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Ardency: a Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels
Acclaimed poet Kevin Young gathers here a chorus of voices that tells the story of the Africans who mutinied onboard the slave ship Amistad . Written over twenty years, this poetic epic—part libretto, part captivity epistle—makes the past present, and even its sorrows sing.
In “Buzzard,” the opening section, we hear from the African interpreter for the rebels, mostly from Sierra Leone, who were captured on their winding attempt to sail home and were jailed in New Haven. In “Correspondance,” we encounter the remarkable letters to John Quincy Adams and others that the captives write from jail, where abolitionists taught them English while converting them to Christianity. In lines profound and pointed, the men demand their freedom in their newfound “All we want is make us free.” The book culminates in “Witness,” a libretto chanted by Cinque, the rebel leader, who yearns for his family and freedom while eloquently evoking the Amistads’ conversion and life in “Merica.”
As Young conjures this array of history and music, interweaving the liberation cry of Negro spirituals and the indoctrinating wordplay of American primers, he delivers his signature songlike immediacy at the service of a tremendous epic built on the ironies, violence, and virtues of American history. Vivid and true, Ardency is a powerful meditation on who we’ve been and who we are.
In “Buzzard,” the opening section, we hear from the African interpreter for the rebels, mostly from Sierra Leone, who were captured on their winding attempt to sail home and were jailed in New Haven. In “Correspondance,” we encounter the remarkable letters to John Quincy Adams and others that the captives write from jail, where abolitionists taught them English while converting them to Christianity. In lines profound and pointed, the men demand their freedom in their newfound “All we want is make us free.” The book culminates in “Witness,” a libretto chanted by Cinque, the rebel leader, who yearns for his family and freedom while eloquently evoking the Amistads’ conversion and life in “Merica.”
As Young conjures this array of history and music, interweaving the liberation cry of Negro spirituals and the indoctrinating wordplay of American primers, he delivers his signature songlike immediacy at the service of a tremendous epic built on the ironies, violence, and virtues of American history. Vivid and true, Ardency is a powerful meditation on who we’ve been and who we are.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 18, 2011
5 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Young
87 books369 followersKevin Young is an American poet heavily influenced by the poet Langston Hughes and the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Young graduated from Harvard College in 1992, was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University (1992-1994), and received his MFA from Brown University. While in Boston and Providence, he was part of the African-American poetry group, The Dark Room Collective.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Young is the author of Most Way Home, To Repel Ghosts, Jelly Roll, Black Maria, For The Confederate Dead, Dear Darkness, and editor of Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers; Blues Poems; Jazz Poems and John Berryman's Selected Poems.
His Black Cat Blues, originally published in The Virginia Quarterly Review, was included in The Best American Poetry 2005. Young's poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and other literary magazines. In 2007, he served as guest editor for an issue of Ploughshares. He has written on art and artists for museums in Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
His 2003 book of poems Jelly Roll was a finalist for the National Book Award.
After stints at the University of Georgia and Indiana University, Young now teaches writing at Emory University, where he is the Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing, as well as the curator of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, a large collection of first and rare editions of poetry in English.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Young is the author of Most Way Home, To Repel Ghosts, Jelly Roll, Black Maria, For The Confederate Dead, Dear Darkness, and editor of Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers; Blues Poems; Jazz Poems and John Berryman's Selected Poems.
His Black Cat Blues, originally published in The Virginia Quarterly Review, was included in The Best American Poetry 2005. Young's poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and other literary magazines. In 2007, he served as guest editor for an issue of Ploughshares. He has written on art and artists for museums in Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
His 2003 book of poems Jelly Roll was a finalist for the National Book Award.
After stints at the University of Georgia and Indiana University, Young now teaches writing at Emory University, where he is the Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing, as well as the curator of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, a large collection of first and rare editions of poetry in English.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 7, 2024
I haven't read a bad book by Kevin Young. Of his books of poetry, I have previously read Brown, Jelly Roll, Stones, and Book of Sorrows.
But Ardency is the best. It has an implied narrative, the story of the Amistad. But it is a book of poetry, not of history. Young uses verse forms I have not seen in his other books; this volume seems experimental in more ways than, say, Stones. The volume uses multiple speakers, especially James Covey, a Mende tribesman who arrived in the US prior to the Amistad and served as a translator, an Cinquez, the Mende leader of the Amistad revolt.
I am a Bible reader, and what I responded to the most is Young's use of Biblical passages and diction, and the church calendar throughout the volume. I do not mean that the volume is "Christian" poetry, per se. But it is at least partly and significantly about the roles of Christianity in the Amistad story. I am so glad that this volume found me.
But Ardency is the best. It has an implied narrative, the story of the Amistad. But it is a book of poetry, not of history. Young uses verse forms I have not seen in his other books; this volume seems experimental in more ways than, say, Stones. The volume uses multiple speakers, especially James Covey, a Mende tribesman who arrived in the US prior to the Amistad and served as a translator, an Cinquez, the Mende leader of the Amistad revolt.
I am a Bible reader, and what I responded to the most is Young's use of Biblical passages and diction, and the church calendar throughout the volume. I do not mean that the volume is "Christian" poetry, per se. But it is at least partly and significantly about the roles of Christianity in the Amistad story. I am so glad that this volume found me.
January 25, 2019
An amazing collection of poems, so evocative. Can't wait to read Kevin Young's other poetry books.
March 21, 2011
I look forward to reading this again. It's right up my poetic alley, and it's just plain good. There are many different structuring methods at work, in four different sections, and I don't know if I took enough time to get how they all worked. I think I'll buy this so I can go back and spend more time with it.
There was one weird thing I'd like to mention: the first section is written in the voice of James Covey, the interpreter for the re-captured slaves of the Amistad. His poems contain several anachronisms--references to canned laughter, G-men, etc. It threw me a little bit. If it was the voice of the poet as narrator I'd be fine with it, but it's supposed to explicitly be from the past. I wonder if that bothered anyone else.
Overall this is a real stunner of a book. It's hard enough making a 50 page book of poetry and Ardency holds its own over 200 pages. It's helped that it has real history and characters to go on, but that doesn't mean that Young didn't do any work.
There was one weird thing I'd like to mention: the first section is written in the voice of James Covey, the interpreter for the re-captured slaves of the Amistad. His poems contain several anachronisms--references to canned laughter, G-men, etc. It threw me a little bit. If it was the voice of the poet as narrator I'd be fine with it, but it's supposed to explicitly be from the past. I wonder if that bothered anyone else.
Overall this is a real stunner of a book. It's hard enough making a 50 page book of poetry and Ardency holds its own over 200 pages. It's helped that it has real history and characters to go on, but that doesn't mean that Young didn't do any work.
September 23, 2011
Well, I've read two books of poetry by Kevin Young. So I guess that comparison was really what sealed the deal for me. He has a couple other works that I now must go read, but I've read this one and 'Black Maria'. The later is a collection of exclusively noir poetry that I enjoyed thoroughly. 'Ardency' however, has nothing to do with noir poetry at all. I'm sensing a pattern here. Whatever Kevin Young writes will be brilliant.
Born and raised Southern, I had access to an education where the curriculum was inundated with some really great African American literature. Still, Young's approach to slavery, oppression, etc. is really quite unique. 'Ardency' disturbs all of the right emotions. This was a long coming, deeply researched piece. To see his poetry evolve and expand is kind of an awesome thing. However, Young is no ordinary poet. This book will make you cry, for a reason that I cannot put my finger on precisely, that is unexplained in any other terms except Kevin Young.
Born and raised Southern, I had access to an education where the curriculum was inundated with some really great African American literature. Still, Young's approach to slavery, oppression, etc. is really quite unique. 'Ardency' disturbs all of the right emotions. This was a long coming, deeply researched piece. To see his poetry evolve and expand is kind of an awesome thing. However, Young is no ordinary poet. This book will make you cry, for a reason that I cannot put my finger on precisely, that is unexplained in any other terms except Kevin Young.
April 12, 2014
Kevin Young is making a place for himself as one of the great, unique voices in American poetry. Ardency is Young's re-telling of the events of the slave ship Amistad, and the book is a true masterpiece. Young uses letters, scripture, prayers, songs, primer books, and newspaper accounts to create an immersive and emotionally overwhelming work of poetic historical art. Ardency sings of freedom, and its absence, and has much to tell us not just about the past, but also of the America we live in today.
January 22, 2013
I love this book. Young is so knowledgeable about 19th-century print culture. The volume plays with font, with texuality, with literacy. The poetry is alive but also recovering knowledge--attempting to understand a mode of being and a process of resistance. Read this book of poetry! Also it is a book--its form as a text is part of the project, so don't read it in any other manner, than holding the book in your hands.
March 24, 2011
Award winning poet, Kevin Young, writes about the Amistad rebels here. Most readers probably know the basic story of the slave ship prisoners who took over their vessel. In the poems, the people involved are portrayed and the reader can visualize the rebels, their stay in CT, and their return to Africa. A fascinating work by the author of JELLY ROLL.
January 27, 2011
Read my review on New York Journal of Books: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/revie...
October 20, 2012
This book is entertaining as well as thought provoking and somewhat beautiful. It is rare to find any of those qualities in contemporary poetry. So I actually don't regret reading it.
August 10, 2013
Ambitious, compelling, and powerful.
August 10, 2014
3.75 stars
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews