American Literature Commons^™

Themes And Development In The Poetry Of Kenneth Patchen, Joe Kirby

Honors Theses

Kenneth Patchen has been, and continues to be, one of the most influential and controversial figures in contemporary American literature; very few people who read Patchen come away unchanged or uninfluenced by his poetry, and few, if any, of his readers are of mixed emotions about the value of his work: It is either sheer magic and of tremendous artistic merit or it is rough, emotional garbage, a judgement often dependent upon the courage of the reader. Patchen is not held in high esteem publicly by many poets and critics. The American poet Kenneth Rexroth was once advised by an …

Life And Personality Of Robert Frost, Una Mae Atkinson

Honors Theses

The most important American poet since Walt Whitman is the New Englander, Robert Frost. People who have never thought of reading poetry take to Frost. His words are simple words; the images are simple, most often country, things. The music of his poetry is the sound of everyday talk, and the ideas, on the surface, anyway, are plain and straight. Subjects of Frost's poetry are such things as nature, love and friendship, self-trust, fear, and courage.

Thus, Robert Frost occupies a unique position in modern poetry. Unlike most contemporary poets, he has managed to win a wide popular audience while …