Proem

The Proem introduces several major themes of the book, including accuracy, error, nostalgia, and the arbitrary, via close readings of a number of poems, prominently ‘English: An Ode’ by Robert Hass, ‘Hedge School’ by Paul Muldoon, and ‘Nostalgia’ by Eavan Boland, as well as poems by Donald Davie, Tony Harrison, and Galway Kinnell. Noting that both etymology and poetry have a history of dubious association with notions of ‘truth’, the Proem proposes to investigate what kinds of truth may be carried or crafted by etymology in poetry, and by poetic etymology.

Lexicography and Modern Poetry

‘Lexicography and Modern Poetry’ provides an overview of the various uses that poets have made of dictionaries since the 1960s. Works by a number of poets from Britain and the United States are discussed, chiefly W. H. Auden, J. H. Prynne, and R. F. Langley, but also Charles Olson, Robert Hass, and Harryette Mullen, among others. Following its early acknowledgement of Michael Davidson’s recognition of the ‘lexical insert’, the essay draws a number of connections between Auden, Prynne, and Langley, before the final section collates a range of examples that illustrate a number of the ways in which poets have attempted to challenge the authority of the dictionary.