THE DREAM OF A COMMON LANGUAGE: Poems 1974-1977

by Adrienne Rich ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 1978

In the eight books of poetry Adrienne Rich has published since 1951, language has been one of her central concerns, so that her latest title sounds right. ""This is the oppressor's language/ yet I need it to talk to you,"" she wrote in The Will to Change, 1971. She has had other interests and a full life: marriage, three sons, civic and political work, and a deepening commitment to the woman's movement, culminating in the book Of Woman Born; also, to judge from the book before us, a searing lesbian love affair. Her concerns have been expressed and published, but one, not explicitly stated, has been how to justify her self-absorption in a world full of fire-bombs and famine. The world goes on the same, but Adrienne Rich is developing strongly. The new book is divided into three sections: ""Power,"" ""Twenty-One Love Poems,"" and an untitled third part which contains some of her best writing. ""No one ever told us we had to study our lives,/ make of our lives a study, as if learning natural history/ or music. . ."" the 70-year-old pianist said, when I asked her/ What makes a virtuoso?--Competitiveness."" Competitiveness, that masculine folly, Rich wishes to reject. To communicate without competitiveness is the dream of her title. At her best, she achieves what she aspires to: ""a whole new poetry beginning here.

Pub Date: April 10, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1978

Categories: NONFICTION