Burning the Empty Nests

by Gregory Orr

Poems of being.

Genres: Poetry

70 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Gregory Orr was born in Albany, New York in 1947, and grew up in the rural Hudson Valley. He received a BA degree from Antioch College in 1969 and an MFA from Columbia University in 1972.

He is the author of more than ten collections of poetry, including River Inside the River: Poems (W. W. Norton, 2013); How Beautiful the Beloved (Copper Canyon Press, 2009); Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved (2005); The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems (2002); Orpheus and Eurydice (2001); City of Salt (1995), which was a finalist for the L.A. Times Poetry Prize; Gathering the Bones Together (1975) and Burning the Empty Nests (1973).

He is also the author of a memoir, The Blessing (Council Oak Books, 2002), which was chosen by Publisher's Weekly as one of the fifty best non-fiction books the year, and three books of essays, including Poetry As Survival (2002) and Stanley Kunitz: An Introduction to the Poetry (1985).
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/...

Reviews

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am re-reading some of my favorite poetry books cover to cover rather than just dipping in. Orr always inspires me.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

50 years old! Orr’s first book moves mostly nimbly in surreal or “deep” images—poems not quite explicable but involving nonetheless. The exception is the 4th section which feels mostly written to purpose, a kind of exorcism of his personal ghosts, and not successful at all. But the first 3 sections have enough narrative and imagery to make up for could easily have been excised.

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a collection. Orr packs myth with fable with dream logic into these tiny, compact narrative poems. A truly memorable book. This reminds me of Popa if Popa was less cosmic, more woodland. Right up my alley.

[Ann]

The Dinner (p. 12)


I invited Mozart to dinner
on condition he didn't
embarrass me.
In the middle of the meal
he began weeping uncontrollably.
"You silly fuck," I screamed,
"what are you doing
in this century
if you can't take it?"

[Lizzie Drexler · Rating 5 out of 5]

So wild and so so so lovely

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poems in the first three sections were lovely but not quite mind blowing. It's the fourth section, "The Adventures of the Stone," that really makes this collection pop. Because of that last section, this is probably more of a 4.5 than a 4, but only for the last part.

[Bernadette · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first books from this accomplished poet. Along with Gathering the Bones together it taught me a lot in the beginning days of my attempts at poetry.

[Mills College Library]

811.54 O75b 1973