In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Notes Part฀One.฀Charles฀Simic฀states฀“A฀true฀confession:฀I฀believe฀in฀a฀soluble฀fish”฀in฀ his฀essay฀“The฀Minotaur฀Loves฀His฀Labyrinth,”฀from฀his฀collection฀of฀essays,฀The฀ Unemployed฀Fortune-Teller฀(University฀of฀Michigan฀Press,฀). “Itch,฀Scratch.”฀This฀poem฀is฀deeply฀indebted฀to฀Stephen฀Dunn’s฀“From฀ Nowhere”฀from฀Local฀Visitations฀(Norton,฀). “Memory.”฀The฀Stevens฀poem฀cited฀is฀“The฀Emperor฀of฀Ice฀Cream”฀and฀the฀ Dobyns฀poem฀is฀“The฀Party”฀from฀Cemetery฀Nights฀(Viking฀Penguin,฀). Part฀Two.฀Bertolt฀Brecht’s฀“The฀Fishing฀Tackle”฀was฀translated฀by฀Lee฀Baxendall฀ in฀Bertolt฀Brecht:฀Poems฀–฀(Methuen,฀). “Of฀Snakes,฀Of฀Gluttony.”฀The฀description฀of฀the฀anaconda฀is฀from฀Ben฀Belitt’s฀ translation฀of฀Neruda’s฀“Some฀Beasts”฀in฀Selected฀Poems฀of฀Pablo฀Neruda฀(Grove฀ Press,฀).฀The฀Szymborska฀poem฀cited฀is฀“Pi”฀and฀appeared฀in฀View฀with฀a฀ Grain฀of฀Sand฀(Harcourt฀Brace,฀),฀translated฀by฀Stanislaw฀Baranczak฀and฀ Clare฀Cavanaugh. “Ladybug.”฀Galway฀Kinnell’s฀words฀are฀from฀his฀poem฀“Insomniac,”฀which฀first฀ appeared฀in฀The฀New฀Yorker฀on฀March฀,฀. Part฀Three.฀Jorie฀Graham’s฀“Prayer”฀is฀the฀initial฀poem฀in฀her฀collection฀Never฀ (HarperCollins,฀). “On฀Being฀Asked฀by฀a฀Student฀How฀You฀Know฀When฀a฀Poem฀Is฀Done.”฀Andre฀ Breton฀speaks฀of฀“a฀great฀chandelier฀of฀fish”฀in฀“Soluble฀Fish,”฀Manifestoes฀of฀ Surrealism,฀as฀translated฀by฀Richard฀Seaver฀and฀Helen฀R.฀Lane฀(University฀ of฀Michigan฀Press,฀).฀Dean฀Young฀coins฀the฀phrase฀“zpxtflo,฀unattainable฀ zpxtflo”฀in฀“Blue฀Garden”฀from฀his฀collection฀Skid฀(University฀of฀Pittsburgh฀ Press,฀).฀Randall฀Jarrell’s฀quote฀is฀from฀his฀essay฀“The฀Obscurity฀of฀the฀Poet”฀ in฀Poetry฀and฀the฀Age฀(Random฀House,฀).฀The฀complete฀statement฀is:฀“The฀ poet฀writes฀his฀poem฀for฀its฀own฀sake,฀for฀the฀sake฀of฀that฀order฀of฀things฀in฀which฀ the฀poem฀takes฀the฀place฀that฀has฀awaited฀it.”  ...

Share