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Effort at Speech: New and Selected Poems
Winner, 1997 National Book Award for Poetry
A contemporary of Berryman, Bishop, and Lowell, William Meredith shared neither the bohemian excesses of the Beats nor the exhibitionist excesses of the "confessional" poets. Rather, he was known as a poet whose unadorned, formal verse marked him as a singular voice. Effort at Speech, the definitive collection of Meredith's life work, contains poems chosen by the author from throughout his career, as well as several new works and an essay by Michael Collier placing Meredith in his times.
A contemporary of Berryman, Bishop, and Lowell, William Meredith shared neither the bohemian excesses of the Beats nor the exhibitionist excesses of the "confessional" poets. Rather, he was known as a poet whose unadorned, formal verse marked him as a singular voice. Effort at Speech, the definitive collection of Meredith's life work, contains poems chosen by the author from throughout his career, as well as several new works and an essay by Michael Collier placing Meredith in his times.
- GenresPoetry
231 pages, Paperback
First published April 6, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 14, 2021
3 1/3 stars, mostly uninspiring.
March 24, 2026
"The Illiterate" is one of the greatest sonnets I have ever read. In general I did not think the rest of the book lived up to that one.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews