Fatherhood: poems about fathers

by Carmela Ciuraru (Editor)

A celebration of fathers and fatherhood, this one-of-a-kind anthology features the richly varied voices of daughters and sons, and of fathers and grandfathers themselves. From eleventh-century Chinese poet Su Tung-p'o's witty "On the Birth of His Son" to Dylan Thomas's poignant "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," from Sylvia Plath's searing poem "Daddy" to Yeats's tender "A Prayer for My Daughter," from Homer to Seamus Heaney, from Shakespeare to Milosz, the poets and poems collected here range across cultures and centuries and speak to birth, death, and all the facets of the father-child relationship. Gratitude, tenderness, and awe infuse some of the poems. Others express anger or sorrow. Many are moving tributes to the first man in a child's life. And each one conveys the profound nature of fatherhood.

Genres: Poetry, Parenting

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 8, 2007

About the author

Carmela Ciuraru is the author of Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms, and her anthologies include First Loves: Poets Introduce the Essential Poems That Captivated and Inspired Them and Solitude Poems. She is a member of PEN American and the National Book Critics Circle, and she has been interviewed on The Today Show and by newspapers and radio stations internationally. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Jeremy Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb variety of short poems on the challenges, heartaches, joys, disappointments of fathers and fatherhood. The voices of sons, daughters, and fathers across time and space echo throughout the pages of this volume. Well curated arrangements of quality English poems. I also really enjoy this series of small, cloth bound Everyman poetry anthologies.