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Berryman's Henry
Living at the Intersection of Need and Art
Series: - Costerus New Series Online, Volume: 158
- Costerus New Series, Volume: 158
Author:
Berrymanâs Henry: Living at the Intersection of Need and Art offers scholars and students the first thorough and well-researched vehicle into John Berrymanâs epic poem The Dream Songs. Through a close reading of the text, an examination of the history of its criticism and some of Berrymanâs letters, notes, and pertinent manuscripts, Sam Dodson offers the reader a solid starting point to appreciate the presiding structure and thematic focus of this American classic. This structure, resulting from the poetâs crafting and the poemâs internal growth, is illustrated in the text by more than thirty reproductions of some of the Dream Song drafts in progress. No existing critical work examines anywhere near the number of individual Dream Songs as this readerâs guide, which will enable students and teachers to enter Berrymanâs difficult poem with confidence and a proper sense of direction. Its purpose is to provide the beginning reader and the scholar with a map for approaching this large work and finding their way through its elegiac structure and appreciating its unity. A close look at the poem's language and stylistic innovations, epic qualities and authorâs poetics, and most especially the elegiac movement of the poem, will allow even the novice reader to enter Henryâs world. The elegies as a whole provide the note of mourning that is at the core of Berrymanâs epic.
âBerrymanâs Henry is a work of impressive scholarship and valuable insights. Sam Dodsonâs treatment of âThe Dream Songsâ as a modern, personal epic convincingly places it within the context of other works in the genre. Readers will also find new light shed on the textâs elegiac underpinnings.â â Richard J. Kelly
Preface
Prologue: Elegy as Theology: Henryâs Search for Deathâs Answers
Chapter 1: Henryâs Other Method: The Epicâs Freedom of Language in an Experimental Age
Chapter 2: The Paternal Elegies: The Dream Songsâ Shroud
Chapter 3: Henry âpale & illâ: Berrymanâs Elegies of Praise and the Last Word
Chapter 4: Posthumous Musings from an Active Coffin
Chapter 5: Henryâs Uneasy Rest
Bibliography
Index
Prologue: Elegy as Theology: Henryâs Search for Deathâs Answers
Chapter 1: Henryâs Other Method: The Epicâs Freedom of Language in an Experimental Age
Chapter 2: The Paternal Elegies: The Dream Songsâ Shroud
Chapter 3: Henry âpale & illâ: Berrymanâs Elegies of Praise and the Last Word
Chapter 4: Posthumous Musings from an Active Coffin
Chapter 5: Henryâs Uneasy Rest
Bibliography
Index