"Odi Barbare"

New poems by Geoffrey Hill have been published in the September issue of Poetry.

Geoffrey Hill, "From 'Odi Barbare' (www.poetryfoundation.org).

Geoffrey Hill is the 44th Oxford Professor of Poetry

Some people have felt that Geoffrey Hill and Barack Obama shared something special... and now we know what it is: both are NUMBER 44. Relieved that Barack Obama has not been named to the 44th Oxford Poetry Professorship, the Boston Globe chose to make the announcement about Hill's victory in an article entitled "In Ted's Honor" which speaks first of a commemorative breakfast for Ted Kennedy. The same article eventually notes that because Geoffrey Hill and Christopher Ricks have held the position of Oxford Professor of Poetry, "Boston University rules the world — the poetry world, at least." Boston Globe (June 19, 2010).

See also:

Geoffrey Hill Zinger (June 18, 2010).

Stephen Moss, "My run for Oxford professor of poetry was crushed by viral campaign — and a distinguished rival," Guardian (June 18, 2010).

un-poetry vs. ur-poetry

"A sad and angry consolation" may be needed for the very notion of electing an Oxford Professor of Poetry. After last year's election of Ruth Padel and her retraction, one could have hoped for a more normal election process. But that is apparently not to be. Facing a living ur-poet of the English language is an un-poet.

The person who will occupy the position must first redeem it. A certain amount of dignity should be required to follow in the shoes of John Keble, Matthew Arnold, W.H. Auden, Robert Graves, Edmund Blunden, Roy Fuller, John Wain, Peter Levi, Seamus Heaney, James Fenton, Paul Muldoon, and Christopher Ricks.

Although applause would be in order if a talented woman were to hold the position, Paula Claire does little to promote a public perception of female accomplishment.

Geoffrey Hill, on the other hand, is the ideal candidate. Unless Oxford graduates are completely daft, I don't see how they could vote for anyone else.

Links

"Life in Poetry: An Evening with Geoffrey Hill" WBUR (May 14, 2006).

Past Professors of Poetry at Oxford (http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/shelves/professors/).

"Musical Comedy," Geoffrey Hill Zinger (April 2, 2010).

Paula Claire, "Astound" (http://www.ubu.com/sound/konkrete.html).

"A Brief Guide to Concrete Poetry," Academy of American Poets (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5649).

Poets and Poems in Lisa E-Journal

Lisa E-Journal (lisa.revues.org) has changed formats, and it is now easier to find a poet or a poem, as well as other works of literary criticism.

"The Modern Element" by Adam Kirsch

Adam Kirsch, regular reviewer in the New Republic has collected his pieces into a book:  The Modern Element: Essays on Contemporary Poetry (Norton, 2008) where he writes of (and off) Geoffrey Hill, James Merrill, Yvor Winters, Louise Glück, and Jorie Graham.  

Langdon Hammer reviews the essays as well as Kirsch's recent poems in Invasions (2008) in the New York Times (August 29, 2008).

Jay Parini, Robert Frost, and 25 teenagers...

Jay Parini, biographer of Robert Frost and author of Why Poetry Matters (2008) was asked to administer the sentence of poetry as punishment to 25 teenagers who vandalized Robert Frost's property in December 2007. He said he used Frost's essay "Education by Poetry."

See: "The Best Way Out Is Through," editorial published in The New York Times, June 8, 2008.

p.s. (June 29, 2008):  Based on the above, I ordered the book, and after a quick skim of Why Poetry Matters, I find no mention of Geoffrey Hill.  Does this mean that Hill does not matter to Parini? Probably not, since he's been tagged in his "Poetry Hut Blog" (latest entry tagged, a link to William Logan's Review of A Treatise of Civil Power, blog entry from January 20, 2008), though my guess is that in this book which boasts it uses no jargon, Heaney seems more user-friendly. Why is it that Hill's closeness to the people and to popular culture always seems to be ignored?

Parini reviewed Robert Lowell: Collected Poems for the Guardian (August 9, 2003).

http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/poetry/0,6121,1014876,00.html