think are his strongest. Moss writes in a highly-charged, flamboyant, and bravura style. I thought of other Jewish poets such as the late Samuel Menashe whose minimalist, quiet, reserved voice is at the opposite end of the poetic spectrum from that of Moss. Descriptive adjectives, nouns, actions, persons, and thoughts are thrown at the reader in an almost unending cascade. The poem "A History of Color" captures much of the brilliant, collage of Moss' writing. The poems also have a sense of irony and self-mockery as Moss makes fun of himself, deflates his tone, and refers to himself deprecatingly as "Stanley" or "SM". The poems are written in stanzas and frequently use rhyme. Most of the poems are short and many consist of a sonnet-like structure of 15 or 16 lines. The poems immediately captured my attention. As the book proceeds, my interest was not always sustained. On occasion, I felt on emotional overdrive, and on occasion some weak writing. But on the whole this is a stunning collection.
There are many themes in these poems, but the overriding thread, especially in the most recent work, is of a Jewish secularist who cannot leave religion alone. There is a tension in the poetry between an individual in love with the world and with everything in it, especially sexuality, and the figure of religion and God which is used almost to deny what the poet loves. The poems are written with the voice of age by a man who knows that death may be near and who does not want to die. He relishes life. There is a sense of a pantheism as in a poem "On William Blake's Drawing, 'The Ghost of a Flea'", Moss emphasizes Blake's aphorism that "Every thing that lives is holy." (Also beloved of Allen Ginsberg) In a poem called "Hotel Room Birthday Party, Florence", the aging poet celebrates the birthday of the "old guy in my room" and concludes that "To be alive is not everything/ but it is a very good beginning." Among the many poems which play off secular and religious themes, "Song of no God", "Psalm", "Letter to Noah" and "In the Rain" are among the most effective.
Many of the poems appear to be biographical with an ironic content, as Moss describes his early life, his family, and his lusty sexuality. In several of the poems, Moss adopts the voice of a Satyr, and the volume concludes with an autobiographically-based prose selection called "Autobiography of a Satyr".
Other poems bring Moss' secular-religious concerns to bear upon a variety of public issues, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Holocaust, poverty, in the United States and more. The poem "An American Hero" celebrates an African American actor in the pre-Civil War United States. There are groups of poems about Anthony and Cleopatra and a particularly good poem about "Hannibal Crossing the Alps". The poem "Sailing from the United States" (with echoes of Yeats' "Sailing to Byzantium") captures a sense of disillusionment with the United States at one point in the poet's life, as he finds he "had planted not one seed" and had "lost a country, its hills and heroes;/ In a country that taught me talk, confined/ To the city of myself, I oppose/The marketplace and thoroughfares, my mind/Shaping this history, my mouth to a zero." Frequently poems with complementary themes are juxtaposed, as in "The Public Gardens of Munich" and the poem which follows, "The Decadent Poets of Kyoto".
In many of the poems, Moss describes his relationships with other poets or artists. There are several poems about Moss' friendship with the poets Stanley Kunitz, Theodore Roethke, and W.S. Merwin. There are insightful poems about Robert Lowell, James Wright, Stanley Bechett, cellist Daniel Stern, and Zero Mostel. Two poems are addressed to Whitman, a poet who shares much of Moss' bravura and searching.
Other poems I enjoyed in this collection include the bizarre "A Dead Nun's Complaint while Dancing" and the poem from which the title of the collection is drawn, "A Glance at Turner" (a companion to the poem on Blake). Turner is portrayed as a celebrator of color, beauty, and art as opposed to sorrow. The reference of the title is, I think, to the affirmation of the joy of life. Moss writes that "Turner tried to pour sorrow out the window./ God breaketh not all men's hearts alike./ In the distant sky, beyond the stars there is/no Venice, no Titian, the Sun of Death shines."
I was pleased that the Amazon Vine program gave me the opportunity to get to read Stanley Moss. Most contemporary American poetry is dominated by academics, and Moss' voice is his own, sharp, loud, and iconoclastic. Readers who love poetry will want to get to know Stanley Moss.
Robin Friedman
Educated at Trinity University and Yale, Stanley Moss (b. 1925) is a private art dealer specializing in Spanish and Italian Old Masters. He is also an editor and the founder of a publishing house devoted to contemporary poetry. Although Moss has been writing for many years, he is not well-known among readers of contemporary poetry. This new book, "God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike" may well change that situation. It includes over 75 new poems together with over 200 poems selected from six earlier collections.
The poems are generally presented in reverse chronological order. This arrangement focuses on Moss' most recent poems, written in his 80s, which I think are his strongest. Moss writes in a highly-charged, flamboyant, and bravura style. I thought of other Jewish poets such as the late Samuel Menashe whose minimalist, quiet, reserved voice is at the opposite end of the poetic spectrum from that of Moss. Descriptive adjectives, nouns, actions, persons, and thoughts are thrown at the reader in an almost unending cascade. The poem "A History of Color" captures much of the brilliant, collage of Moss' writing. The poems also have a sense of irony and self-mockery as Moss makes fun of himself, deflates his tone, and refers to himself deprecatingly as "Stanley" or "SM". The poems are written in stanzas and frequently use rhyme. Most of the poems are short and many consist of a sonnet-like structure of 15 or 16 lines. The poems immediately captured my attention. As the book proceeds, my interest was not always sustained. On occasion, I felt on emotional overdrive, and on occasion some weak writing. But on the whole this is a stunning collection.
There are many themes in these poems, but the overriding thread, especially in the most recent work, is of a Jewish secularist who cannot leave religion alone. There is a tension in the poetry between an individual in love with the world and with everything in it, especially sexuality, and the figure of religion and God which is used almost to deny what the poet loves. The poems are written with the voice of age by a man who knows that death may be near and who does not want to die. He relishes life. There is a sense of a pantheism as in a poem "On William Blake's Drawing, 'The Ghost of a Flea'", Moss emphasizes Blake's aphorism that "Every thing that lives is holy." (Also beloved of Allen Ginsberg) In a poem called "Hotel Room Birthday Party, Florence", the aging poet celebrates the birthday of the "old guy in my room" and concludes that "To be alive is not everything/ but it is a very good beginning." Among the many poems which play off secular and religious themes, "Song of no God", "Psalm", "Letter to Noah" and "In the Rain" are among the most effective.
Many of the poems appear to be biographical with an ironic content, as Moss describes his early life, his family, and his lusty sexuality. In several of the poems, Moss adopts the voice of a Satyr, and the volume concludes with an autobiographically-based prose selection called "Autobiography of a Satyr".
Other poems bring Moss' secular-religious concerns to bear upon a variety of public issues, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Holocaust, poverty, in the United States and more. The poem "An American Hero" celebrates an African American actor in the pre-Civil War United States. There are groups of poems about Anthony and Cleopatra and a particularly good poem about "Hannibal Crossing the Alps". The poem "Sailing from the United States" (with echoes of Yeats' "Sailing to Byzantium") captures a sense of disillusionment with the United States at one point in the poet's life, as he finds he "had planted not one seed" and had "lost a country, its hills and heroes;/ In a country that taught me talk, confined/ To the city of myself, I oppose/The marketplace and thoroughfares, my mind/Shaping this history, my mouth to a zero." Frequently poems with complementary themes are juxtaposed, as in "The Public Gardens of Munich" and the poem which follows, "The Decadent Poets of Kyoto".
In many of the poems, Moss describes his relationships with other poets or artists. There are several poems about Moss' friendship with the poets Stanley Kunitz, Theodore Roethke, and W.S. Merwin. There are insightful poems about Robert Lowell, James Wright, Stanley Bechett, cellist Daniel Stern, and Zero Mostel. Two poems are addressed to Whitman, a poet who shares much of Moss' bravura and searching.
Other poems I enjoyed in this collection include the bizarre "A Dead Nun's Complaint while Dancing" and the poem from which the title of the collection is drawn, "A Glance at Turner" (a companion to the poem on Blake). Turner is portrayed as a celebrator of color, beauty, and art as opposed to sorrow. The reference of the title is, I think, to the affirmation of the joy of life. Moss writes that "Turner tried to pour sorrow out the window./ God breaketh not all men's hearts alike./ In the distant sky, beyond the stars there is/no Venice, no Titian, the Sun of Death shines."
I was pleased that the Amazon Vine program gave me the opportunity to get to read Stanley Moss. Most contemporary American poetry is dominated by academics, and Moss' voice is his own, sharp, loud, and iconoclastic. Readers who love poetry will want to get to know Stanley Moss.
Robin Friedman
October 28, 2012
I have been a small-press publisher of poetry since the mid-seventies. Although I have not written poetry myself since then and certainly have been torn away from it by the mad dogs of life, I cannot get poetry out of my blood. Currently, I am coeditor of FutureCycle Press with the poet Robert S. King, so when I was given the opportunity to review this book, I am embarrassed to say that I could not remember ever having encountered the poems of Stanley Moss. I had to look him up on Wikipedia. I learned that he is also the founder and publisher of Sheep Meadow Press, so he has in common with my coeditor being a poet who loves poetry so much that he has devoted a considerable amount of his time to promoting other poets' work instead of his own. What a fine thing, then, that Seven Stories Press has given us this marvelous compilation!
I've always said that I must have been Jewish in a past life, because I've always had a tendency to at least try to read books from back to front. The organization of God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike: New & Later Collected Poems from most recent to earliest was a perfect way for me to discover Stanley Moss' work. I first read the last piece, the autobiographical "Diary of a Satyr," which had me howling with laughter and delighting in the poet's personality, exploits, and relationships with other poets whose work I dearly love (Theodore Roethke, Wallace Stevens, and Dylan Thomas).
I am well aware that many people tend to approach poetry as if it is going to be academic and inaccessible. From the viewpoint of a publisher, I know all but the most academic of potential readers often must have a personal experience with or connection to a particular poet before they will buy, or even read, that poet's work. (I'm guilty of this myself. Too many poems and poets, too little time.) With "Diary of a Satyr," I felt a strong connection to the poet that added yet another dimension to my growing appreciation of his poems. I would encourage anyone not already familiar with Moss' work to read this piece first. Then, just explore! I started reading the entire book back to front, chapter-wise anyway, as is my wont, because I am interested in seeing Moss's development as a poet over many years. But it's also marvelous just to pick up the book and flip to a poem at random, as one might do when casting runes or picking a Bible passage to set the tone for one's day.
I could talk all day about how well crafted these poems are; how metaphorically and experientially rich; how wide-ranging, thought-provoking, and heart-swelling. I could tell you how this or that unassuming poem suddenly surprised or shocked my eyes a little more open. I could make comparisons to other poets, or I could don the critic's cap and set out to list my idea of pros and cons. None of those approaches can convey the value of Stanley Moss' work.
The Creation is in these pages. You must engage it yourself.
I've always said that I must have been Jewish in a past life, because I've always had a tendency to at least try to read books from back to front. The organization of God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike: New & Later Collected Poems from most recent to earliest was a perfect way for me to discover Stanley Moss' work. I first read the last piece, the autobiographical "Diary of a Satyr," which had me howling with laughter and delighting in the poet's personality, exploits, and relationships with other poets whose work I dearly love (Theodore Roethke, Wallace Stevens, and Dylan Thomas).
I am well aware that many people tend to approach poetry as if it is going to be academic and inaccessible. From the viewpoint of a publisher, I know all but the most academic of potential readers often must have a personal experience with or connection to a particular poet before they will buy, or even read, that poet's work. (I'm guilty of this myself. Too many poems and poets, too little time.) With "Diary of a Satyr," I felt a strong connection to the poet that added yet another dimension to my growing appreciation of his poems. I would encourage anyone not already familiar with Moss' work to read this piece first. Then, just explore! I started reading the entire book back to front, chapter-wise anyway, as is my wont, because I am interested in seeing Moss's development as a poet over many years. But it's also marvelous just to pick up the book and flip to a poem at random, as one might do when casting runes or picking a Bible passage to set the tone for one's day.
I could talk all day about how well crafted these poems are; how metaphorically and experientially rich; how wide-ranging, thought-provoking, and heart-swelling. I could tell you how this or that unassuming poem suddenly surprised or shocked my eyes a little more open. I could make comparisons to other poets, or I could don the critic's cap and set out to list my idea of pros and cons. None of those approaches can convey the value of Stanley Moss' work.
The Creation is in these pages. You must engage it yourself.
February 17, 2012
Stanley Moss is a poet comfortable in free verse, rhymed verse, and near-rhymed poetry. He covers numerous subjects, but his overriding theme is his ongoing struggle with God, religion, and faith. Though he often presents himself as a non-believer--or at least someone who doesn't practice religion--he has a genuine sense of the mysterious and sublimity that is available to people of faith. At the same time, he is critical of both formal religion and God, if indeed God even exists. Moss is clearly well-read in both Judaism and Christianity, and he uses his knowledge as a way both to probe and to critique the idea of divinity. He moves back and forth between disbelief and agnosticism, and it is the tension of these two ideas that give his best poems their strength.
Unfortunately, his other subjects don't really resonate the way his poem's on belief do. Many of them fall a bit flat, particularly as they end. In general, Moss seems to be better and starting and continuing a poem than he is at ending it. Too often, his poems thud to a close. This can make an otherwise enjoyable poem seem to be much less, as a weak line in the middle of a poem is more easily hidden than the first or last line. Overall, though, there are some enjoyable poems in this volume, and I am glad to be acquainted with Moss's work.
Unfortunately, his other subjects don't really resonate the way his poem's on belief do. Many of them fall a bit flat, particularly as they end. In general, Moss seems to be better and starting and continuing a poem than he is at ending it. Too often, his poems thud to a close. This can make an otherwise enjoyable poem seem to be much less, as a weak line in the middle of a poem is more easily hidden than the first or last line. Overall, though, there are some enjoyable poems in this volume, and I am glad to be acquainted with Moss's work.
October 15, 2011
I sometimes feel as though we're living in an age of small poets. Its the kids - graduates of MFA writing programs, writing very personal work about lives that have not had a chance to expand. Pretty boring.
Stanley Moss is not a kid, and through work that is very persoanl reaches into the universal expanse of gods, goddesses, and myth to circle around to "onion, garlic, and a rose." Mr. Moss has reach and grasp, and I think the body of his work places him very highly in the pantheon of American poets.
Subject matter is one thing, communicating in a vernacular that has the ability to soar is quite another, but Mr. Moss has a control of his craft that should act as a lesson to any writer.
"God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike," as archaic and stilted a title as it is breaks out of its own form with its truth. The whole of the book, as "old fashioned" as it might initially seem is all about truth - the truth of the universe as lived and recorded by a major poet.
Stanley Moss is not a kid, and through work that is very persoanl reaches into the universal expanse of gods, goddesses, and myth to circle around to "onion, garlic, and a rose." Mr. Moss has reach and grasp, and I think the body of his work places him very highly in the pantheon of American poets.
Subject matter is one thing, communicating in a vernacular that has the ability to soar is quite another, but Mr. Moss has a control of his craft that should act as a lesson to any writer.
"God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike," as archaic and stilted a title as it is breaks out of its own form with its truth. The whole of the book, as "old fashioned" as it might initially seem is all about truth - the truth of the universe as lived and recorded by a major poet.
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