Swenson, May - Alfred Corn (essay date 1993)

Alfred Corn (essay date 1993)

SOURCE: A review of The Love Poems of May Swenson, in Poetry, Vol. CLXI, No. 5, February, 1993, pp. 295-98.

[A noted contemporary American poet, Corn has received praise for the informal yet controlled style of his verse, which synthesizes traditional and modern elements. In the following review, he finds many poems in The Love Poems of May Swenson erotic and memorable.]

Maybe I had too high expectations for [The Love Poems of May Swenson] when it was first announced. A new book by May Swenson is always welcome, and this time normal anticipation was heightened by the possibility that her estate had decided to publish work that shyness or prudence had prevented her from making available during her lifetime. Hopes slipped a notch when the credits page stated that only thirteen of the poems were previously unpublished; five have before now appeared in magazines, but the remaining...

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