Selected Poems

by Edwin Arlington Robinson, Robert Faggen (Introduction), Joseph Brodsky (Foreword)

A Penguin Classic

A best seller in his lifetime though neglected in recent years, Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) is due to be restored to his rightful place in literary history as one of the first great American Modernist poets. His poetry was revolutionary, though it looked deceptively conventional because it was written in metre and rhyme. He cast aside the stiff archaism and prettiness favoured by his contemporaries, instead employing everyday language with dramatic power, wit, and sensitivity. His lyric poems illuminate ordinary people, especially the downtrodden, the bereft, and the mistunderstood. In the process he created the gallery of character portraits for which he is most fondly remembered, among them Eben Flood, Aunt Imogen, Isaac and Archibald, Miniver Cheevy and Richard Cory.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Genres: Poetry, American, 20th Century, Literature, Classics, Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Works of American poet Edwin Arlington Arlington include long narratives and character studies of New Englanders, including "Miniver Cheevy" (1907).

Edwin Arlington Robinson won three Pulitzer Prizes for his work. His family moved to Gardiner, Maine, in 1870. He described his childhood as "stark and unhappy."

Early difficulties of Robinson led to a dark pessimism, and his stories dealt with "an American dream gone awry."

In 1896, he self-published his first book, "The Torrent and the Night Before", paying 100 dollars for 500 copies. His second volume, "The Children of the Night", had a somewhat wider circulation.

Edwin Arlington Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1922 for his first "Collected Poems," in 1925 for "The Man Who Died Twice," and in 1928 for "Tristram."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Ar...

Reviews

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting the canon of American poetry and for no particular reason--other than that he was a favorite of my undergrad mentor in American lit, Dan Tynan--decided to start with the gloomy, controlled Robinson. His best poems--"Luke Havergal," "Richard Cory," "Miniver Cheevey"--are character sketches of New Englanders who share the poets' bleakly stoic outlook. Robinson's world is one of darkness and loss, always verging on suicidal. He feels the attraction of the lost world of chivalary, but is smart enough to know he's projecting an unreality. Probably the most important philosophical and formal ancestor of Robert Frost.

[Grace Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is beautiful, but a lot of the poems are dark and depressing.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great selection! Robinson has been one of my favorite poets since secondary school when "Richard Cory" was the first poem that wowed me (had admittedly read few up to that point). He was a brilliant craftsman of the sonnet and lyric; the poems in this collection are polished and subtle. Not a wasted word to be found. It's a pity he's not read more often these days. His themes of isolation, identity, disillusionment, social fragmentation, alienation and the complexities of human relations in a rapidly changing world would resonate well today.

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Sonnets*

[Bertha · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.25) Most of the poems are stuck in time, they are written for the early 1900s and simply not timeless pieces (some still are really good).

THE PITY OF THE LEAVES
Vengeful across the cold November moors,
Loud with ancestral shame there came the bleak
Sad wind that shrieked, and answered with a shriek.
Reverberant through lonely corridors.
The old man heard it; and he heard, perforon,
Words out of lips that were no more to speak
Words of the past that shook the old man's check
Like dead, remembered footsteps on old floor
And then there were the leaves that plagued him an'
The brown, thin leaves that on the stones ousside Skipped with a freezing whisper, Now and then
They stopped, and stayed there-fast to let him knew
How dead they were, but if the old man ened,
They fluttered off like withered souls of men

[Tom van Veenendaal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately some of Robinson's finest poems are missing from this volume. Especially the absence of "The Jewish Wanderer" is a tragedy. The introduction is also very brief, which is sad because it is well-written and insightful. A poet so neglected as Robinson could benefit from a longer introduction. I hope Robinson gets a larger, more expansive volume of selected poetry soon; until that happens, you might as well just buy his complete poems, since you can find that volume for less than 5 bucks with ease.

[David Sterritt]

I’ve long associated Edwin Arlington Robinson with dour and ingenious portrait poems – “Richard Cory,” “Miniver Cheevy” – but reading through Robert Faggen’s selection of his work shows that his poetry was far more varied than I’d thought. There are rhymed and unrhymed verses, sonnets on diverse subjects, some relatively long poems with political or religious subjects, and a lovely tribute to George Crabbe, whom I’ve also read recently. Dour and ingenious the poems usually are, and often excellent as well. A fine and undervalued poet.

[Real Housewives · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous

[w gall · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some poems I liked, that we're thoughtful. About 1 in every 5. Some were just too obscure, probably because I don't live in the world he did, early 19th century New England.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some poems are very interesting and some are boring. But considering the poems are very short and one poem is a whole story , it’s a good choice to read it in your fragmentary time.

[Coco Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Themes of loss, regret, and somber reflection ring through many of his poems. I enjoyed his shorter pieces that had bouncy flows through them with his rhyming construction, a nice contrast to the dark solemn content. Many poems were steeped in brilliant symbolism and required multiple read throughs to appreciate the depth of his wit. I personally admired his pieces inspired from biblical texts that I grew up familiar with. However some poems became very winded, and the symbolism too dense that the meaning was lost on me. 3.5 Star overall

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. E.A Robinson wrote too much, but his great stuff is still great. Also, he is practically forgotten this day and age so that should tell you something. The beginning of the book reads well but by 1/4th the way through you realize the book has been padded. The sonnets at the beginning are great. Worth a look, esp since he influenced Frost and American style poetry.

[Martin Bihl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guy's poems don't do anything for me, but i love the fact that Teddy Roosevelt gave him a cushy job so he could keep writing.

[Jim Krosschell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edwin Arlington Robinson, three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in the 1920s, was born in Alna and grew up in Gardiner; he described his childhood as “stark and unhappy.”