This craft of verse

Description

**From Library Journal:** For Borges (1899-1986), the central fact of life was the existence of words and their potential as building blocks of poetry. In this series of six long-forgotten lectures given at Harvard more than 30 years ago, he insists that reading (in English, primarily) gave him more pleasure than writing. Most of his examples are taken from English-speaking writers, such as Shakespeare, Keats, Byron, Whitman, and Frost. Borges developed a passion for the study of Old English, with its abundant metaphors, harsh beauty, and deep feeling (though not, he admits, for its deep thought). He dislikes the history of literature, which he feels demeans individual works, and he is generally wistful for a future when we are no longer overburdened by history. He champions the primacy of storytelling and prefers the epic to the novel, which he finds "padded." He also argues that one of the great poverties of our time is that we no longer believe in happiness and success and that happy endings seem commercial or staged. Some of his ideas are quirky, but it's still a privilege to have access to one of the most distinctive literary voices of the century. - Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Description

"Though his avowed topic is poetry, Borges explores subjects ranging from prose forms (especially the novel), literary history, and translation theory to philosophical aspects of literature in particular and communication in general. Probably the best-read citizen of the globe in his day, he draws on a wealth of examples from literature in modern and medieval English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, and Chinese, speaking with characteristic eloquence on Plato, the Norse Kenningar, Byron, Poe, Chesterton, Joyce, and Frost, as well as on translations of Homer, the Bible, and the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Series Statement

• The Charles Eliot Norton lectures ;

Other Editions

• This craft of verseHarvard University Press2000-01-01
• This Craft of VerseAudio CDHarvard University Press2000-11-01
• This craft of verse.2002-01-01
• This Craft of Verse (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures)PaperbackHarvard University Press2002-03-30
• Das Handwerk des Dichters.HardcoverHanser2002-09-01
• Das Handwerk des DichtersPaperbackFISCHER Taschenbuch2008-02-01