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The Heart Is Strange: New Selected Poems
A lively sampling from the work of one of the most celebrated and daring poets of the twentieth century
John Berryman was perhaps the most idiosyncratic American poet of the twentieth century. Best known for the painfully sad and raucously funny cycle of Dream Songs, he wrote passionately: of love and despair, of grief and laughter, of longing for a better world and coming to terms with this one. The Heart Is Strange , a new selection of his poems, along with reissues of Berryman's Sonnets , 77 Dream Songs , and the complete Dream Songs , marks the centenary of his birth.
The Heart Is Strange includes a generous selection from across Berryman's varied career: from his earliest poems, which show him learning the craft, to his breakthrough masterpiece, "Homage to Mistress Bradstreet," then to his mature verses, which find the poet looking back upon his lovers and youthful passions, and finally, to his late poems, in which he battles with sobriety and an increasingly religious sensibility.
The defiant joy and wild genius of Berryman's work has been obscured by his struggles with mental illness and alcohol, his tempestuous relationships with women, and his suicide. This volume, which includes three previously uncollected poems and an insightful introduction by the editor Daniel Swift, celebrates the whole Berryman: tortured poet and teasing father, passionate lover and melancholy scholar. It is a perfect introduction to one of the finest bodies of work yet produced by an American poet.
John Berryman was perhaps the most idiosyncratic American poet of the twentieth century. Best known for the painfully sad and raucously funny cycle of Dream Songs, he wrote passionately: of love and despair, of grief and laughter, of longing for a better world and coming to terms with this one. The Heart Is Strange , a new selection of his poems, along with reissues of Berryman's Sonnets , 77 Dream Songs , and the complete Dream Songs , marks the centenary of his birth.
The Heart Is Strange includes a generous selection from across Berryman's varied career: from his earliest poems, which show him learning the craft, to his breakthrough masterpiece, "Homage to Mistress Bradstreet," then to his mature verses, which find the poet looking back upon his lovers and youthful passions, and finally, to his late poems, in which he battles with sobriety and an increasingly religious sensibility.
The defiant joy and wild genius of Berryman's work has been obscured by his struggles with mental illness and alcohol, his tempestuous relationships with women, and his suicide. This volume, which includes three previously uncollected poems and an insightful introduction by the editor Daniel Swift, celebrates the whole Berryman: tortured poet and teasing father, passionate lover and melancholy scholar. It is a perfect introduction to one of the finest bodies of work yet produced by an American poet.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 21, 2014
17 people are currently reading
423 people want to read
About the author
John Berryman
145 books242 followersJohn Allyn Berryman (originally John Allyn Smith) was an American poet, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and often considered one of the founders of the Confessional school of poetry. He was the author of The Dream Songs, which are playful, witty, and morbid. Berryman committed suicide in 1972.
A pamphlet entitled Poems was published in 1942 and his first proper book, The Dispossessed, appeared six years later. Of his youthful self he said, 'I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.' His first major work, in which he began to develop his own unique style of writing, was Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, which appeared in Partisan Review in 1953 and was published as a book in 1956. Another pamphle.
His thought made pockets & the plane buckt, followed. It was the collection called Dream Songs that earned him the most admiration. The first volume, entitled 77 Dream Songs, was published in 1964 and won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. The second volume, entitled His Toy, His Dream, His Rest, appeared in 1968.
The two volumes were combined as The Dream Songs in 1969. By that time Berryman, though not a "popular" poet, was well established as an important force in the literary world, and he was widely read among his contemporaries. In 1970 he published the drastically different Love & Fame. It received many negative reviews, along with a little praise, most notably from Saul Bellow and John Bailey. Despite its negative reception, its colloquial style and sexual forthrightness have influenced many younger poets, especially from Britain and Ireland. Delusions Etc., his bleak final collection, which he prepared for printing but did not live to see appear, continues in a similar vein. Another book of poems, Henry's Fate, culled from Berryman's manuscripts, appeared posthumously, as did a book of essays, The Freedom of the Poet, and some drafts of a novel, Recovery.
The poems that form Dream Songs involve a character who is by turns the narrator and the person addressed by a narrator. Because readers assumed that these voices were the poet speaking directly of himself, Berryman's poetry was considered part of the Confessional poetry movement. Berryman, however, scorned the idea that he was a Confessional poet.
A pamphlet entitled Poems was published in 1942 and his first proper book, The Dispossessed, appeared six years later. Of his youthful self he said, 'I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.' His first major work, in which he began to develop his own unique style of writing, was Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, which appeared in Partisan Review in 1953 and was published as a book in 1956. Another pamphle.
His thought made pockets & the plane buckt, followed. It was the collection called Dream Songs that earned him the most admiration. The first volume, entitled 77 Dream Songs, was published in 1964 and won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. The second volume, entitled His Toy, His Dream, His Rest, appeared in 1968.
The two volumes were combined as The Dream Songs in 1969. By that time Berryman, though not a "popular" poet, was well established as an important force in the literary world, and he was widely read among his contemporaries. In 1970 he published the drastically different Love & Fame. It received many negative reviews, along with a little praise, most notably from Saul Bellow and John Bailey. Despite its negative reception, its colloquial style and sexual forthrightness have influenced many younger poets, especially from Britain and Ireland. Delusions Etc., his bleak final collection, which he prepared for printing but did not live to see appear, continues in a similar vein. Another book of poems, Henry's Fate, culled from Berryman's manuscripts, appeared posthumously, as did a book of essays, The Freedom of the Poet, and some drafts of a novel, Recovery.
The poems that form Dream Songs involve a character who is by turns the narrator and the person addressed by a narrator. Because readers assumed that these voices were the poet speaking directly of himself, Berryman's poetry was considered part of the Confessional poetry movement. Berryman, however, scorned the idea that he was a Confessional poet.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 23, 2017
Erudite, garrulous, tender, raunchy, despairing, embarrassing, obnoxious, earnest, playful, scabrous, wonder-struck, self-conscious, grim, vivid, obscure, macho, vulnerable, plaintive, rigorously self-aware, soppy-stern, desperate, nostalgic, ecstatic, timorous, sententious, vital, shaky, severe, penitent, brilliant- in one word: human.
Read
June 29, 2025i was definitely too stupid for this but it's okay because i can learn and i bookmarked so many pages and poems..i think by far my favourites were the possessed ("Think on your sins with all intensity."), dream song 29 - which i've had memorised for a while now - and bits of delusions etc. which i really sympathised with. idk it's interesting to know i'm not at a level where i understand what berryman is doing but there are things that pierce through nonetheless. should be cool/painful to come back to these for the rest of my life
December 12, 2021
“& horribly, unlike Bach, it occurred to me / that one night, instead of warm pajamas, / I’d take off all my clothes / & cross the damp cold lawn & down the bluff / into the terrible water & walk forever / under it out toward the island.” — Henry’s Understanding
(These lines feel almost like an omen to Berryman’s untimely fate, a warning to those that might listen)
There are poems in this collection that deeply affect the reader; it is almost as if Berryman lives on a prophesies within you.
But there is a short collection included, that don’t live up to the Berryman despair, and that’s why it’s a 4 star.
Most of my favorites can be found in his Delusions, etc collection. The way faith mingles with despair is something that compels me to think more as I read.
(These lines feel almost like an omen to Berryman’s untimely fate, a warning to those that might listen)
There are poems in this collection that deeply affect the reader; it is almost as if Berryman lives on a prophesies within you.
But there is a short collection included, that don’t live up to the Berryman despair, and that’s why it’s a 4 star.
Most of my favorites can be found in his Delusions, etc collection. The way faith mingles with despair is something that compels me to think more as I read.
Read
March 6, 2022“How do you do, Dr. Berryman, Sir?”
Edgy, perhaps. Not on the point of bursting-forth
but towards that latitude,—I think? Not ‘shout loud & march straight.
Each lacks something in some direction. I
am not entirely at the mercy of.
The tearing of hair no.
Pickt up pre-dawn & tortured and detained,
Mr Tan Mam and many other students
sit tight but vocal in illegal cells
and as for Henry Pussycat he’d just as soon be dead
(on the Promise of— I know it sounds incredible—
if can he muster penitence enough—
he can’t though—
glory
Edgy, perhaps. Not on the point of bursting-forth
but towards that latitude,—I think? Not ‘shout loud & march straight.
Each lacks something in some direction. I
am not entirely at the mercy of.
The tearing of hair no.
Pickt up pre-dawn & tortured and detained,
Mr Tan Mam and many other students
sit tight but vocal in illegal cells
and as for Henry Pussycat he’d just as soon be dead
(on the Promise of— I know it sounds incredible—
if can he muster penitence enough—
he can’t though—
glory
July 31, 2015
"Imagine Emily Dickinson crossed with Bessie Smith and Groucho Marx."
"If I say Thy name, art Thou there? It may be so. / Thou art not so absent-minded, as I am. / I am so much so I had to give up driving. / You attend, I feel, to the matters of man."
"If I say Thy name, art Thou there? It may be so. / Thou art not so absent-minded, as I am. / I am so much so I had to give up driving. / You attend, I feel, to the matters of man."
April 9, 2018
This unfortunately is second-drawer or third-drawer material. I liked best the earliest poems, from Berryman's 1948 book the Dispossessed, and the late collection Henry's Fate & Other Poems. Many of the others revolve tiresomely around lust or cling to details from the lives of famous people such as Ezra Pound, John F. Kennedy, Anne Bradstreet (a historically important poet of 17th-century America), and of course himself. There is some humor, as well as some terrifying poems about torture and the Holocaust. His later poems turned toward religion, with poetic expression taking a second place to a somewhat strained theology. All in all, this is a book to put at the end of your shelf to round out a poetry collection that is already ample.
January 19, 2020
Received as a winner Goodreads First Reads. I'm not normally a big reader of poetry . I did enjoy the background on the author at the beginning as I found that helpful in understanding his work. Not necessarily my first choice to read but was able to enjoy some piecws more than others and liked to be introduced to something I would not normally have read.
August 1, 2024
i conclude now i have no inner resources.
an old roommate stole my copy of Dream Songs.
I'll replace it one day, but for now I got this because it was cheaper and also had some pretty good stuff i hadn't read before.
"A is for awful, which things are. / B is for bear them, as well as we can. / C is for Can we? D is for dare:"
an old roommate stole my copy of Dream Songs.
I'll replace it one day, but for now I got this because it was cheaper and also had some pretty good stuff i hadn't read before.
"A is for awful, which things are. / B is for bear them, as well as we can. / C is for Can we? D is for dare:"
March 21, 2017
A fantastic introduction to a fantastic poet. Well introduced amd excellently compiled.
June 20, 2024
“Come, come & live with me.
I can deal with everything but your eyes
in tears- tears I invented & put there,
during our mystery.
I can deal with everything but your eyes
in tears- tears I invented & put there,
during our mystery.
October 27, 2024
A-/A
Inscrutable as ever. I’m mildly surprised that Berryman isn’t more popular on this app / website tbh.
Inscrutable as ever. I’m mildly surprised that Berryman isn’t more popular on this app / website tbh.
October 21, 2016
A collection of poems from John Berryman, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. It also comes with an introduction from author Daniel Swift.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I now plan to donate the book to a library for others to be able to enjoy.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I now plan to donate the book to a library for others to be able to enjoy.
April 17, 2016
So much to wade through to get to Berryman. Another of the confessional poets, like Plath, whose biography has overshadowed his work. I received this as a gift and wasn't all that interested in cracking it open. Then I did, starting with the handful of sonnets offered. Absolutely masterful. Beautiful, contemporary and highly crafted. Homage to Mrs. Bradstreet is reproduced in full. The Dream Songs, like the sonnets, are represented only by a handful but they are quite something. I have, or thought I had, an allergy to the confessional poets. Because of this slim volume I think I'm going to have to give them all another try. Finally, the introduction is quite lengthy and first rate.
October 22, 2021
This plaintive heart is strange indeed—and so is the mind that wrote these poems, which read like internal monologues with no sense of audience. That said, this collection provides a kind of psychological study of solipsism, one of the mental disorders that plagued the poet during his lifetime.
Favorite Poems:
“The Cage”
“Mr. Pou & the Alphabet—which he do not like”
“The Hell Poem”
Favorite Poems:
“The Cage”
“Mr. Pou & the Alphabet—which he do not like”
“The Hell Poem”
September 21, 2016
Received this book on the Goodreads free book giveaway, an interesting read in poetry. Thought provoking and refreshingly honest and openly insightful book. thanks Goodreads free book giveaway and Johnny Berryman for the opportunity to read this book!
October 31, 2016
I enjoyed these poems very much.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews