Now and Then: The Poet's Choice Columns, 1997-2000

by Robert Hass

During his tenure as US Poet Laureate, Robert Hass revived the popular nineteenth-century tradition of including poetry in our daily newspapers. “Poet's Choice” ultimately became a nationally syndicated column appearing in dozens of papers across the country. Every week, Hass would marry poets and poetry to headlines and holidays.
Proceeding in sequence from early 1997 to the start of the millennium, we ride the rhythms of Hass's remarkable musings. From the living legends to the long-gone, Hass resurrects voices of many who might otherwise remain neglected. Nearly a hundred poets are profiled — William Butler Yeats, Wallace Stevens, Rita Dove, Robert Frost, Sonia Sanchez, Donald Justice, Margaret Atwood, John Ashbery, Adrienne Rich, Michael Ondaatje, and Louis Glück all make appearances here. And along with classic works, we're introduced to a host of emerging poets and to translations of such luminaries as Yehuda Amichai, Czeslaw Milosz, and Jaime Sabines. With his assured yet unimposing words, Hass awakens our understanding of the great canon of poetry.
In his introduction, Hass observes how the columns collected here seem to encapsulate a time and world quite different from the one that developed after 9/11. And so this collection serves as both remembrance and reminder of a period in our history, and as a celebration of the poets whose poems transcend time.

Genres: Poetry, Essays, Criticism, Literary Criticism

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Robert Hass was born in San Francisco and lives in Berkeley, California, where he teaches at the University of California. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. A MacArthur Fellow and a two-time winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, he has published poems, literary essays, and translations. He is married to the poet Brenda Hillman.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of disparate and brief essays about poets and poetry. I find the sentimentalizing of the "pre 9-11" world a bit overdone as it relates to what is just a study of poetry in short essays. Perhaps that is just what the publisher wanted to write, but there is only a need to say it is timeless. Hass captures the timeless quality, whether of living poets or ones who wrote centuries ago.

[Margaret Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was SO GOOD. It's a book full of poems with little essays attached to them - essays that lead you in understanding the poem, give you background on the poet, or teach you how to read poetry. Originally published as a weekly newspaper column designed to introduce readers to poems and poets, this collection stretched me and exposed me to so many wonderful poets I have never even heard of before, including poets from other countries. I've written down at least a dozen poetry books I want to read now that this book has introduced me to them. And there is so much in here about what good writing looks like, but it's not a list of rules to follow. There are MANY ways to make beautiful poems, to say something meaningful in a beautiful or original way. What an inspiring book. I kind of want to just start it all over again.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was, to be honest, disappointed by most of the poems themselves, but I really enjoyed Hass' commentary on them. And there were a few gems that I will reread sometime.

[Mmars · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compendium of weekly columns, each including a poem or two, that Robert Hass wrote for the Washington Post's Book World from late 1997 through early 2000. Each column is titled with a poet, sometimes accompanied with a header, often a holiday, or the nationality of the poet. Many of the columns concerned poetic works published during those years, but there are also columns focusing on works published in prior years and further in the past.

This collection is made interesting through the variety of Hass’s short and insightful musings about the poets’ lives, styles, historical significance and/or the poem’s meanings. He frequently helps the reader understand how to read a poet.

Occasionally Hass touches on “how to read poetry” but that is better learned elsewhere. Also, the accessibility of the poems varies. I think some would be quite difficult for novice poetry readers to enjoy.

Now & Then is an excellent source for poetry lovers wanting to be introduced to unfamiliar poets. One thing I greatly appreciated was his recommendations on translated works. This would be an excellent source if starting a poetry group.

[Karl Nehring · Rating 4 out of 5]

THis is a nice compilation of columns about poetry by a practicing poet. Hass's essays follows the seasons, presenting poems about winter in wintertime, for example, and range over poems and poets old and new. This is a great book for someone who remembers being entranced by poetry as a student long ago and who now would like to read some poetry without plunging in to a pure anthology. Stimulating and entertaining!

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a collection of Hass’s newspaper columns from his time as Poet Laureate. Many of the essays in here are quite helpful especially when reading a list of American poets from the last fifty years. Hass writes vignettes on many different writers such as Wallace Stevens, Rita Dove, John Ashbery, Robert Frost, as well as many others. In most of the essays he is discussing a particular poem that illustrates that poet’s aesthetics.

[Jonna Higgins-Freese]

What an unexpected treasure, stumbled across on the library shelf. Hass has an engaging and accessible way of introducing and interacting with the poems and situating them in context so they can be appreciated. His tone is neither too academic nor condescending to the lay reader, but pitch perfect: here's some stuff that I really enjoy. Here's why you might like it too, or the things you might need to know to appreciate it. See what you think.

[Rachel]

Lucid introductions to contemporary American poets rendered with grace and broad-mindedness. It was an excellent way to broaden my reading tastes. Too bad Hass is no longer writing this column. Why aren't there more such columns on poetry in American newspapers?

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection from his columns while he was Poet Laureate. It helped to introduce me to a couple of new poets, too, old and new. I've enjoyed reading it slowly and was sad when I was finished.

[Dana Swain · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, really fantastic for his insight on the anthology of poets he chooses. Beautiful!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A greaat book for anyone who wants a stimulating beginning to the most contemporary poets.