Overview

Originally published in 2003. The fruit of a lifetime's reading and thinking about literature, its delights and its responsibilities, this book by acclaimed poet and critic Anthony Hecht explores the mysteries of poetry, offering profound insight into poetic form, meter, rhyme, and meaning. Ranging from Renaissance to contemporary poets, Hecht considers the work of Shakespeare, Sidney, and Noel; Housman, Hopkins, Eliot, and Auden; Frost, Bishop, and Wilbur; Amichai, Simic, and Heaney. Stepping back from individual poets, Hecht muses on rhyme and on meter, and also discusses St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians and Melville's Moby-Dick. Uniting these diverse subjects is Hecht's preoccupation with the careful deployment of words, the richness and versatility of language and of those who use it well. Elegantly written, deeply informed, and intellectually playful, Melodies Unheard confirms Anthony Hecht's reputation as one of our most original and imaginative thinkers on the literary arts.

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9781421437361

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Reviews

Earnestness with irony, epistemological ambition with ambiguity, complexity of feeling, fusion of emotion with music and idea--these are the modernist virtues Hecht both respects and exhibits. --Ron Smith Georgia Review Hecht is adept at close readings, and for this reason, among others, his book will be a pleasure for anyone who takes good poetry seriously. --Choice In both poetry and prose Hecht is graceful, learned, and attentive... Melodies Unheard leaves me braced, chastened, and invigorated by Hecht's intellect. --David Mason Sewanee Review Anthony Hecht shares with Christopher Ricks, the critic to whom he dedicates Melodies Unheard, an almost uncanny sense of the mysteries of poetic implication, of what we intuit and respond to without seeming to actually hear... Every page has some new felicity to offer us. --John Bayley New York Review of Books [Hecht's] broad reading and years of classroom lecturing cause him to place literature in the context of all the learning and experience he can muster--which turns out to be quite a lot. --David Mason Weekly Standard What Hecht pays attention to in Melodies Unheard shows him to be a teacher and a close reader, in addition to the poet we already know him to be. --Stephen Cushman Virginia Quarterly Review It is an inspiring and humbling object lesson for any serious reader to behold the thoroughness with which Mr. Hecht opens his powers of perception to the variety of texts he encountered in the course of writing these pieces... Throughout, the style and manner are those of a deeply knowledgeable and polished conversationalist, grateful to be in the presence of the works he understands so well. Care for poetry and its traditions has seldom been so memorably exemplified. --Henry Taylor Washington Times In the role of critic, Hecht scrutinizes the work of others closely, revealing wonders that might easily be missed even by a reasonably diligent interpretation... the book is mined with stimulating theories and fresh observations. --Phoebe Pettingell The New Leader [Hecht] not only illuminates overlooked gems such as Henry Noel's 'Gaze Not on Swans, ' praising its combined sensuality of sound and image, but also pries into standards such as Eliot's The Waste Land and Frost's 'The Wood-Pile' to unearth startling interpretations... Hecht's insights are too numerous to mention, for he touches on every aspect of poetry while exhausting none... This wonderful, instructive volume will engage all lovers of fine poetry. --Library Journal (starred review) This book is full of small, enjoyable revelations. --Dinitia Smith New York Times Book Review

This book is full of small, enjoyable revelations. -Dinitia Smith, New York Times Book Review [Hecht] not only illuminates overlooked gems such as Henry Noel's 'Gaze Not on Swans,' praising its combined sensuality of sound and image, but also pries into standards such as Eliot's The Waste Land and Frost's 'The Wood-Pile' to unearth startling interpretations . . . Hecht's insights are too numerous to mention, for he touches on every aspect of poetry while exhausting none . . . This wonderful, instructive volume will engage all lovers of fine poetry. -Library Journal (starred review) In the role of critic, Hecht scrutinizes the work of others closely, revealing wonders that might easily be missed even by a reasonably diligent interpretation . . . the book is mined with stimulating theories and fresh observations. -Phoebe Pettingell, The New Leader It is an inspiring and humbling object lesson for any serious reader to behold the thoroughness with which Mr. Hecht opens his powers of perception to the variety of texts he encountered in the course of writing these pieces . . . Throughout, the style and manner are those of a deeply knowledgeable and polished conversationalist, grateful to be in the presence of the works he understands so well. Care for poetry and its traditions has seldom been so memorably exemplified. -Henry Taylor, Washington Times What Hecht pays attention to in Melodies Unheard shows him to be a teacher and a close reader, in addition to the poet we already know him to be. -Stephen Cushman, Virginia Quarterly Review [Hecht's] broad reading and years of classroom lecturing cause him to place literature in the context of all the learning and experience he can muster-which turns out to be quite a lot. -David Mason, Weekly Standard Anthony Hecht shares with Christopher Ricks, the critic to whom he dedicates Melodies Unheard, an almost uncanny sense of the mysteries of poetic implication, of what we intuit and respond to without seeming to actually hear . . . Every page has some new felicity to offer us. -John Bayley, New York Review of Books In both poetry and prose Hecht is graceful, learned, and attentive . . . Melodies Unheard leaves me braced, chastened, and invigorated by Hecht's intellect. -David Mason, Sewanee Review Hecht is adept at close readings, and for this reason, among others, his book will be a pleasure for anyone who takes good poetry seriously. -Choice Earnestness with irony, epistemological ambition with ambiguity, complexity of feeling, fusion of emotion with music and idea-these are the modernist virtues Hecht both respects and exhibits. -Ron Smith, Georgia Review

Earnestness with irony, epistemological ambition with ambiguity, complexity of feeling, fusion of emotion with music and idea-these are the modernist virtues Hecht both respects and exhibits. -- Ron Smith * Georgia Review * Hecht is adept at close readings, and for this reason, among others, his book will be a pleasure for anyone who takes good poetry seriously. * Choice * In both poetry and prose Hecht is graceful, learned, and attentive . . . Melodies Unheard leaves me braced, chastened, and invigorated by Hecht's intellect. -- David Mason * Sewanee Review * Anthony Hecht shares with Christopher Ricks, the critic to whom he dedicates Melodies Unheard, an almost uncanny sense of the mysteries of poetic implication, of what we intuit and respond to without seeming to actually hear . . . Every page has some new felicity to offer us. -- John Bayley * New York Review of Books * [Hecht's] broad reading and years of classroom lecturing cause him to place literature in the context of all the learning and experience he can muster-which turns out to be quite a lot. -- David Mason * Weekly Standard * What Hecht pays attention to in Melodies Unheard shows him to be a teacher and a close reader, in addition to the poet we already know him to be. -- Stephen Cushman * Virginia Quarterly Review * It is an inspiring and humbling object lesson for any serious reader to behold the thoroughness with which Mr. Hecht opens his powers of perception to the variety of texts he encountered in the course of writing these pieces . . . Throughout, the style and manner are those of a deeply knowledgeable and polished conversationalist, grateful to be in the presence of the works he understands so well. Care for poetry and its traditions has seldom been so memorably exemplified. -- Henry Taylor * Washington Times * In the role of critic, Hecht scrutinizes the work of others closely, revealing wonders that might easily be missed even by a reasonably diligent interpretation . . . the book is mined with stimulating theories and fresh observations. -- Phoebe Pettingell * The New Leader * [Hecht] not only illuminates overlooked gems such as Henry Noel's 'Gaze Not on Swans,' praising its combined sensuality of sound and image, but also pries into standards such as Eliot's The Waste Land and Frost's 'The Wood-Pile' to unearth startling interpretations . . . Hecht's insights are too numerous to mention, for he touches on every aspect of poetry while exhausting none . . . This wonderful, instructive volume will engage all lovers of fine poetry. * Library Journal (starred review) * This book is full of small, enjoyable revelations. -- Dinitia Smith * New York Times Book Review *

Author Information

Anthony Hecht (1923-2004) was the author of seven poetry collections and several works of criticism. He was awarded the Pullizter Prize in 1968 for The Hard Hours and his other honors include the Bollingen Prize, the Eugenio Montale Award, the Ruth Lilly Prize, the Dorothea Tanning Award, and the Robert Frost Medal.

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