A visionary selection from one of America's foremost poets One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary American poetry, Christian Wiman has forged a singular style that fuses a vivid and propulsive music with clear-eyed realism, wry humor, and visionary lament. In his "daring and urgent" (The New York Times Book Review) memoir, My Bright Abyss, he asks, "What is poet A visionary selection from one of America's foremost poets One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary American poetry, Christian Wiman has forged a singular style that fuses a vivid and propulsive music with clear-eyed realism, wry humor, and visionary lament. In his "daring and urgent" (The New York Times Book Review) memoir, My Bright Abyss, he asks, "What is poetry's role when the world is burning?" Hammer Is the Prayer: Selected Poems might be read as an answer to that question. From the taut forms of his first book to the darker, more jagged fluencies of his second, into the bold and pathbreaking poems of his last two collections, Hammer Is the Prayer bears the reckless, restless interrogations and the slashing lyric intensity that distinguish Wiman's verse. But it also reveals the dramatic and narrative abilities for which he has been widely praised--the junkyard man in "Five Houses Down" with his "wonder-cluttered porch" and "the eyesore opulence / of his five partial cars," or the tragicomic character in "Being Serious" who suffers "the world's idiocy / like a saint its pains." Hammer Is the Prayer brings together three decades of Wiman's acclaimed poetry. Selected by the author, these poems reveal the singular music and metaphysical urgency that have attracted so many readers to his work and firmly assert his place as one of the most essential poets of our time.
Hammer Is the Prayer: Selected Poems
A visionary selection from one of America's foremost poets One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary American poetry, Christian Wiman has forged a singular style that fuses a vivid and propulsive music with clear-eyed realism, wry humor, and visionary lament. In his "daring and urgent" (The New York Times Book Review) memoir, My Bright Abyss, he asks, "What is poet A visionary selection from one of America's foremost poets One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary American poetry, Christian Wiman has forged a singular style that fuses a vivid and propulsive music with clear-eyed realism, wry humor, and visionary lament. In his "daring and urgent" (The New York Times Book Review) memoir, My Bright Abyss, he asks, "What is poetry's role when the world is burning?" Hammer Is the Prayer: Selected Poems might be read as an answer to that question. From the taut forms of his first book to the darker, more jagged fluencies of his second, into the bold and pathbreaking poems of his last two collections, Hammer Is the Prayer bears the reckless, restless interrogations and the slashing lyric intensity that distinguish Wiman's verse. But it also reveals the dramatic and narrative abilities for which he has been widely praised--the junkyard man in "Five Houses Down" with his "wonder-cluttered porch" and "the eyesore opulence / of his five partial cars," or the tragicomic character in "Being Serious" who suffers "the world's idiocy / like a saint its pains." Hammer Is the Prayer brings together three decades of Wiman's acclaimed poetry. Selected by the author, these poems reveal the singular music and metaphysical urgency that have attracted so many readers to his work and firmly assert his place as one of the most essential poets of our time.
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Edita –
And I said to my soul, be loud
Jitse –
Beautiful! Mysterious, at times haunting, at times filled with desire. Best comprehended when you first read My Bright Abyss. Not everything is autobiographical of course, but at times it definitely seems to be the case.
J. Alfred –
Wiman's poems verge near the surreal and borrow from both the colloquial and technical sides of the language, but other than that he seems really difficult to categorize or explain. He doesn't shy away from rhyme, there's often something close to meter happening, and there's an almost Miltonic complexity of syntax that you have to rearrange verbally as you go, except that sometimes a sentence will merely become something other than what it was when it started out as if it had started again in mi Wiman's poems verge near the surreal and borrow from both the colloquial and technical sides of the language, but other than that he seems really difficult to categorize or explain. He doesn't shy away from rhyme, there's often something close to meter happening, and there's an almost Miltonic complexity of syntax that you have to rearrange verbally as you go, except that sometimes a sentence will merely become something other than what it was when it started out as if it had started again in midstream Anyway if you're interested in poetry you should read him. "And I Said to My Soul, Be Loud" is the best attempt at a modern Psalm I can remember. "The Funeral" is a good simpler poem that will demonstrate the style (and it is, if anything in this book is, homage to an English language poet, so that helps your sense of direction). And how about this for a single line to make you stop and renegotiate the written word: "An engine of insects hummed in the cattails."
Hailey Leithauser –
One of the very few books I give five stars to - Heartbreaking and beautifully crafted
Nicole –
Not exactly 4 but much closer to 4 than 3 I really loved so many of these
Dane Rich –
I can’t rate this because I don’t know anything about poetry. I didn’t understand half of these, but that’s because I’m a novice. I read through the second half fast, not trying to suck honey out of every one, but familiarizing myself with poetry and learning. There were several I really enjoyed and the ones I understood shook me. I go on now to read more poetry and to learn more. I hope to come back to this in future years and glean more.
Chad –
Won this book from Goodreads giveaways. Unfortunately, this is not a collection of hymns to Thor, as might be imagined from the title. But it is full of wistful grief-ridden nostalgia and powerful emotive imagery, which I am a sucker for. I enjoyed this book very much and will seek out other poetry from this writer.
Stephen –
Riveting. An absolute grace.
Joseph Hamrick –
So far. Haunting and harrowing and beautiful.
Robert Van Essen –
After reading 'My bright abyss' I discovered his p0etry. No 'easy read' and not religious in the traditional manner. Poems and language circling round, wrestling with life and God. After reading 'My bright abyss' I discovered his p0etry. No 'easy read' and not religious in the traditional manner. Poems and language circling round, wrestling with life and God.
Julian –
Quite enjoyed. Great introduction to the work of Wiman, covering various books including translations of Mandelstam. Subject matter: God, or lack thereof and various working class stigmata
Luke Gorham –
No one does it better. Particularly fascinating as an encapsulation of the emotional states and artistic characters Wiman has flowed between across the past couple decades.
Steven Roberts –
Wiman is great and this is a nice collection of his works, but I prefer to read poems in their original collections. There's something more cohesive that way. Wiman is great and this is a nice collection of his works, but I prefer to read poems in their original collections. There's something more cohesive that way.
Daniel Klawitter –
My God my grief forgive my grief tamed in language to a fear that I can bear: Make of my anguish more than I can make. Lord, hear my prayer.
Katie –
5* for approximately the first half, 3* for the second half. So glad I found this!
Ben Palpant –
"And I Was Alive" and "Every Riven a Thing" and "This Mind of Dying" are great (not simply good) poems. "And I Was Alive" and "Every Riven a Thing" and "This Mind of Dying" are great (not simply good) poems.
Peter –
Not my cup of tea. I found it depressing flat and washed out. Just my personal reaction to the poems.
Eliot –
Prayerpilgrim –
Josie –
Cornelio –
Seth Bouchelle –
Catharine –
Maureen –
Barbara Johnson –
adin thayer –
Kyle –
Jeffrey –
Josiah Peachey –
Hudson Baird –