Poetical Dictionary

by Lohren Green

Poetry. Lohren Green's POETICAL DICTIONARY concludes with chaos and begins with acrobatics. In between these he presents us with "both a book of words and a cosmos"; a linguistic gas cloud bounded by the universal and the particular. Green's project departs from the traditional dictionary, a peculiar contraption of sense and order. In the preface, he reviews the architectures of these teetering, teeming, linguistic edifices. His attitude towards words is almost that of a material scientist, exploding an individual specimen of language-"bulwark" "heft" "oyster" "purple" "torpid" "foreplay"--in order to ascertain its "synthesis of body and concept." Organized into SUBJECT WORD, PRONUNCIATION, ETYMOLOGY, and DEFINITION, each entry in the POETICAL DICTIONARY makes the traditional dictionary hiccup, divulging the stanza within the standard definition and the wiggle of wit in the pronunciation key. "addressable / glow unit of / information"--from "pixel."

Genres: Poetry

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Daniel Coffeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words that endlessly perform themselves: this is a recipe for delight. And Dr. Green is a master chef, his prose so delicate and sure, so refined and keen. The Preface is one of the great contributions to literature -- and certainly one of the best things ever written about words.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

that- flick an accurate tongue dart: "that" pron., adj., adv., and conj.
[Old English thæt, neutral demonstrative pronoun and definite article]
1. a most general specification that
is always particular,
as in pron.-
A. that,
I mean that right back there, B. that which is not this, or C.
that further away in space or time which
is not this,
or D. a subject or object that
serves in a relative clause or E. the convergence
of rapier and wit , take that-
or adj.- F. that which was already mentioned, or adv.-
G. to that certain extent it qualifies adjectives of magnitude
or conj.- H. that it might
introduce a subordinate clause as the subject
is possible or, I. tone-judging that person or thing
or n.- J. the that of thatness, being the particular way that is
necessarily what that is, or pron.- K. the attuned remarking
yes, (all) that.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW! This was such an experience to read!

And I mean experience in a few ways. First of all, it was totally different, so it was a unique experience in that respect. Second, and much more importantly in my opinion, it doesn't give the actual definition of the word, but how one might experience the word. Basically, each entry performs itself.

This is an absolutely beautiful read.

[Adam Ellsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful celebration of the self-animating qualities of language.

[Kevin Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A curious redefinition of both what it means to be poetical and what it means to be a dictionary. Whimsical, if a bit light. Worth reading.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light book of poetry that is also a dictionary that is also a rhetorical handbook. This dictionary includes a little list of words, plus the large cosmos that those words inscribe.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing performance of language and its visceral capabilities.

[Salpi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Won't make sense to anyone not initiated into Merleau-Ponty, or Daniel Coffeen's particular brand of Rhetoric.

[Leslie Wexler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most inspired and inspiring dictionary I've ever encountered.