EMERGENCY POEMS

by Nicanor Parra ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 20, 1972

A new collection of tough, charming, funny, marvelous poems by the Chilean poet Nicanor Parra, translated with admirable non-lyricism by Miller Williams. Although in a sense political, Parra's ""poetry of the public square"" (as he describes it in ""Manifesto"") transcends the pompous and exhortatory by undercutting both social and political rhetoric -- with a kind of self-conscious amused irony that refuses the heroic posture, even in the name of the ""higher emotions."" Often described as ""anti-poems,"" due to their matter-of-fact diction, flatness of tone, and mundane vision, they are in fact poems in the true sense, transporting the reader to a wondrous semi-surreal (but absolutely logical) world: ""When a gravely ill man/ comes round for a few seconds/ And asks his relatives what time it is/ Gathered as if by magic/ Around the deathbed --/ In a voice that sets the hair on end// It means something is wrong/ It means something is wrong/ It means something is wrong.

Pub Date: April 20, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: New Directions

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION