Understanding Flannery O'Connor Book

An interesting set of essays showing how for famous poets work up to their first perfect, in Vendler's term, poem. L'allegro by Milton, On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer by Keats, The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock by Eliot and The Colossus by Plath are the examples she uses. The theory is that each poet needs to experiment with different vocabularies and subjects before deciding on his or her own voice. By Plath working through the style and language of Lowell and Dylan Thomas she arrives at what is unique in her own voice.

I found the sections on Milton and Keats most interesting, the section on Eliot and Plath less so, probably because they are less appealling to me. Sue me.