Prairies and Plains: The Reference Literature of a Region Book

"R. P. Blackmur's "Lord Tennyson's Scissors: 1912-1950," the final essay in Praising It New: the best of the New Criticism, is a classic. It begins with a commonplace:

Poetry is a game we play with reality...

Of course, in 1951, when the essay was first published, this was not a commonplace at all. It has become one because the thought is so rich with implication that it became a part of our shared way of thinking about poetry.

Like all of our games poetry is fun to talk about. From such talk entire industries of commentary have sprung up around other of our favorite games. The teams and/or individual players shop for and hire the better private analysts, as well. By virtue of this critical machinery, the quality of the games and players rapidly improves. Athletes, for example, come to have less body fat, greater size and astonishing agility. Rules of the game are updated to provide the most entertainment and impact possible to the spectator."

Click here to read my complete review>>> at Eclectica Magazine.