Jerome J. McGann (essay date spring 1992)
SOURCE: McGann, Jerome J. “Laura (Riding) Jackson and the Literal Truth.” Critical Inquiry 18, no. 3 (spring 1992): 454-73.
[In the following essay, McGann explores the relationship between language, poetry, and truth in Riding's.]
I heard poems inhabited by voices.
—Susan Howe, “Thorow”
Can poetry tell the truth? This question has embarrassed and challenged writers for a long time. While the question may be addressed at both an ethical and an epistemological level, its...
Source: Poetry Criticism, ©2003 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
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