Josephine Miles

Start Free Trial

The Body of Man

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

In the following essay, Vernon Young argues that Josephine Miles's collection "To All Appearances" reveals her true poetic voice, characterized by personal engagement and suppressed indignation, challenging critics who previously underestimated her work as merely empirical and denotative.

[Josephine Miles's] "To All Appearances" (keep your eye on the title as you read her) is a noteworthy publication, especially for critics who may have taken Miss Miles too readily at her own word in the past: the empiricist prepared to eliminate from her verse all the felicities save those of the denotative voice. She had her tongue in her cheek. Among the new poems in this collection are some scarlet with indignation, if you read them properly. Miss Miles is excruciatingly personal, never solipsistic; she is engagé but not yours for the keeping; her accent is mid-west; she sees ghost goal-keepers. (p. 592)

Vernon Young, "The Body of Man," in The Hudson Review (copyright © 1975 by The Hudson Review, Inc.; reprinted by permission), Vol. XXVIII, No. 4, Winter, 1975…76, pp. 585-98.∗

Get Ahead with eNotes

Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.

Get 48 Hours Free Access
Previous

A Review of Josephine Miles's Latest Book

Next

A Quarter of Poetry

Loading...