Ashbery, John (Vol. 3) | Ashbery, John 1927–
Ashbery, John 1927–
An American experimental poet who influenced contemporary French poetry during his nearly ten years in France, Ashbery is best known for his collections The Tennis Court Oath and Rivers and Mountains. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 5-8, rev. ed.)
Looking at Ashbery's work in aesthetic terms alone makes about as much sense as taking Traherne's Centuries of Meditation (with which Three Poems has a great deal in common) as a response to the itch to meditate. Of course Ashbery is innovative; it is just beyond that point that his poetry begins….
We might get a clearer view of it by abandoning the pretense that we already know what poems are, and are in a position to recognize a (merely) new one. Three Poems almost forces us to abandon it. What they 'are', after all, are meditations—which derivatively describes a form, but primarily an activity….
And...
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