The metaphysics of Richard Wilbur
by Daniel Mark Epstein
Does society appreciate one of its finest metaphysical poets?
Features
Travels in “The Waste Land”
by Adam Kirsch
On Lawrence Rainey’s scholarly new edition of The Annotated Waste Land with Eliot’s Contemporary Prose.
Rochester’s honesty
by Peter Campion
On the foibles and finer points of the poet John Wilmot, Lord Rochester.
The fortunes of formalism
by David Yezzi
Formalism versus free verse, revisited.
Poems
Most popular
Reconsiderations
Chekov & Tolstoy
by Anthony Daniels
On two stories in which we “see encapsulated the tragic predicament of modern man.”
Subscribe for access to every article and ten print issues.
Theater
Consumed by trivia
by Mark Steyn
On David Mamet’s Romance at the off-Broadway Atlantic Theater; Christopher Shinn’s On the Mountain at the Peter J. Sharp Theatre, New York; & Gina Gionfriddo’s After Ashley at the Vineyard Theatre, New York.
Art
Stuart Davis in Philadelphia
by Karen Wilkin
On “Stuart Davis and American Abstraction: A Masterpiece in Focus ” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Maastricht fair
by Marco Grassi
On the world’s preeminent art fair.
The New York fairs
by James Panero
On “The Armory Show: The International Fair of New Art” at Piers 90 & 92; the seventeenth annual ADAA “Art Show” at the 67th Street Armory; the AIPAD “Photography Show” at the New York Hilton; the Outsider Art Fair at the Puck Building; & the Winter Antiques Show also at the 67th Street Armory.
A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITORS
Support our crucial work and join us in strengthening the bonds of civilization.
Your donation sustains our efforts to inspire joyous rediscoveries.
Music
New York chronicle
by Jay Nordlinger
On Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic; the Emerson, Orion and Brentano String Quartets; the Metropolitan Opera’s Barber of Seville; & André Previn with the Oslo Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.
The media
Responding unkind
by James Bowman
On some consequences of refusing to engage “the other side” – your opponents’ arguments.
Books
Robert Southey: pathos & tragedy
by Paul Dean
A review of Robert Southey: Poetical Works 1793–1810, by Robert Southey, edited by Lynda Pratt.
Bardolatry made easy
by John Simon
Pitt boss
by Andrew Roberts
A review of William Pitt the Younger, by William Hague.
Hybrid etymology
by Stefan Beck
A review of Break, Blow, Burn: Camille Paglia Reads Forty-Three of the World’s Best Poems, by Camille Paglia.
Notebook
The interior of a heron’s egg: Michael Donaghy, 1954-2004
by Joshua Mehigan
On the death and legacy of the poet Michael Donaghy.
Notes & Comments
A thank-you to Ward Churchill
by The Editors
On one positive outcome of an unfortunate academic fiasco.
The New Criterion on poetry
by The Editors
On the contents of our third annual special poetry section.