Twentieth-Century Poetry and the Visual Arts

The emergence of photography and film in the twentieth century helped to create a shift from a culture of words to a culture of images. Since then, the question of how literature engages the visual arts has become a key question for literary studies. This extended treatment of the poetic representation of visual art examines a wide range of figures, from W. B. Yeats and Marianne Moore to Anne Sexton and Ted Hughes. Elegantly and persuasively written, the study also contains a rich sample of images that allows readers to see the same works these poets were addressing. By investigating the complex, changing relations between twentieth-century poetry, visual art, and audience, it considers the way in which poetic responses to visual art place the lyric firmly within the social world. For those interested in the interplay between poetry and visual art, this will be essential reading.

Elizabeth Bergmann Loizeaux is professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Elizabeth Bergmann Loizeaux

University of Maryland, College Park

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© Elizabeth Bergmann Loizeaux 2008

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First published 2008

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

Loizeaux, Elizabeth Bergmann.
Twentieth-century poetry and the visual arts / Elizabeth Bergmann Loizeaux.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-521-88795-3 (hardback)
1.American poetry – 20th century – History and criticism.2.English poetry – 20th century – History and criticism.3.Art and literature – United States – History – 20th century.4.Art and literature – Great Britain – History – 20th century.5.Ekphrasis.I.Title.
PS 310 . A76L65 2008
811′. 509–dc222008027112

ISBN 978-0-521-88795-3 hardback

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For Bill and Emma,

and in memory of Anna

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