...This chapter considers how verse practices associated with blues-based poetry and music during the first half of the twentieth century helped set the stage for understanding the larger synergy between poetry and rock. The blues’ and the new American poetry of the 1950s and 1960s shared a sense...

...An important collective anthology of mostly lyrical poetry, called Les Cenelles (1845), by men belonging to the Free People of Color, or Gens de couleur libres, is the chief subject of this chapter. Armand Lanusse, who prepared the anthology, Joanni Questy, Victor...

... the Quadroons lived in the early nineteenth century is noted in connection with the novellas. Adolphe du Quesnay’s poetry and prose, published in Paris, is reviewed, and his novella “Un Eté à la Grand’Isle” is studied for its themes and structure and is compared to other writings on the Gulf of Mexico...

...This chapter considers initially how past literary products and contemporary ones are inevitably judged differently. It then reviews the attraction that poetry had for the Free People of Color and considers why their descendants have been drawn to it especially. The connections between poetry...

..., and the Organization of Women Writers of Africa in spreading views on decolonization, neocolonialism, and women empowerment. The numerous collaborations made by Cortez immersed her poetry deep in Caribbean culture and politics, clarifying the African American and Caribbean dialogue as a decolonizing force...

...This chapter explores the poetic works of Angela Jackson during the later years of the Black Arts Movement (BAM). Jackson’s first two poetry collections VooDoo/Love Magic (1974) and The Greenville Club (1977) assessed the influence of the goals and imperatives set...

...This chapter examines the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar and the complex ways in which he asserts the right of African Americans to the pastoral tradition and a place in the pastoral space. It looks at how Dunbar complicates the depiction of nature by entering the very scene in order to imagine...

...This chapter examines whether songwriters may also be considered poets, as some fans and music critics have insinuated, and discusses how contemporary poetry is similar to and different from contemporary song lyrics in form, content, and purpose. It explains how poetry is able to counterpoint line...

..., and how it might be the norm when discussing poetry and songs. “Idea of variability ” Redding Otis Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman R& B Funk Rainey Ma Freud Sigmund Keats John Auden W H Wystan Hugh Yeats William Butler songs Otis Redding Dreams to Remember Macon Georgia Macon City...

... written when she was young. The chapter weaves the personal with the analytical as the author reflects on her own life and poetry in regards to those selves who we once were. Clash the Herring Caroline Public Enemy Yeats William Butler Baez Joan “Dozens The” song “Highbrow” vs “lowbrow ” Neruda...

.... This chapter examines Stipe’s obfuscated lyrics through the lens of poetry, arguing that his songs are unknowingly influenced by Romantic poets such as John Keats. It highlights the Keatsian imprint in the songs of R.E.M.’s 1992 album Automatic for the People, in which Stipe realized...

...Bruce Springsteen’s music shows many characteristics of poetry or of storytelling. A musician who embodies the legacy of rock, soul, and folk, Springsteen faces the music and confronts us with the gift of his music. This chapter analyzes his music as a form of popular literature, and, more...

...Contemporary poetry and independent/roots music increasingly resemble one another, nurtured by the same native sources. The deepest and most consequential connection between the two genres lies in the style and subject matter that makes up the work of contemporary poetry and indie music. Many...

...This chapter focuses on the musical style of TopNotch the Villain, a hip-hop artist from the Mississippi Delta. It explains that TopNotch’s freestyle technique reveals the rhythms of blues music, the complexity of poetry, and the song-like phrasing of the West-Coast G-Funk hip-hop collective...

..., spoke for marginalized people, and encouraged others to explore difficult subjects through their humor. For grounding, it surveys different types of poetry widely recognized as political and offers a brief synopsis of how theories of humor facilitate analysis of political critiques. The introduction...

...The conclusion builds on the comparisons of Hacker, Mullen, Dorn, and Edson to other poets presented in each of the four chapters. To further demonstrate that humor has a strong presence in American political poetry, the conclusion discusses additional poets who use humor to critique American...

...Intent on pursuing her new career as a poet, Ruth Krauss decided to learn French at the age of fifty-nine. She and Crockett Johnson planned a summer vacation in 1960—they thought about Quebec so she could practice reciting French poetry. Before leaving for Canada, Johnson sent a dramatic adaptation...

... with the writing of his almost-finished novel and his poetry. One night, he cajoled Kerouac into finding some term that would define their group. Kerouac replied, half seriously, that they were a “Beat Generation.” Diamond David “Doctor Sax and the Moonman ” “Imbecile’s Christmas The ” Kent Mira Landesman Jay...

... imagined, and was unsure if he could deal with the self-doubt that was engulfing him. It is not clear why Holmes was not more satisfied with the poetry he was writing, which was being accepted and published, and why he continued to agonize over the novel that was going so badly. Kerouac had been...

..., Ginsberg, and William Burroughs in their nightly prowls in Times Square. By the middle of April 1949, Holmes decided to abandon “The Transgressors,” but suddenly became visible in the world of poetry. As he contemplated using Ginsberg as the subject of his next novel, Holmes became more interested...