Ravishing Images Ekphrasis In The Poetry And Prose Of William Wordsworth W H Auden And Philip Larkin

Description:

This major study of Wordsworth, Auden, and Larkin proposes that we read the history of contemporary poetry as the history of a war between words and images. This book argues that the desire for transparent clear poetry, in the 19th and 20th centuries, led poets to try to appropriate the powers of the image: the main trope they used was ekphrasis, a written description of a work of art. But the relationship between the arts was less a marriage than a rape. These poets feared the wordless power of the other they described. They narcissistically created these images with the rhetoric of possession, domination, violence, or entombment.

subjects: Auden, w. h. (wystan hugh), 1907-1973,  Larkin, philip, 1922-1985,  Wordsworth, william, 1770-1850,  American poetry, history and criticism,  Literary styleauden, w. h. (wystan hugh) , 1907-1973,  Literary stylewordsworth, william , 1770-1850,  Literary stylelarkin, philip,  Techniqueauden, w. h. (wystan hugh) , 1907-1973,  Techniquewordsworth, william , 1770-1850,  Techniquelarkin, philip,  English poetry--history and criticism,  English poetry--20th century--history and criticism,  English language--style,  Description (rhetoric),  Ekphrasis,  Description (rhetoric)--history,  Description (rhetoric)--history--19th century,  Description (rhetoric)--history--20th century,  English language--rhetoric,  English language--20th century--rhetoric,  Pr605.s74 a37 1995,  821.009,  English poetry,  History and criticism,  English language,  Style,  Literary style,  Technique,  History,  Rhetoric