Poetry and Theory from Keats to Prynne (Language, Discourse, Society) - Hardcover

This book marks the first rigorous integration of literary theory with modern poetry and poetics, fusing philosophical abstraction with the closest readings. Amongst the poets considered are Tennyson, Hopkins, Symons, Larkin, Celan, Plath and Bonnefoy; themes addressed include 'tradition' , 'voice' , 'objects' and 'faith'. Smith investigates the poetics of Harold Bloom, Donald Davie, Empson, Eliot, de Man and Pound, insisting on poetic 'surplus' - the ways in which both poetry and poetics surpass, wittingly or not, their own definitions.