Helen Vendler – Someone to sit beside as you read poetry
The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar: Essays on Poets and Poetry by Helen Vendler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reading Helen Vendler as she discusses poets and their poetry is like sitting with your favorite professor, one not stuffy though erudite, one brilliant but clear. I may not agree with her exegesis of a given poem or her ultimate judgement on the worth of a given poet’s work, I have to face that fact of her cogent arguments. Vendler seems to love poetry so much more than many critics who spend their time demonstrating their superiority to the art their discuss. I enjoy reading her essays and explications nearly as much as I do the poetry itself.