Defective Art of Poetry

Benjamin Bennett is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of German at the University of Virginia, USA.

"Bennett's original and erudite readings of poems by eight great poets are a continuing source of intellectual elation. With rare critical intensity, Bennett brings to light the nuances of masterpieces written in five languages even en route to theorizing their imperfection." - Stanley Corngold , Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature, Princeton University, USA 'The Defective Art of Poetry is a relentlessly profound meditation on what makes a poem a poem and why it matters. In beautifully straightforward prose, Benjamin Bennett draws the reader into intense reflection on how poems work, on the philosophical articulations of poetry, and on his own stunning readings. With this, his tenth book, Bennett once again shows why he is among the most gifted, original, and interesting literary scholars of the last half-century.' - Peter J. Burgard, Harvard University "Bennett brings his unique combination of broad learning, rigid logic, and inventive reading to eight of the most famous lyric poems in European literature from Sappho to Yeats. His bold readings offer surprising perspectives on the individual texts and a compelling theory of the tasks performed by lyric poetry, by poetic voice, by meter, and above all by readers of poetry." - Jane K. Brown, Joff Hanauer Distinguished Professor for Western Civilization, University of Washington, USA

• Introduction PART I: ELEMENTAL POETRY 1. Sappho and the Wordsworth Problem 2. The Poem as Hieroglyph: Goethe's 'Über allen Gipfeln' PART II: METER AND MEANING 3. The Voices of Experience in Blake 4. Meter and Metaphysics: Hölderlin's 'Hyperions Schicksalslied' PART III: THE SYMBOLIST MOVE 5. A Song to Worry about: Verlaine's 'Chanson d'automne' 6. Stefan George and the Construction of a Poetic Idiom PART IV: THE POLITICAL DIMENSION 7. Criticism as Wager: The Politics of the Mörike-Debate and Its Object 8. The Things on Yeats's Desk Bibliography