Sissman, L(ouis) E(dward) (Vol. 18) - Joel Oppenheimer
JOEL OPPENHEIMER
Sissman was perhaps the best formal poet of our time; the voice is quiet, controlled, moving. Whether these poems [in Hello, Darkness] will live (save for the very few readers still dedicated to intellectual verse) is problematic; I would like to believe that they are strong enough to survive, but I would not be surprised if they didn't. Quite simply, Sissman was out of tune with his time—which is no sin for poets, but carries its price: Nobody listens. If one is to force oneself to read a book, then … this is it. The pleasure of the line, the rhyme, the game of making poems, may just be enough to make you ride along. (p. 118)
Joel Oppenheimer, "The Last of the Old Bunch," in The Village Voice (reprinted by permission of The Village Voice; copyright © The Village Voice, Inc., 1978), Vol. XXII, No. 51, December 18, 1978, pp. 117-18.∗
[The entire page is 166 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
