William Stafford

INTRODUCTION For thirty years an orthodoxy ruled American poetry. It derived from the authority of T. S. Eliot and the new critics; it exerted itself through the literary quarterlies and the universities. It asked for a poetry of symmetry, intellect, irony, and wit. The last few years have...

ForewordAll anthologists are fallible. Those whose choices are restricted to the files of a particular magazine face additional hazards. For one thing, they can choose only from what has already been chosen. For another, when a considerable time span is covered, a question comes up: Should the book...