This selection of William Jay Smith's work of sixty years covers the entire career of one of America's acknowledged poetic masters. It moves from the dark pre-war lyrics (Quail in Autumn) to the powerful long-lined free verse of the 1960s (The Tin Can). Here are memorable WWII lyrics (Dark Valentine) and masterful light verse (The Tall Poets), displaying the wit that enlivens all of Smith's work. Previously uncollected poems range from a haunting delineation of the ironies of age in "The Shipwreck" to the dramatic intensity of The Cherokee Lottery, which deals with the forced removal of Indian tribes east of the Mississippi.
About the Author :
Author of more than fifty books of poetry, children's verse, literary criticism, translation, and memoirs, and editor of several influential anthologies, William Jay Smith served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (a position now called Poet Laureate) from 1968 to 1970. His memoir, Army Brat, was praised by Eudora Welty and Ralph Ellison, among many others, and his translations have won awards from the French Academy, the Swedish Academy, and the Hungarian government. Two of his thirteen collections of poetry were final contenders for the National Book Award. Professor Emeritus of English at Hollins University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, he divides his time between Cummington, Massachusetts, and Paris.
Review :
"The World below the Window: Poems 1937-1997" offers work by a very serious poet indeed. Serious, but not ponderous, never pretentious. Smith's career has been devoted to the poetry of ordinary events, deep feelings, and clarity. His touch is light and bittersweet; he plays the black keys adroitly without neglecting the call of mundane joys... we would be diminished without the music and melancholy of such sweet lines.--Fredric Koeppel "Memphis Commercial Appeal "
"The World below the Window"... provides a welcome and generous retrospective of Smith's 'adult' work, which from its beginning has been defined by a passionate and deeply informed commitment to traditional rhymed metrical-stanzaic forms... That Smith has written poems replete with rhythm, rhyme, wit, and melody... is cause for celebration, homage, and gratitude.--Elizabeth Frank "The Atlantic Monthly "
The World below the Window... provides a welcome and generous retrospective of Smith's 'adult' work, which from its beginning has been defined by a passionate and deeply informed commitment to traditional rhymed metrical-stanzaic forms... That Smith has written poems replete with rhythm, rhyme, wit, and melody... is cause for celebration, homage, and gratitude.--Elizabeth Frank "The Atlantic Monthly "
The World below the Window: Poems 1937-1997 offers work by a very serious poet indeed. Serious, but not ponderous, never pretentious. Smith's career has been devoted to the poetry of ordinary events, deep feelings, and clarity. His touch is light and bittersweet; he plays the black keys adroitly without neglecting the call of mundane joys... we would be diminished without the music and melancholy of such sweet lines.--Fredric Koeppel "Memphis Commercial Appeal "
"The World below the Window... provides a welcome and generous retrospective of Smith's 'adult' work, which from its beginning has been defined by a passionate and deeply informed commitment to traditional rhymed metrical-stanzaic forms... That Smith has written poems replete with rhythm, rhyme, wit, and melody... is cause for celebration, homage, and gratitude." -- Elizabeth Frank, The Atlantic Monthly
"The World below the Window: Poems 1937-1997 offers work by a very serious poet indeed. Serious, but not ponderous, never pretentious. Smith's career has been devoted to the poetry of ordinary events, deep feelings, and clarity. His touch is light and bittersweet; he plays the black keeys adroitly without neglecting the call of mundane joys... we would be diminished without the music and melancholy of such sweet lines." -- Fredric Koeppel, Memphis Commercial Appeal
"This fine collection of poems written from 1937 to 1997 is a carefully selected sampling of his highly original and varied art... These are fine poems from an American master and deserve a place in any library." -- Library Journal
"Throughout this summary of a formidable career, Smith's images reveal the inescapability of memory, testifying to its enduring capacity to affirm the power of the imagination." -- Publishers Weekly
