A Broken Thing: Poets on the Line

by Emily Rosko (Editor), Anton Vander Zee (Editor)

 In the arena of poetry and poetics over the past century, no idea has been more alive and contentious than the idea of form , and no aspect of form has more emphatically sponsored this marked formal concern than the line . But what, exactly, is the line? Emily Rosko and Anton Vander Zee’s anthology gives seventy original answers that lead us deeper into the world of poetry, but also far out into the world at its people, its politics, its ecology. The authors included here, emerging and established alike, write from a range of perspectives, in terms of both aesthetics and identity. Together, they offer a dynamic hybrid collection that captures a broad spectrum of poetic practice in the twenty-first century.
 

Rosko and Vander Zee’s introduction offers a generous overview of conversations about the line from the Romantics forward. We come to see how the line might be an engine for ideals of progress—political, ethical, or otherwise. For some poets, the line touches upon the most fundamental questions of knowledge and existence. More than ever, the line is the radical against which even alternate and emerging poetic forms that foreground the visual or the auditory, the page or the screen, can be distinguished and understood.

 

From the start, a singular lesson lines do not form meaning solely in their brevity or their length, in their becoming or their brokenness; lines live in and through the descriptions we give them. Indeed, the history of American poetry in the twentieth century could be told by the compounding, and often confounding, discussions of its lines. A Broken Thing both reflects upon and extends this history, charting a rich diffusion of theory and practice into the twenty-first century with the most diverse, wide-ranging and engaging set of essays to date on the line in poetry, revealing how poems work and why poetry continues to matter.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Essays

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2011

Reviews

[Chris Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading, especially if you write poetry. An anthology of essays, most only a few pages long. Enjoyed the close reads of the teacher-poets the most, many of whom come back to the tension between line and sentence. Others explore a metaphor for the line, such as breath or waves, some of which are usefully suggestive. A third or so of the essays are more like political or creative responses to the line. I found those less interesting, but there's always something new in a few pages, so they mostly act as palate cleansers. Can't really say what I learned—the line, I learned, is as much about silence as anything else—but have re-lineated a few poems as a result and they feel stronger. Will remember this exercise: Take a poem that isn't working, cut the lines into strips. Pull out a line once a day and stick it to the wall. Is the resulting poem interesting? If not, you have weak lines.

[Kim Horner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously, this is not a book you pick up and read from start to finish; rather, you need to ponder and digest each essay, each claim or pronouncement or speculation. It is a book that serves as both teacher and companion.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection on the poetic line to dip in and out of.

[Meg Ready · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely some hits and misses, but overall a good collection if, for no other reason, than it offered recommendations for future readings. Although, the collection would have benefited from another organizational strategy because the alphabetical ordering of essays by authors' names was not conducive to exciting juxtapositions or thematically pleasing collaborations. Would recommend.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although chock full of interesting perspectives on the line there's a slapdash approach to this collection of essays. Alphabetical order may make the editors' job easier in terms of organizing the book out prevents the essays from working in dialogue with each other in significant ways.