Ciardi Himself: Fifteen Essays in the Reading, Writing, and Teaching of Poetry

by John Ciardi, Edward M. Cifelli (Foreword)

An excellent introduction to the man and his thoughts on the painstaking craftsmanship involved in the art of writing poetry, Ciardi Himself includes some hard lessons, but in the hands of this master teacher, the going is easy.

141 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

John Anthony Ciardi was an American poet, translator, editor, writer and etymologist.

Reviews

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and fun collection of essays, especially on how to teach the humanities and poetry. Of this, he writes, "Only a teacher of intellectual and of emotional depth can be a good guide to the experience of the humanities" (127). This reminded me of the men and women in my life who have acted as guides into the humanities for me, giving me a newfound appreciation for their own inner depths.

I agree with so much of what he decries in the modern education system, though I don't think his analysis penetrates deep enough. All throughout these essays is a concern with mere human convention and poetic form. However, the Western literary tradition is bankrolled by a far more metaphysically-minded vocabulary and world-and-life-view (of course, he knows this as he wrote one of the best translations of Dante's Comedy). Though Ciardi talks of beauty and truth, he often trivializes them, writing, "beauty and truth . . . can exist only as they are exemplified in a specific and managed work of art" (134). This is, unfortunately, not true enough. For modern pedagogy to be revived, we need more. As the Dutch Reformed theologian, Herman Bavinck, reminds us, "With a completely secular idea of the task of education, these [principle] differences are irreconcilable, because the purpose of the creature is never found in the creature itself, but from the nature of things, only in God, the Creator." Interestingly, Mark Edmondson, in his trilogy of books on teaching, writing, and reading, concludes similarly with Bavinck about the shortcomings of a purely secular idea of education. Humanism has much to offer us -- but post-metaphysical humanism leaves the human unmoored. For Edmondson (and for Bavinck) there is a deeply spiritual component to teaching which aims at the soul and its formation.

I am grateful for Ciardi's appreciation for poetic form and love of words. There is much to learn from Ciardi, even if he can't solve our educational issues.