Carcanet Press - Modernist Essays

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Donald Davie mapped some of the most dependable critical routes into the heart Modernism - American, English, Irish and Continental. This book includes his most important essays on the subject, starting with his exemplary definition of Modernism in The Poet in the Imaginary Museum (1957) and following on with essays from five decades, about Eliot, Yeats and Pound, and about poetry and music, poetry and fiction. Taken together these essays trace a life-long engagement, sometimes against the grain, with some of the most challenging and rewarding works of the twentieth century. Davie reads with intense intelligence and feeling; at no point is a poet or a poem in danger of becoming grist for a merely academic mill.

Donald Davie

Born in Barnsley in 1922, Donald Davie served in the Navy and studied at Cambridge, becoming Professor of English at Essex, and later at Stanford and Vanderbilt. In 1988 he returned to England where he died in 1995. Carcanet's uniform Collected Works of Donald Davie includes Collected Poems (1990), Under Briggflatts ... read more

Clive Wilmer

Praise for Donald Davie 'From the publication of his debut collection of poems in 1955 until his passing in 1995, Donald Davie enjoyed a doubly excellent reputation as a critic and a poet... Sinéad Morrissey's Selected Poems gives an admirably rounded picture of his work and guides the reader through the editor's well-judged inclusions with a succinct introduction.'
N.S. Thompson, The TLS
'This is very unusual, essential and distinctive poetry of a kind we so often don't see. Davie had a well developed sense of his own outlook and it does come through in quite complex and multifaceted ways.'
Clark Allison, Stride Magazine
'This is a sampler of one of the major poets of the last generation that has been assembled by leaning into the proclivities of one of the major poets of our own... if you have read none of Davie's poetry before, you have a small, perfectly formed, ever-expanding universe to explore.'
Rory Waterman, The Friday Poem

'This is an accessible exploration of Davie's work. And it makes me want to read more, so this taster selection clearly works. It is an important reminder of the great writer he was, and how relevant he still is, nearly thirty years after his death. Morrissey's introduction is clear-eyed and intelligent, a perfect primer'
James Nash, Everybody's Reviewing
'He has drawn a map of modernism, starting with Hardy and Pound, that remains one of the definitive outlines of twentieth-century experiment in form and language. The mapmaker, in this case,is a notable locus on the map.'
Helen Vendler `These poems thrive on the restless energy that drives their author on from form to form and place to place. Few poets are more likely than Davie to persuade new readers that poetry can still be a matter of concern and pleasure.'
Martin Dodsworth, The Guardian 'In his criticism, he has drawn a map of modernism, starting with Hardy and Pound, that remains one of the definitive outlines of twentieth-century experiment in form and language.'
Helen Vendler

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Modernist Essays Donald Davie Edited by Clive Wilmer Imprint: Lives and Letters Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: Paperback (244 pages) (Pub. Mar 2004) 9781857546491 Out of Stock Digital access available through Exact Editions Description Author Reviews Donald Davie mapped some of the most dependable critical routes into the heart Modernism - American, English, Irish and Continental. This book includes his most important essays on the subject, starting with his exemplary definition of Modernism in The Poet in the Imaginary Museum (1957) and following on with essays from five decades, about Eliot, Yeats and Pound, and about poetry and music, poetry and fiction. Taken together these essays trace a life-long engagement, sometimes against the grain, with some of the most challenging and rewarding works of the twentieth century. Davie reads with intense intelligence and feeling; at no point is a poet or a poem in danger of becoming grist for a merely academic mill. Donald Davie Born in Barnsley in 1922, Donald Davie served in the Navy and studied at Cambridge, becoming Professor of English at Essex, and later at Stanford and Vanderbilt. In 1988 he returned to England where he died in 1995. Carcanet's uniform Collected Works of Donald Davie includes Collected Poems (1990), Under Briggflatts ... read more Clive Wilmer ... read more Praise for Donald Davie 'From the publication of his debut collection of poems in 1955 until his passing in 1995, Donald Davie enjoyed a doubly excellent reputation as a critic and a poet... Sinéad Morrissey's Selected Poems gives an admirably rounded picture of his work and guides the reader through the editor's well-judged inclusions with a succinct introduction.' N.S. Thompson, The TLS 'This is very unusual, essential and distinctive poetry of a kind we so often don't see. Davie had a well developed sense of his own outlook and it does come through in quite complex and multifaceted ways.' Clark Allison, Stride Magazine 'This is a sampler of one of the major poets of the last generation that has been assembled by leaning into the proclivities of one of the major poets of our own... if you have read none of Davie's poetry before, you have a small, perfectly formed, ever-expanding universe to explore.' Rory Waterman, The Friday Poem 'This is an accessible exploration of Davie's work. And it makes me want to read more, so this taster selection clearly works. It is an important reminder of the great writer he was, and how relevant he still is, nearly thirty years after his death. Morrissey's introduction is clear-eyed and intelligent, a perfect primer' James Nash, Everybody's Reviewing 'He has drawn a map of modernism, starting with Hardy and Pound, that remains one of the definitive outlines of twentieth-century experiment in form and language. The mapmaker, in this case,is a notable locus on the map.' Helen Vendler `These poems thrive on the restless energy that drives their author on from form to form and place to place. Few poets are more likely than Davie to persuade new readers that poetry can still be a matter of concern and pleasure.' Martin Dodsworth, The Guardian 'In his criticism, he has drawn a map of modernism, starting with Hardy and Pound, that remains one of the definitive outlines of twentieth-century experiment in form and language.' Helen Vendler	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog One Little Room: Peter McDonald read more Collected Poems: Mimi Khalvati read more Invisible Dog: Fabio Morbito, translated by Richard Gwyn read more Dante's Purgatorio: Philip Terry read more Billy 'Nibs' Buckshot: John Gallas read more Emotional Support Horse: Claudine Toutoungi read more
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Modernist Essays

Donald Davie

Edited by Clive Wilmer