Against oblivion: Some lives of the twentieth-century poets

by Ian Hamilton

The idea for Ian Hamilton's unorthodox new book was sparked by a rereading of Samuel Johnson's classic "Lives of the English Poets". Johnson included appraisals of 52 poets, but of these only a tiny handful - four or five, perhaps - are still remembered. What, then, of the 20th century? How many English-language poets of that epoch will we be admiring 200 years from now? How many will resist oblivion? Hamilton takes 45 dead 20th-century poets and offers a personal - and sometimes highly critical - response to each of them. And in the process he constructs a portrayal of what the living of a 20th-century "poetic life" has actually involved. Underpinning Hamilton's narrative are two main propositions. Firstly, that the 20th century was almost from the beginning dominated by four key figures - Yeats, Eliot, Auden and Hardy -and that subsequent poets have, in one way or another, had to "take on" these overshadowing exemplars. For these four, Hamilton insists, oblivion presents no threat. Secondly, that, faced with a secular, mass-educated and largely philistine "audience", the poet's appetite for durability, for lastingness, has been intensified - in some cases, constructively; in others, with disastrous results. Larkin, Lowell, Berryman, will we continue to remember them? Ginsberg, Spender, real talents, or mere poetry-world careerists? And, in the end, how many do we need? Examples of each candidate's verse accompany Hamilton's prose text, so that "Against Oblivion" can be taken as an informal introduction to 20th-century poetry, or as a basis for critical dispute, or as a useful and provocative three books in one.

Genres: Poetry, Biography, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism

336 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Robert Ian Hamilton was a British literary critic, reviewer, biographer, poet, magazine editor and publisher.

Reviews

[Jon]

Useful sketches of famous and obscure poets, with at least one poem from each, except Sylvia Plath (1932-63), whose estate refused permission, ending the book on an eerie note, since SP is the last poet Hamilton discusses. Hamilton's writing is excellent throughout but there are some major omissions, even considering Hamilton's stipulation that every poet he analyzed had to be dead. For Hamilton, 20th century English-language poetry is apparently a whites-only zone--don't even look for Langston Hughes (1902-67). Also missing is the important New York School poet Frank O'Hara (1926-66). Hamilton makes one major error in discussing THE DREAM SONGS of John Berryman (1914-72) when he says "Mr. Bones" is the name of Henry's interlocutor. In fact Mr. Bones is a name the interlocutor calls Henry, the main character in the sequence. Then again, Berryman's friend Robert Lowell (1917-77) made the same mistake when he reviewed 77 DREAM SONGS in the NY REVIEW OF BOOKS. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the less I knew about any given poet, the more valuable I tended to find Hamilton's discussion of that poet, and vice versa.

[Sean Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd selection of mostly male and Western poets, whose names for various reasons (not all of them literary) may survive for some time (Oblivion ever invincible, in the end?)

The treatment of the poets' lives and character seems uneven. There is a rather unsympathetic portrait of Phillip Larkin (quoting his 'unpublished' later angry poem... - if it is so unpleasant and 'unpublished', then why quote it?) whilst Ted Hughes emerges as something of a doubly hen-pecked husband...

Female poets are thin on the ground...

For this reader, there were some novelties: the modern mysticism of James Wright, the toying-with-settling-down of Gregory Corso, the ouija-board wielding James Merill, the proper soldier-poet Keith Douglas.

The two great wars loom over the English selection, which contrasts with the more Prufrock-ish quotidianity of Americans such as Fuller, Kees, Jarrell.

Much of the biography is even more engaging than the poetry - it makes for humorous yet also sobering reading - many of the poets end their days either with the bottle or in the mad house, or worse... Quoting John Berryman: "The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal that will not actually kill him...".

Many of the poets really suffered for their art .. it is difficult not to conclude that a poetic ambition is not something to be wished for nor advised...

Surprisingly, Yeats does not make the list - and the only Irish poet is Louis MacNeice which seems an odd choice - what of Beckett or Heaney or Eavan Boland?

A flawed text - the selection of poets is far too Anglo-American - yet worth a read for anyone interested in male western poets of the middle decades of the 20th Century.

[Cath Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now out of print I think - but if you can get hold of a copy, do. Ian Hamilton, one of the greatest literary critics of his generation, gives a pen portrait of 45 of the key figures in 20th century poetry. Illuminating, precise and penetrating.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

holy cow, what fascinating book. pg 147