Carl Rakosi : Man and Poet
“[Rakosi’s] range and humanity persuade all over again that we can’t much longer talk of a ‘Pound-Williams tradition’ as a sort of accredited counter-culture in this century’s American poetry. European though he is by origin and in his sympathies, Rakosi belongs not in the margin but near to the center of what should be seen internationally as distinctively and invaluably American in twentieth-century culture.”
鈥擠onald Davie, The Threepenny Review
The last of the Objectivist poets to win general critical recognition, Carl Rakosi is increasingly acclaimed as a central figure in American poetry. Carl Rakosi: Man and Poet represents the first full critical overview of Rakosi’s work, from his experimental work of the 1920s and early 1930s, much admired by Ezra Pound and Louis Zukofsky, through the extraordinary flowering of his “second” career as a poet, from the late 1960s to the present. Rakosi says of his writing: “When I sit down to write, I must not forget that one does not strike an attitude in front of a mountain.”
The more than twenty-two poets and critics contributing to this collection include George Evans, Andrew Crozier, Richard Caddell, Donald Davie, Cid Corman, and Eric Mottram.
Published in honor of Rakosi’s 90th birthyear, Carl Rakosi: Man and Poet also includes a sheaf of new poems and several important prose pieces by Rakosi himself, along with an interview with and photographs of the poet.
Contents
I
Carl Rakosi, 鈥淩ecent Poems鈥
Carl Rakosi, 鈥淓xamples of Very Early Prose, from a Piece Called Equations鈥
Carl Rakosi, 鈥淎 Note on Music and the Musical鈥
Jim Cohn, 鈥淎 Conversation with Carl Rakosi鈥
Carl Rakosi, 鈥淕eorge Oppen, the Last Days鈥
George Evans and Augustine Kleinzahler, 鈥淎n Interview with Carl Rakosi鈥
II
Andrew Crozier, 鈥淐arl Rakosi in the 鈥極bjectivists鈥 Epoch鈥
Richard Caddel, 鈥淩akosi and Bunting鈥
Jeffrey Peterson, 鈥溾楾he Allotropes of Vision鈥: Carl Rakosi and the Psychology of Microscopy鈥
Kent Johnson, 鈥淧rosody and the Outside: Some Notes on Rakosi and Stevens鈥
Henry Weinfield, 鈥淩akosi鈥檚 鈥楨xperiences in Parnassus鈥: A Note on Objectivist Poetics鈥
Andrew Crozier, 鈥淩emembering Carl Rakosi: A Conjectural Reconstruction of 鈥楾he Beasts鈥欌
III
Donald Davie, 鈥淟apidary Lucidity鈥
Thomas Lavazzi, 鈥淭he World, the Other, the Text: Dialogic Method in Rakosi鈥檚 Poetry and Prose鈥
Sharon Dolin, 鈥淐arl Rakosi鈥檚 Dyadic Strophe鈥
Lawrence Fixel, 鈥淭he Mindscape of Carl Rakosi: Towards a Reading of The Collected Poems鈥
Robert Buckeye, 鈥淭he Leap of His Poetry, the Intervention of His Life鈥
Cid Corman, 鈥淐aught in the Act: The Comedian as Social Worker in the Work of Carl Rakosi鈥
Laurie Duggan, 鈥尝鈥机丑补测颈尘: Carl Rakosi鈥檚 Collected Poems and Collected Prose鈥
David Zucker, 鈥溾楢 Small Metaphysical Lamp鈥: Carl Rakosi鈥檚 Wit鈥
Eric Mottram, 鈥溾楢 Mind Working鈥: Carl Rakosi鈥
Ruby Riemer, 鈥淐arl Rakosi and the Metaphoric Mode鈥
David Guest, 鈥淐onveyances: Oral History in the Work of Carl Rakosi and Charles Reznikoff鈥
Tony Baker, 鈥淰ariations on a Theme of Carl Rakosi鈥
Linda Barnes, 鈥淯rbane Sublimity: Carl Rakosi鈥檚 Spiritus, I鈥
Burt Kimmelman, 鈥淕eorge Oppen and the Other: Carl Rakosi鈥檚 鈥極ld Poet鈥檚 Tale鈥欌
IV
Robert Buckeye, 鈥淢aterials Towards a Study of Carl Rakosi鈥
Andrew Crozier, 鈥淎 Handlist of Carl Rakosi鈥檚 Early Poems, 1923-1941鈥