About the book
In the most extensive work to date on major poets from the mountain South, John Lang takes as his point of departure an oft-quoted remark by Jim Wayne Miller: \"Appalachian literature is -- and has always been -- as decidedly worldly, secular, and profane in its outlook as the [region's] traditional religion appears to be spiritual and otherworldly.\" Although this statement may be accurate for Miller's own poetry and fiction, Lang maintains that it does not do justice to the pervasive religious and spiritual concerns of many of the mountain South's finest writers, including the five other leading poets whose work he analyzes along with Miller's.
Fred Chappell, Robert Morgan, Jeff Daniel Marion, Kathryn Stripling Byer, and Charles Wright, Lang demonstrates, all write poetry that explores, sometimes with widely varying results, what they see as the undeniable presence of the divine within the temporal world. Like Blake and Emerson before them, these poets find the supernatural within nature rather than beyond it. They all exhibit a love of place in their poems, a strong sense of connection to nature and the land, especially the mountains. Yet while their affirmation of the world before them suggests a resistance to the otherworldliness that Miller points to, their poetry is nonetheless permeated with spiritual questing.
Dante strongly influences both Chappell and Wright, though the latter eventually resigns himself to being simply \"a God-fearing agnostic,\" whereas Chappell follows Dante in celebrating \"the love that moves the sun and other stars.\" Byer, probably the least orthodox of these poets, chooses to lay up treasures on earth, rejecting the transcendent in favor of a Native American spirituality of immanence, while Morgan and Marion find in nature what Marion calls a \"vocabulary of wonders\" akin to Emerson's conviction that nature is the language of the spiritual.
Employing close readings of the poets' work and relating it to British and American Romanticism as well as contemporary eco-theology and eco-criticism, Lang's book is the most ambitious and searching foray yet into the worlds of these renowned post--World War II Appalachian poets.
Editions of Six Poets from the Mountain South
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780807135600
- EBook
- ISBN 9780807147054
- EBook
- ISBN 9780807147061
- PDF
- ISBN 9780807137550
Read an Excerpt
In the most extensive work to date on major poets from the mountain South, John Lang takes as his point of departure an oft-quoted remark by Jim Wayne Miller: \"Appalachian literature is -- and has always been -- as decidedly worldly, secular, and profane in its outlook as the [region's] traditional religion appears to be spiritual and otherworldly.\" Although this statement may be accurate for Miller's own poetry and fiction, Lang maintains that it does not do justice to the pervasive religious and spiritual concerns of many of the mountain South's finest writers, including the five other leading poets whose work he analyzes along with Miller's.
Fred Chappell, Robert Morgan, Jeff Daniel Marion, Kathryn Stripling Byer, and Charles Wright, Lang demonstrates, all write poetry that explores, sometimes with widely varying results, what they see as the undeniable presence of the divine within the temporal world. Like Blake and Emerson before them, these poets find the supernatural within nature rather than beyond it. They all exhibit a love of place in their poems, a strong sense of connection to nature and the land, especially the mountains. Yet while their affirmation of the world before them suggests a resistance to the otherworldliness that Miller points to, their poetry is nonetheless permeated with spiritual questing.
Dante strongly influences both Chappell and Wright, though the latter eventually resigns himself to being simply \"a God-fearing agnostic,\" whereas Chappell follows Dante in celebrating \"the love that moves the sun and other stars.\" Byer, probably the least orthodox of these poets, chooses to lay up treasures on earth, rejecting the transcendent in favor of a Native American spirituality of immanence, while Morgan and Marion find in nature what Marion calls a \"vocabulary of wonders\" akin to Emerson's conviction that nature is the language of the spiritual.
Employing close readings of the poets' work and relating it to British and American Romanticism as well as contemporary eco-theology and eco-criticism, Lang's book is the most ambitious and searching foray yet into the worlds of these renowned post--World War II Appalachian poets.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Six Poets from the Mountain South about?
In the most extensive work to date on major poets from the mountain South, John Lang takes as his point of departure an oft-quoted remark by Jim Wayne Miller: \"Appalachian literature is -- and has always been -- as decidedly worldly, secular, and profane in its outlook as the [region's] traditional religion appears to be spiritual and otherworldly.\" Although this statement may be accurate for Miller's own poetry and fiction, Lang maintains that it does not do justice to the pervasive religious and spiritual concerns of many of the mountain South's finest writers, including the five other leading poets whose work he analyzes along with Miller's.
Fred Chappell, Robert Morgan, Jeff Daniel Marion, Kathryn Stripling Byer, and Charles Wright, Lang demonstrates, all write poetry that explores, sometimes with widely varying results, what they see as the undeniable presence of the divine within the temporal world. Like Blake and Emerson before them, these poets find the supernatural within nature rather than beyond it. They all exhibit a love of place in their poems, a strong sense of connection to nature and the land, especially the mountains. Yet while their affirmation of the world before them suggests a resistance to the otherworldliness that Miller points to, their poetry is nonetheless permeated with spiritual questing.
Dante strongly influences both Chappell and Wright, though the latter eventually resigns himself to being simply \"a God-fearing agnostic,\" whereas Chappell follows Dante in celebrating \"the love that moves the sun and other stars.\" Byer, probably the least orthodox of these poets, chooses to lay up treasures on earth, rejecting the transcendent in favor of a Native American spirituality of immanence, while Morgan and Marion find in nature what Marion calls a \"vocabulary of wonders\" akin to Emerson's conviction that nature is the language of the spiritual.
Employing close readings of the poets' work and relating it to British and American Romanticism as well as contemporary eco-theology and eco-criticism, Lang's book is the most ambitious and searching foray yet into the worlds of these renowned post--World War II Appalachian poets.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Six Poets from the Mountain South?
Biography, Literature and Literary studies > Literature: history and criticism
Where can I read a sample of Six Poets from the Mountain South?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780807135600
How long is Six Poets from the Mountain South and how many pages does it have?
Six Poets from the Mountain South has 224 page(s)
Is Six Poets from the Mountain South part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?
Yes it is a part of series Southern Literary Studies
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Six Poets from the Mountain South?
John Lang
Who is the Publisher of the book Six Poets from the Mountain South?
LSU Press
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Six Poets from the Mountain South is available as paperback(ISBN 9780807135600) and ebook(ISBN 9780807147054) and ebook(ISBN 9780807147061) and pdf(ISBN 9780807137550)
Where can I buy Six Poets from the Mountain South online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy Six Poets from the Mountain South from below
Where can I buy Six Poets from the Mountain South?