Lives of the Poets

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating but a little long
Review: "Lives of the Poets" covers seven hundred years of English language poets and poetry in a little under a thousand pages. Schmidt starts in the early fourteenth century--early enough that he takes several chapters to get to Chaucer--and continues right up to the present day, ending with Seamus Heaney and his contemporaries.

Schmidt's style is to take several contemporary names and treat them together in a single chapter. Sometimes he gives a poet a chapter to himself (Edmund Spenser, William Blake); sometimes he deals with half a dozen at a time. The chronological approach (which he acknowledges is disdained by some in academe) works very well in providing a narrative, a sense of unfolding of poetic skill and poetic tradition.

The period up to about 1900 is beautifully done. Most of the poets whose lives and work Schmidt describes are well-known, either for their poetry, or at least as names. He includes quite a few, however, who will be familiar only to academics or real poetry buffs--Juliana Berners, Robert Manning, Mary Wroth, William Cullen Bryant. Schmidt's prose is lively and engaging, and his love for his subjects and their poetry shines through. I found myself inspired to read the poets I didn't know. I also found his discussion of the poets I did know useful--he gives a lot of biographical detail, and makes thoughtful (and sometimes acid) comments on the poetry itself. For example, he's not a big fan of Swinburne, and while he acknowledges his popularity and influence has sharp things to say about his work.

However, Schmidt's coverage of the twentieth century is less satisfying. He covers more poets (about 130) of the twentieth century than of the previous six hundred years (about 115). He's aware this is a problem, and makes excuses for it at one point, but it causes some difficulties for the reader. When you read about Richard Rolle or William Langland, even if you don't know their work, Schmidt's placing of them in their historical context around Chaucer's time allows you to fit them into the poetic scheme of things. But when he covers very recent poets, such as Edward Kamau Braithwaite, the historical positioning Schmidt does is less convincing, and without even a quoted line or two to judge him by the reader is unlikely to remember much about Braithwaite at all.

The net effect is of a set of newspaper profiles of modern poets. This effect gets gradually worse towards the end of the twentieth century poets, though many twentieth century poets are well-known enough that the reader can supply some of the context for themselves (and probably is familiar with the poetry). Auden, Eliot, Yeats, and Kipling, and even Larkin, Plath, Hughes and Heaney, need very little introduction to those who've read even a little recent poetry. The book would be better for some culling of those poets whose work is not yet in this class.

Overall, a fascinating read. But if you're not the sort of person reading modern poetry fairly regularly, the last three or four hundred pages will probably be largely skimmed.

Rating:
Summary: The buck stops here
Review: A great value, this book contains lots of fax 'n' info about the important and not-so-famous poets. Schmidt combines chronology with history and attempts a kind of psychobiography or mentalistic theory to try to get inside the minds of the poets. This approach, though it strikes me as somewhat culturally German, is I think quite effective. Schmidt is not a scholar but an enthusiast of poetry whose love of the material is overwhelming. And I also think Schmidt is an excellent teacher. He mentions that Spenser was highly influential up through the first half of the twentieth century, and from my recent browsing in the tradition, I could confirm this statement for myself. He also points out that Shelley is a great guide for budding poets, and I think that this is the kind of specific generosity that brings out the best in Shelley. Recently I've been reading Dryden's poetry and prose on the strength of Schmidt's recommendations. As for one reviewer's umbrage at the description of Spenser as small hands, etc., well so what? It's just--gasp--friendly irony at best, Germanic sarcasm at worst. Nobody thinks any less of Samuel Johnson for being ole blood 'n' guts Dr. Johnson with big appetites and, like Schmidt, strong opinions--but unlike Schmidt, smack in the middle of the English tradition, probably never even spent a weekend in Cabo San Lucas. So there!

Rating:
Summary: Massive Tome To Me To You
Review: I can't believe I read the whole thing. You may find yourself saying the same thing too I you should so choose to tackle Schmidt's lengthy analysis on the history of English poetry. With that statement I suppose is the warning. Reading this book from cover to cover is probably not for the average reader. You have to really love poetry and not just the language but what goes into it, what resides behind the words in the fabric of each poet's life. The book is not without merit though for the casual poetry semi-enthusiast. It is also a pretty enjoyable read for quick bite analysis. Pick it up, turn to an era, poet, or genre, and away you go for a quick 10-15 minute before going to sleep read. I was reluctant to give this book 4 stars tending towards a lower rating due to the weightiness, but the fact that I made it through speaks to the entertaining value of Schmidt's writing. To make literary analysis readable is no small feat.

Michael Schmidt is not without opinions. You may find yourself vehemently in disagreeance or enthusiastically joining the choir and singing along. For instance, Schmidt pretty much holds low opinion of the likes of Alan Ginsburg and his use of mind altering drugs to create poetry with little form. "Ginsburg dropped on American poetry like a bomb; his generation outgrew him and American poetry has outgrown him." It's not so much that Schmidt has an opinion. Of literary criticism, that is to be expected. But instead, it is that Schmidt offers up his opinions as imperatives, absolutes not to be countered.

Reading Schmidt's book it's as if all of English poetry revolves around Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. He is downright ebullient in his praises of the two. "After Pound we read poetry differently." and "In The Waste Land he demanded to be read differently from other poets. He alters our way of reading for good, if we read him properly." And so it goes in Schmidt's world poetic view of the ushering in of modernism. Elsewhere, Schmidt decries the loss of formal verse or at least verse that respects formalism. It is here that he finds the true poet's art. Again an opinion presented as an imperative.

Schmidt is in need of conciseness. He is self-critical is his choosing of format biting off too much swallowing too little. He spends precious pages to launch campaigns for regional poets, virtual unknowns, and underappreciates. These are pages, he could be spending making a case for his St. Eliot and St. Pound sainthood. If a poet caters to a specific culture with a specific language virtually unintelligible to the rest of the English speaking world, why be inclusive? Toss 'em out and save 'em for the regional anthologies. Sorry about the preceding colloquial language, friends.

With all this criticism, Schmidt's massive book is a treasure for poetry lovers. It is high brow in places, but when you finish reading the whole thing or just bits and pieces you will know more about poetry, appreciate more in depth poetry, and be indebted to the history and love of language that precedes us and will succeed us. Literary infinitum by good friends. Read on.

Rating:
Summary: Massive Tome To Me To You
Review: I can't believe I read the whole thing. You may find yourself saying the same thing too I you should so choose to tackle Schmidt's lengthy analysis on the history of English poetry. With that statement I suppose is the warning. Reading this book from cover to cover is probably not for the average reader. You have to really love poetry and not just the language but what goes into it, what resides behind the words in the fabric of each poet's life. The book is not without merit though for the casual poetry semi-enthusiast. It is also a pretty enjoyable read for quick bite analysis. Pick it up, turn to an era, poet, or genre, and away you go for a quick 10-15 minute before going to sleep read. I was reluctant to give this book 4 stars tending towards a lower rating due to the weightiness, but the fact that I made it through speaks to the entertaining value of Schmidt's writing. To make literary analysis readable is no small feat.

Michael Schmidt is not without opinions. You may find yourself vehemently in disagreeance or enthusiastically joining the choir and singing along. For instance, Schmidt pretty much holds low opinion of the likes of Alan Ginsburg and his use of mind altering drugs to create poetry with little form. "Ginsburg dropped on American poetry like a bomb; his generation outgrew him and American poetry has outgrown him." It's not so much that Schmidt has an opinion. Of literary criticism, that is to be expected. But instead, it is that Schmidt offers up his opinions as imperatives, absolutes not to be countered.

Reading Schmidt's book it's as if all of English poetry revolves around Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. He is downright ebullient in his praises of the two. "After Pound we read poetry differently." and "In The Waste Land he demanded to be read differently from other poets. He alters our way of reading for good, if we read him properly." And so it goes in Schmidt's world poetic view of the ushering in of modernism. Elsewhere, Schmidt decries the loss of formal verse or at least verse that respects formalism. It is here that he finds the true poet's art. Again an opinion presented as an imperative.

Schmidt is in need of conciseness. He is self-critical is his choosing of format biting off too much swallowing too little. He spends precious pages to launch campaigns for regional poets, virtual unknowns, and underappreciates. These are pages, he could be spending making a case for his St. Eliot and St. Pound sainthood. If a poet caters to a specific culture with a specific language virtually unintelligible to the rest of the English speaking world, why be inclusive? Toss 'em out and save 'em for the regional anthologies. Sorry about the preceding colloquial language, friends.

With all this criticism, Schmidt's massive book is a treasure for poetry lovers. It is high brow in places, but when you finish reading the whole thing or just bits and pieces you will know more about poetry, appreciate more in depth poetry, and be indebted to the history and love of language that precedes us and will succeed us. Literary infinitum by good friends. Read on.

Rating:
Summary: Blahs of The Poets
Review: It is no small irony that Schmidt takes his title from his curmudgeonly Eighteenth Century ancestor, Samuel Johnson. The irony is that Johnson, while judgmental, was at least interesting in his thundering declarations.

I cannot for the life of me understand why all the other reviewers find this work daring or controversial. Schmidt says nothing new. He is, in fact, the most diplomatic of judges. And I challenge any reader to find an unequivocal take on any of the poets. He inevitably has both good and bad things to say.

A further irony is that the title of the book is a misnomer. Yes, Schmidt provides a few scanty biographic facts, but a better title might be The History of Metrics or something of the sort. The book is mostly concerned with the form English poetry has taken over the past several hundred years.

Above all, Schmidt hates exegetics. Don't expect in depth explorations of a poem's meaning or the evaluation of poet's oevre. Truly, this book reads like a hopscotch through the history of meter and rhyme. No wonder it only took him ten months to write the 900 or so pages. He didn't have to think!

Rating:
Summary: Lives, poets, history, and a merry romp through it all!
Review: Litcrit, that sad and weary and so often maligned and detested human endeavor, has produced a flicker of luminous hope in Michael Schmidt's latest and probably magnum opus. Like Samuel Johnson's long-previous work of the same title, to wit: Schmidt aspires to venerate with his book, this is not only a joyous adulation of the greatest and grandest poets in English from the language's emergence out of the melange of Norman French, vernacular Latin, and myriad Celtic and other influences, but also an absolutely fascinating, endlessly readable, and even raucous romp through the history of poetry in English. As a professor of English, I'm always reluctant to assign readings in criticism because students, already recalcitrant or even hostile toward the literature itself, will turn and walk away, perhaps forever, when faced with the pedantic and pedagogical masturbation which is way too much litcrit. Maybe Schmidt's work will change that; I do intend to use a bit or two in the coming semester. The essays are generally fairly brief or, if longer, are sufficiently well-written to engage even reluctant readers. Unlike most histories, Schmidt with an amazingly multicultural, non-canonical insight, includes American, Australian, Caribbean, female and other minority poets such as the Countess of Pembroke; Isabella Whitney, Edward Brathwaite; and Derek Walcott. Truly an amazing book.

Rating:
Summary: Lives, poets, history, and a merry romp through it all!
Review: Litcrit, that sad and weary and so often maligned and detested human endeavor, has produced a flicker of luminous hope in Michael Schmidt's latest and probably magnum opus. Like Samuel Johnson's long-previous work of the same title, to wit: Schmidt aspires to venerate with his book, this is not only a joyous adulation of the greatest and grandest poets in English from the language's emergence out of the melange of Norman French, vernacular Latin, and myriad Celtic and other influences, but also an absolutely fascinating, endlessly readable, and even raucous romp through the history of poetry in English. As a professor of English, I'm always reluctant to assign readings in criticism because students, already recalcitrant or even hostile toward the literature itself, will turn and walk away, perhaps forever, when faced with the pedantic and pedagogical masturbation which is way too much litcrit. Maybe Schmidt's work will change that; I do intend to use a bit or two in the coming semester. The essays are generally fairly brief or, if longer, are sufficiently well-written to engage even reluctant readers. Unlike most histories, Schmidt with an amazingly multicultural, non-canonical insight, includes American, Australian, Caribbean, female and other minority poets such as the Countess of Pembroke; Isabella Whitney, Edward Brathwaite; and Derek Walcott. Truly an amazing book.

Rating:
Summary: A testy and biased revaluation of the canon.
Review: LIVES OF THE POETS. By Michael Schmidt. 975 pages. New York : Vintage Books, 2000. ISBN 0-375-70604-6 pbk.

One of the qualities one likes to see in any writer is a certain fair-mindedness, an acknowledgement that tastes can differ greatly, and a willingness to live and let live. Sadly this is precisely what we do not find in Schmidt's book, a book which is one of the most intensely biased pieces of lit crit I've ever encountered.

Although it's true that Schmidt's book is well-written and contains a certain amount of useful and interesting information, readers should be prepared to see many of their favorite poets smeared, either because they are not currently as fashionable as the trendy and turgid hyper-intellectual types Schmidt seems to prefer, and one of them it would seem simply because he was "a little man with little hands" (page 137).

Personally I fail to see the connection between the size of poets' hands and the quality of the poetry penned by those hands. Schmidt is scoffing at Spenser here, though I suppose Emily Dickinson's hands must have been rather small too. Perhaps they'll both have to go. Also poets such as Ginsberg, whose poems, it is suggested, don't even exist (page 846). Also Gary Snyder, etc., etc.

Spenser? Dickinson? Ginsberg? Snyder? One wonders what it takes to be able to enjoy and appreciate poets such as this, along with the many other poets Schmidt dismisses in his intensely biased production. Evidently it's something that Schmidt himself, who is a Mexican, lacks. Possibly what most appeals to Schmidt in English-language poetry is a certain kind or quality of intellectuality, or seeming intellectuality. I don't know, but whatever it is it seems to me to indicate a taste so narrowly based as to disqualify Schmidt from being a reliable guide.

If you'd like to find out about Schmidt's personal prejudices, by all means read him. Lovers of poetry, however, would be far better off reading a book such as Robert Bly's ground-breaking anthology 'News of the Universe: Poems of Twofold Consciousness.' Bly's outstanding selection and brilliant commentary succeed in shifting our perception into a different register - in revolutionizing not only the way we look at poetry, but also the way we look at both ourselves and the world. Schmidt's work seems trivial in comparison. For those who may be interested, details of the Bly are as follows:

NEWS OF THE UNIVERSE : Poems of Twofold Consciousness. Chosen and introduced by Robert Bly. 305 pages. San Francisco : Sierra Club Books, 1995. ISBN 0-87156-368-1 pbk.

Rating:
Summary: A Survey of Poetic Form in the History of English Poetry
Review: Schmidt's boldness is nearly unmatched among literary critics. For this reason alone, his book, Lives of the Poets, is a stimulating read. Of course, there are problems with the book. He spends nearly a third of his book on the last fifty years, after swiftly encompassing the rest of English poetical history in the first two thirds. A few glaring omissions are almost unforgivable, such as James Merrill and A.R. Ammons. One must remember, however, that Schmidt is a publisher by trade, and not really a literary critic. Even Samuel Johnson wrote about bad poets, though it may have been his advisors who pushed for such a shift of emphasis. In the end, one is often refreshed and enlightened by this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Survey of Poetic Form in the History of English Poetry
Review: Schmidt's boldness is nearly unmatched among literary critics. For this reason alone, his book, Lives of the Poets, is a stimulating read. Of course, there are problems with the book. He spends nearly a third of his book on the last fifty years, after swiftly encompassing the rest of English poetical history in the first two thirds. A few glaring omissions are almost unforgivable, such as James Merrill and A.R. Ammons. One must remember, however, that Schmidt is a publisher by trade, and not really a literary critic. Even Samuel Johnson wrote about bad poets, though it may have been his advisors who pushed for such a shift of emphasis. In the end, one is often refreshed and enlightened by this book.