What Are Years

by Marianne Moore

Marianne Moore's 1941 collection of poetry.

Genres: Poetry

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American Modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit.

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant enough. But does Moore strip away so much that her poems become too sparse?

[j · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much of this sorcery goes delightfully right over my stupid head.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some startling and memorable lines.
-"Humor saves a few steps, it saves years." (The Pangolin)
-"Repetition...should be synonymous with accuracy." (Four Quartz Crystal Clocks)
-"You're not free until you've been made captive by supreme belief." (Spenser's Ireland)
-"Satisfaction is a lowly thing, how pure a thing is joy." (What Are Years?)

Any work of poetry that can comment on American academia, criticize the "inconsiderate" scent of a gardenia bush, make fun of the "Don't tread on me" flag, be an early anti-imperialism horn-tooter, make racist references to the Irish, and compare an animal to an artichoke in under a dozen poems is probably worth the read... even if Moore is a Modernist and, therefore, only halfway readable.

If I knew more about birds, I would have gotten more out of this... Felt like I was back in Metamorphoses with all the people getting turned into birds, for better or worse.

[Michael P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, yes, I know. Moore is one of the great American poets of the twentieth century. I understood this book, unlike her first, and it did not do a thing for me. Maybe I am deficient, maybe not, but I have yet to see her greatness.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like a journalist went to a zoo and decided to insert line breaks into the reporting. Fewer quoted segments than the previous collection, though, so perhaps we’re moving in the right direction.

[Bahia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me quedo con "What are years?", "Rigorists", "He 'digesteth harde yron'", "The student", "Spenser's Ireland", "Four quartz crystal clocks", y algunas otras maravillosas estrofas sueltas; supongo que porque son los que he sabido interpretar mejor. Realmente hermética, Moore me supone un reto de hermenéutica, sin embargo asumible y atractivo (además su rico léxico me ayuda a mejorar mi inglés).Veamos qué pasa con el resto de poemarios.