Essays on Poetic Tradition

by Various Authors

Essays on Poetic Tradition explores how major poets from ancient Greece, Rome, and later literary traditions have both preserved and transformed poetic heritage. This collection, featuring seven insightful essays, examines the intersection of innovation and tradition in the works of influential poets across centuries.

As described on the dust jacket:

"In 'Pindar’s Beginnings,' John H. Finley, Jr. explores Pindar's representation of mythology and fact, along with his relationship to predecessors like Simonides and Theognis. In 'Euripides: Traditionalist and Innovator,' T. B. L. Webster investigates Euripides' evolution as a dramatist, and his departure from traditional forms of Greek tragedy. Victor Pöschl’s 'Poetry and Philosophy in Horace' delves into Horace’s poetic gifts during the fall of the Roman Republic, while George E. Duckworth’s 'The Old and the New in Vergil’s Aeneid' highlights Vergil’s stylistic and metrical innovations."

"Wolfgang Clemen's 'The Uniqueness of Spenser’s Epithalamion' places the poem in historical context, analyzing its structure and dramatic elements. Arnold Stein, in 'George Herbert: The Art of Plainness,' examines Herbert's poetic dialogue with God, reflecting his apparent simplicity. Finally, Roy Harvey Pearce's 'Whitman and Our Hope for Poetry' addresses Whitman’s evolving role as a social critic and his contribution to American poetic tradition."

Adapted from the Percy Graeme Turnbull Memorial Lectures at The Johns Hopkins University, these essays offer rich perspectives on the poets’ relationships with their traditions.

Book details:

Title: The poetic tradition

Author: 

Condition: Good. Chipped, Fading (dustjacket), Tight

Binding: Hardcover 

Publisher: The John Hopkins Press

Publication Date: 1968