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Collected Poems, 1951-1971
The American poet reflects upon age, decay, individual freedom, the influence of fate, and man's relation to nature
- GenresPoetryLiteratureFiction
396 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
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About the author
A.R. Ammons
51 books64 followersArchie Randolph Ammons was born outside Whiteville, North Carolina, on February 18, 1926. He started writing poetry aboard a U. S. Navy destroyer escort in the South Pacific. After completing service in World War II, he attended Wake Forest University and the University of California at Berkeley.
His honors included the Academy's Wallace Stevens Award, the Poetry Society of America's Robert Frost Medal, the Ruth Lilly Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
He lived in Ithaca, New York, where he was Goldwin Smith Professor of Poetry at Cornell University until his retirement in 1998. Ammons died on February 25, 2001.
His honors included the Academy's Wallace Stevens Award, the Poetry Society of America's Robert Frost Medal, the Ruth Lilly Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
He lived in Ithaca, New York, where he was Goldwin Smith Professor of Poetry at Cornell University until his retirement in 1998. Ammons died on February 25, 2001.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
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February 21, 2021I found a
weed
that had a
mirror in it
and that
mirror
looked in at
a mirror
in
me that
had a
weed in it
weed
that had a
mirror in it
and that
mirror
looked in at
a mirror
in
me that
had a
weed in it
December 1, 2008
A great one to pick up and thumb from time to time. Ammons' poetry is like Eudora Welty meets Wallace Stevens: a Southern modernist with a knack for the Southern vernacular and an ability to capture the landscape. I don't think it gets any better than that.
December 15, 2020
A.R. Ammons (1926–2001) was one of the major American poets of the 20th century and certainly recognized as such – though he had not been much of an academic, on the strength of his first couple of volumes alone Cornell University invited him on board and he taught many during his decades there. All the same, Ammons sometimes does seem to exist aloof from the poetry scene even in his own country, and he virtually never alludes to his poetic forebears or overtly draws on any kind of American or European tradition of literature or visual arts.
Ammons’ Collected Poems 1951–1971 compiles the seven collections he had published to date – the book-length poem Tape for Turn of the Year, however, is not included and must be found separately. The book’s contents make absolutely no reference to the titles of the earlier collections, instead in the table of contents the poems are grouped according to the years they were written: 1951–1955, 1956–1960, etc.
What distinguished Ammons’ poetry here in its early years was a keen eye for observation of the natural landscape in terms of geology, flora and fauna, along with a knowledge of the hard sciences (physics, chemistry). The two concerns are perfectly joined in "Mechanism", probably my favourite Ammons poem, where a bird is examined as an intricate machine:
Another poem that captures at peak quality Ammons’ powers of observations is the celebrated “Corson’s Inlet”, found here in this collection.
Placed at the end of the book are three long poems, "Essay on Poetics", "Hibernaculum", and “Extremes and Moderations”. These show another side of Ammons, which I find the downside. Ammons wrote long poems by deciding on a fixed format (stanzas of three lines each, say) and then every morning hammering away at his typewriter about whatever he had on his mind – readers will know this was his working method because he plainly says so within the poem. While some of the metaphors and eloquence are impressive, I started to get tired of the repetitive stream-of-conscious. When lofty poetry gives way to dull mentions of the weather outside (Ammons likes to mention that it has snowed or is below freezing, these long poems a winter thing) or doing the shopping in town, the magical mood is spoiled.
Ultimately some of the poems here in this volume still move me years after I first read them, but my overall impression is that Ammons should have been more self-critical, subjecting those long poems to a severe editing process that cuts out those mundane remarks, and suppressing some of the weaker short poems. At nearly 400 pages there is too much here of middling quality that can obscure the good stuff.
Note that a new two-volume edition of Ammons’ collected poems appeared in 2017, which includes also the material here. However, that hardcover has been criticized for its glued binding that will not last. My hardcover of the original Collected Poems 1951–1971, on the other hand, has a tough binding, and anyone who wants to buy this poetry and keep it in their library for the long haul might want to seek out this 1970s printing instead of the more recent collected works.
Ammons’ Collected Poems 1951–1971 compiles the seven collections he had published to date – the book-length poem Tape for Turn of the Year, however, is not included and must be found separately. The book’s contents make absolutely no reference to the titles of the earlier collections, instead in the table of contents the poems are grouped according to the years they were written: 1951–1955, 1956–1960, etc.
What distinguished Ammons’ poetry here in its early years was a keen eye for observation of the natural landscape in terms of geology, flora and fauna, along with a knowledge of the hard sciences (physics, chemistry). The two concerns are perfectly joined in "Mechanism", probably my favourite Ammons poem, where a bird is examined as an intricate machine:
...heat kept by a feathered skin:
the living alembic, body heat maintained (bunsen
burner under the flask
so the chemistries can proceed, reaction rates
interdependent, self-adjusting, with optimum
efficiency–the vessel firm, the flame
staying: isolated, contained reactions!...
Another poem that captures at peak quality Ammons’ powers of observations is the celebrated “Corson’s Inlet”, found here in this collection.
Placed at the end of the book are three long poems, "Essay on Poetics", "Hibernaculum", and “Extremes and Moderations”. These show another side of Ammons, which I find the downside. Ammons wrote long poems by deciding on a fixed format (stanzas of three lines each, say) and then every morning hammering away at his typewriter about whatever he had on his mind – readers will know this was his working method because he plainly says so within the poem. While some of the metaphors and eloquence are impressive, I started to get tired of the repetitive stream-of-conscious. When lofty poetry gives way to dull mentions of the weather outside (Ammons likes to mention that it has snowed or is below freezing, these long poems a winter thing) or doing the shopping in town, the magical mood is spoiled.
Ultimately some of the poems here in this volume still move me years after I first read them, but my overall impression is that Ammons should have been more self-critical, subjecting those long poems to a severe editing process that cuts out those mundane remarks, and suppressing some of the weaker short poems. At nearly 400 pages there is too much here of middling quality that can obscure the good stuff.
Note that a new two-volume edition of Ammons’ collected poems appeared in 2017, which includes also the material here. However, that hardcover has been criticized for its glued binding that will not last. My hardcover of the original Collected Poems 1951–1971, on the other hand, has a tough binding, and anyone who wants to buy this poetry and keep it in their library for the long haul might want to seek out this 1970s printing instead of the more recent collected works.
June 19, 2019
Just discovered this poet. Not sure what took me so long, but a new favorite. A nice introduction to a career that spanned decades.
September 7, 2023
More than 4 stars, but hard to say how many more in fractions. The poet is a master of the short poem. His short poetry is worth almost 5 stars.
May 2, 2009
I haven't finished reading ALL the poems here, but am going to take a break for awhile (I've read almost one third, from various time periods in this collection). I forget how I stumbled upon this poet--I think he was quoted on an anarchist site that Lara sent me (believe it or not)--but he is one that I'll be going back to from time to time. There is a freshness of word crafting here, and as one reviewer on a poetry site put it, a negotiation between communality and singularity. The fact that he came to poetry from a nonacademic background is particularly interesting and inspiring.
July 9, 2010
Ammons possesses a keen sense of humor, and a good eye to detail. He uses quite inventive metaphors, as well as employing interesting constructions that are sparse but incredibly detailed at the same time. I read this toward the end of my semester, and I was a little upset that I had waited so long.
October 15, 2007
Very approachable and appealing poetry. Quiet musings on nature that tend to follow thoughts into abstraction, toward a generalization of principles. Lyrical but with a scientific quality; finely observed and sympathetic.
June 26, 2007
My favorite book by my favorite poet.
November 1, 2007
collection of his first 5 or 6 books. So much here, just dive right in and you'll find something mind-blowing.
December 28, 2007
Ammons is a wonderful poet, the best. I really enjoyed this collection.
September 28, 2009
He expanded my mind with his words in High School.
January 22, 2017
I have read "Corsons Inlet" so many times over such a long period of time that sometimes I think I wrote it. Or it wrote me.
May 25, 2013
Jazzy rhythms and composed under the pure light of a reasonably mind but a full heart.
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December 20, 2018Too much. I need to get this copy back to the library. I want to either own this, or, preferably, start with a best-of.
I am enjoying what I'm reading. It's accessible (at least on a superficial level, to this reader who does have some experience w/poetry) and interesting. I did get to p. 6o, to 'Thaw.' I particularly liked 'A Sheaf of Light.'
I am enjoying what I'm reading. It's accessible (at least on a superficial level, to this reader who does have some experience w/poetry) and interesting. I did get to p. 6o, to 'Thaw.' I particularly liked 'A Sheaf of Light.'
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews