Between My Eye and the Light: Poems (Triquarterly) - Softcover

Breslin, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810130556 ISBN 13: 9780810130555

Publisher: Northwestern University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Hole torn in the language, / How shall we speak?"" The very first lines of the first poem in Paul Breslin's artful second collection of poetry, Between My Eye and the Light, demand an answer, of both poet and reader, to the seemingly unspeakable tragedies of modern life. The rest of the collection forms a beautifully insistent exercise in the power of language to engage experiences both mundane and profound. Breslin queries far-flung corners of experience for answers, engaging childhood, his longtime home of Chicago, small moments of life, and profound encounters with artists such Rainer Marie Rilke and Derek Walcott. The poems even query the opening question. While pat answers elude us, poetry is a bulwark against cliche and cynicism, strengthening those who have the courage to question and explore the corners of experience.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Breslin is a professor emeritus at Northwestern University. His most recent book is a translation of Aime Cesaire's The Tragedy of King Christophe, forthcoming this season in the Northwestern World Classics series. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in Agni, American Poetry Review, American Scholar, Callaloo, New Republic, New York Times Book Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, TriQuarterly, Virginia Quarterly, and elsewhere. He haswon six Illinois Arts Council prizes for literary essays and poems, and was twice winner of Poetry magazine's George Kent prize.

Edition details

• Publisher: Northwestern University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810130556
• ISBN 13: 9780810130555
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 88