Reviews for Petitions for immortality

The average rating for Petitions for immortality based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-09-05 00:00:00 Kelly Kennedy I wondered why this book had fallen into such obscurity. I don't think it's for a lack of interest in Keats. Rather, it's a well-meant tribute with a few sparse moments of striking talent amidst a backdrop of immaturities. This is Tom Clark's Endymion. For instance, one of the poems in this collection is entitled "Who is La Belle Dame and Why Am I Going on Like This Anyway?" As a mediocre poet at best, I could come up with something a bit less obvious. In addition, Clark calls one of the sections "Sweet Surrender," a phrase you would likely find as the title of a contemporary erotica novel and a horrible cliche to boot. The book is filled with cringe-worthy faults such as these. It's odd for someone who wrote criticism of poetry and published his entire life. But before I get too big for my britches, parts of this collection prove a reward for Keats fans. Though I think he focuses a bit much on Keats's mommy issues, there are some very eloquently expressed ideas and some stirring turns of phrase here. The best tool at Clark's disposal is repetition of image and theme; of course, he makes good use of the significance of the nightingale, the lyre, the Star, the claret wine, and in some pieces melds these motifs together almost effortlessly to express not only how they are related to one another, but how they symbolize the whole of poetic effort and experience for Keats. All in all, I think Clark produced a heartfelt tribute to one of his favorite poets, but could have spent a little more time rephrasing and reworking.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-03-11 00:00:00 Ronald Dorchak While the collection is an impressive display of Clark's ability to master many poetic voices, it is in the final section, a twelve-part deathbed (or after-death) reverie titled 'Echo and Variation,' that the book truly moves beyond loving tribute and technical display to a lovely and sad look back by Keats at his life, lifting the book to a high level. --Publishers Weekly This superb book raises the possibility, unsettling for academic critics, that poems may make the best criticism. --Studies in Romanticism