The Best American Poetry 1994

by David Lehman (Editor)

Language is the medium that carries the inscription, but what is inscribed in poetry is action, not language. So poetry for me is a symbolic action shown by language and revealing what we would have our behavior imitate or strive for. In this book, the symbolism of poetry is shown in many different stories by many different people.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

David Lehman is a poet and the series editor for The Best American Poetry series. He teaches at The New School in New York City.

Reviews

[Alan Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains among other poems a poem play I think is breathtakingly good in parts: Thomas M. Disch's 'The Cardinal Detoxes: A Play in One Act'

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good ones, some not so good, but Poetry is always a matter of taste.

[Grace MacLaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeesh. I found a couple poems I liked towards the end. But it this is what poetry was like in the 1990s...thank you, next.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full disclosure - I prefer Romantic / Transcendentalist / etc. It might be pedestrian of me, but I like my poerty to be beautiful. This collection embodies a lot of what I dislike about modern poetry. Many of the pieces focus on the deliberately ugly. They are not bad per se, but I am not moved by blunt explorations of pain.
That said, there were a few very notable poems. I adored [i]Apollo Takes Charge of His Muses[/i] as well as [i]The Snake in the Garden Considers Daphne[/i]. Those are absolute gems. Perhaps I like them because they both make use of Greek myths, which are favorites of mine. I also love the economy and precision of the language. They were stunning and seemingly effortless.
As far as the longer poems go, I was suprised at how much I liked [i]The Cardinal Detoxes[/i]. It's quite lengthy, it takes on very unpleasant subjecter matter, but it was excellent. Perhaps it's the dark humor that runs throughout it that I responded to.
I also appreciated [i]Sestina[/i]. In a collection of mostly free / blank verse, it was delightful to have a piece that used such a difficult form.
Overall I give the collection only 2 stars, but the individual poems I noted are 4 to 5 stars.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite was Allison Funk's "After Dark." Had never heard of her before, which is the gift of these anthologies. Indeed, I love some, disliked many, knew if I made one for any given year it'd be different, know that's true for just about every reader.

[Catherine]

poetry

[^^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Perfectttt