The Annals of Chile

By Paul Muldoon

Book Overview

The Annals of Chile, Paul Muldoon's first book of new poetry since the acclaimed Madoc: A Mystery (1991), confirms the widely held view that he is the most talented poet of his generation. The heart of the book is the long poem Yarrow, in which all Muldoon's powers of insight and wordplay and surprising association are on exuberant display. Evoking the 1960s, the poet conjures up a boundless historical present peopled at once by Davy Crockett and Tristan Tzara and Wild Bill Hickok, by Maud Gonne and Michael Jackson, all brought swiftly and vividly to life by his fantastical imagination. The book also contains a group of shorter poems, including The Birth, a delicate lyric which celebrates the arrival of a baby daughter; Incantata, a powerful elegy to a former lover; and Muldoon's inspired adaptation of an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Art, Muldoon writes, builds from pain, from misery, from a deep-seated hurt / a monument to the human heart; and here, out of strong emotion, in memorable language, Muldoon has once again fashioned rich and vital poetry.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374105189
• ISBN13: 9780374105181
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Length: 189 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Muldoon's best

Lordy, it would be ANYBODY'S best. Paul Muldoon's work has always been great but *The Annals of Chile* is a breakthrough. "Cows" and "Twice" are pitch- and picture-perfect and the intricacies and expansiveness of "Yarrow" could keep me occupied and entertained for months, but more than anything else it is the unforgettable "Incantata" that makes this book a treasure. Who knew that poets like this still existed? (Only in Ireland, I suppose -- and by the way, if you like Muldoon make sure to check out conationals like Michael Longley and Ciaran Carson. A good time is guaranteed to be had by all.)