Things I Learned Last Week (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Stafford
- First Published: 1982
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Justice, United States or Americans, Authors or writers, Poetry or poets, War, Death or dying, Hypocrisy
“Things I Learned Last Week” is a wonderfully odd, apparently random poem that illustrates a central element of Stafford's poetics. The poem at first seems remarkably offhand and unambitious, a simple disconnected listing of tidbits Stafford happened across during the week. Such an approach, lacking any grand intentions, reveals Stafford's willingness to follow his impulses wherever they might lead him.
The first two stanzas record observations that one would not usually expect to find in a poem: “Ants, when they meet each other,/ usually pass on the right,” and...
[The entire page is 766 words long]
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