Entering History: Poems

Fiction & Literature, Poetry
Cover of the book Entering History: Poems by Mary Stewart Hammond, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mary Stewart Hammond ISBN: 9780393253979
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: October 11, 2016
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Mary Stewart Hammond
ISBN: 9780393253979
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: October 11, 2016
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

Lyrical narratives that chronicle a long marriage, rich with wit, dark irony, and poignancy.

In her long-awaited second volume, Mary Stewart Hammond chronicles a long marriage with sharp wit, dark irony, and poignancy. As James Merrill says of Hammond’s poems, they “brim with what the whole world knows.”

Entering History opens on a middle-aged couple, modern-day travelers in an ancient setting. The collection follows their relationship through time and place, combining the personal and the historical in stories of the family—siblings, a daughter, and the very different marriage of the poet’s parents.

The marriage poems share the intimacy, erotic playfulness, irritations, worries, and angers that are part of an enduring love and a long marriage. In “Portrait of My Husband Reading Henry James,” the poet paints her husband using syntax and language that evoke James’s. In “Venasque,” the wintry village, perched on the edge of a cliff, serves as a metaphor for the existential crisis facing the couple.

“Lines composed at Beaufort, South Carolina, a few miles above Parris Island,” about the poet’s brother, moves back and forth between the Civil War and the preparations of troops for today’s wars. In “Jacob and Esau with Sister,” two brothers, in a transaction as old as oral history, highlight its consequences in the twenty-first century. “Anniversary” is a heartbreaking elegy for a third brother who kills himself.

Hammond reaches into the past and present of the American family, closing Entering History where it began, with the couple in bed, now older, harkening back to the bed they shared when they were newlyweds. These powerful, beautifully crafted, lyrical narratives give depth to an examination of life—its joys, sorrows, laughter, and tragedies.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Lyrical narratives that chronicle a long marriage, rich with wit, dark irony, and poignancy.

In her long-awaited second volume, Mary Stewart Hammond chronicles a long marriage with sharp wit, dark irony, and poignancy. As James Merrill says of Hammond’s poems, they “brim with what the whole world knows.”

Entering History opens on a middle-aged couple, modern-day travelers in an ancient setting. The collection follows their relationship through time and place, combining the personal and the historical in stories of the family—siblings, a daughter, and the very different marriage of the poet’s parents.

The marriage poems share the intimacy, erotic playfulness, irritations, worries, and angers that are part of an enduring love and a long marriage. In “Portrait of My Husband Reading Henry James,” the poet paints her husband using syntax and language that evoke James’s. In “Venasque,” the wintry village, perched on the edge of a cliff, serves as a metaphor for the existential crisis facing the couple.

“Lines composed at Beaufort, South Carolina, a few miles above Parris Island,” about the poet’s brother, moves back and forth between the Civil War and the preparations of troops for today’s wars. In “Jacob and Esau with Sister,” two brothers, in a transaction as old as oral history, highlight its consequences in the twenty-first century. “Anniversary” is a heartbreaking elegy for a third brother who kills himself.

Hammond reaches into the past and present of the American family, closing Entering History where it began, with the couple in bed, now older, harkening back to the bed they shared when they were newlyweds. These powerful, beautifully crafted, lyrical narratives give depth to an examination of life—its joys, sorrows, laughter, and tragedies.

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt (preview) by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book The Fall of Public Man by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book Difficult Students and Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom: Teacher Responses That Work by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book Emotions, Learning, and the Brain: Exploring the Educational Implications of Affective Neuroscience (The Norton Series on the Social Neuroscience of Education) by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book Stop Me If You've Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book Say Nice Things About Detroit: A Novel by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book 8 Keys to Raising the Quirky Child: How to Help a Kid Who Doesn't (Quite) Fit In (8 Keys to Mental Health) by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book Winners & Losers: Battles, Retreats, Gains, Losses, and Ruins from the Vietnam War (reissue) by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book 8 Keys to Building Your Best Relationships (8 Keys to Mental Health) by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book The Blue Touch Paper: A Memoir by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost: A Novel by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book The Courage to Love: Principles and Practices of Self-Relations Psychotherapy by Mary Stewart Hammond
Cover of the book A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford (Great Discoveries) by Mary Stewart Hammond
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy