The City Limits | Essays and Criticism

  • Radiance

    Kelly is a creative writing and literature instructor at two colleges in Illinois. In this essay, Kelly considers whether the “radiance” referred to in the poem is as comforting as Ammons wants it to be..

  • Can This Poem Be Considered An an Ars Poetica.

    White is a Seattle-based publisher, editor, and teacher. In this essay, White examines the Old Testament influences on Ammons’s poem and argues its status as an ars poetica.

  • Ammons: Pilgrim, Sage, Ordinary Man

    In the following essay excerpt, Costello describes “The City Limits” as an “eloquent example” of Ammons’s mastery of poetic technique.

  • The Tradition of American Romantic Poetry

    In the following essay, Hoffman and Sutro examine the canon of Ammons’s work in the tradition of American Romantic poetry.