This is the first complete narrative history of nineteenth-century American poetry. Barbara Packer explores the neoclassical and satiric forms mastered by the early Federalist poets; the creative reaches of once-celebrated, and still compelling, poets like Longfellow and Whittier; the distinctive lyric forms developed by Emerson and the Transcendentalists. Shira Wolosky provides a new perspective on the achievement of female poets of the period, as well as a close appreciation of African-American poets, including the collective folk authors of the Negro spirituals. She also illuminates the major works of the period, from Poe through Melville and Crane, to Whitman and Dickinson. The authors of this volume discuss this extraordinary literary achievement both in formal terms and in its sustained engagement with changing social and cultural conditions. In doing so they recover and elucidate American poetry of the nineteenth century for our twenty-first century pleasure, profit, and renewed study.
- The most complete narrative history to date of nineteenth-century American poetry
- The only full analysis of American poetry between 1790 and 1855
- An invaluable work for students and scholars of American literature
Read more
Reviews & endorsements
'… this is, without doubt and without any serious rival, the scholarly history for our generation.' Journal of American Studies
'… vast and eminently readable survey of twentieth century American literature …'. Use of English
See more reviews
Customer reviews

Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review

Log in to review

Review was not posted due to profanity
×

, create a review

(If you're not , sign out)

Please enter the right captcha value

Please enter a star rating.

Your review must be a minimum of 12 words.

How do you rate this item?

Reviews must contain at least 12 words about the product.

×

Product details
- Date Published: November 2004
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9780521301084
- length: 368 pages
- dimensions: 236 x 163 x 34 mm
- weight: 0.97kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction Sacvan Bercovitch and Neal Dolan
Part I. American Verse Traditions, 1800–1855 Barbara Packer:
1. Neoclassicism: comic and satiric verse
2. Early narrative and lyric
3. Transcendentalism
Part II. Poetry and Public Discourse, 1820–1910 Shira Wolosky: Preface: The claims of rhetoric
1. Modest claims
2. Claiming the Bible
3. Poetic language
4. Plural identities
5. Walt Whitman: the office of the poet
6. Emily Dickinson: the violence of the imagination
Chronology Neal Dolan.
Look Inside
Editor
Sacvan Bercovitch, Harvard University, Massachusetts
Sacvan Bercovitch is Powell M. Cabot Research Professor of American Literature at Harvard University.
Contributors
Sacvan Bercovitch, Neal Dolan, Barbara Packer, Shira Wolosky