University of Wisconsin Press, 2004 Cloth: 978-0-299-19890-9 | Paper: 978-0-299-19894-7 | eISBN: 978-0-299-19893-0 Library of Congress Classification PS3569.H574L38 2004 Dewey Decimal Classification 811.54
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Late Psalm takes themes from those ancient songs of joy and grief and transposes them into the language of contemporary life.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Betsy Sholl is the author of five books including The Red Line and Don’t Explain, 1997 winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry. She teaches English at the University of Southern Maine and poetry at Vermont College.
REVIEWS
"Sholl’s descriptive powers are amazing: ‘the flesh of swordfish swirls like wood grain / around a knot’ or ‘A moment of silence at Soup Kitchen / for our saint of the quick grip, faking / a side stitch to hide the bottle under his coat’ . . . such snap and vigor, such rueful itemizings! This book is one dizzying, painful pleasure after another, and I will read it again and again."—Lynne McMahon, author of Sentimental Standards
"Imagine how Dante would have written if he were the daughter of Thelonious Monk and Mother Jones and you might have some idea of what Betsy Sholl’s Late Psalm is like—a jazzy, heartfelt, no-nonsense Divine Comedy with a social conscience."—David Jauss, author of You Are Not Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgments 000
<LINE SPACE>
At the Public Market (i)
<LINE SPACE>
I
It Would Be Better If We Didn't Talk About It 000
Elegy with Postcard 000
Queen of the Night 000
Elegy with Trains 000
Half the Music 000
Leisure Village 000
Design in America 000
Back with the Quakers 000
Photographer 000
Homeless Encampment 000
In a Time of Drought 000
All Questions to Be Answered, No 000
Sweeney at Prayer 000
Vertical Melancholy 000
Louder 000
Little Elegy 000
Shore Walk with Monk 000
Solid Ground 000
Boardwalk 000
Equinox 000
After That 000
<LINE SPACE>
At the Public Market (ii) 000
<LINE SPACE>
II
Messengers Falling to Our Aid 000
Here 000
Backwash 000
Bass Line 000
Transition 000
Book of Numbers 000
The Bird Suit 000
The Life of Keats, Spared Briefly by John Coltrane 000
Exchange 000
To Walt Whitman in Heaven 000
Reading 000
Impediments 000
Sister 000
Stray Horn 000
Gospel Hour 000
Meditation, with Other Voices 000
Late Psalm 000
Because We Imagine a Journey 000
Last Boat 000
<LINE SPACE>
At the Public Market (iii) 000
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University of Wisconsin Press, 2004 Cloth: 978-0-299-19890-9 Paper: 978-0-299-19894-7 eISBN: 978-0-299-19893-0
Late Psalm takes themes from those ancient songs of joy and grief and transposes them into the language of contemporary life.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Betsy Sholl is the author of five books including The Red Line and Don’t Explain, 1997 winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry. She teaches English at the University of Southern Maine and poetry at Vermont College.
REVIEWS
"Sholl’s descriptive powers are amazing: ‘the flesh of swordfish swirls like wood grain / around a knot’ or ‘A moment of silence at Soup Kitchen / for our saint of the quick grip, faking / a side stitch to hide the bottle under his coat’ . . . such snap and vigor, such rueful itemizings! This book is one dizzying, painful pleasure after another, and I will read it again and again."—Lynne McMahon, author of Sentimental Standards
"Imagine how Dante would have written if he were the daughter of Thelonious Monk and Mother Jones and you might have some idea of what Betsy Sholl’s Late Psalm is like—a jazzy, heartfelt, no-nonsense Divine Comedy with a social conscience."—David Jauss, author of You Are Not Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgments 000
<LINE SPACE>
At the Public Market (i)
<LINE SPACE>
I
It Would Be Better If We Didn't Talk About It 000
Elegy with Postcard 000
Queen of the Night 000
Elegy with Trains 000
Half the Music 000
Leisure Village 000
Design in America 000
Back with the Quakers 000
Photographer 000
Homeless Encampment 000
In a Time of Drought 000
All Questions to Be Answered, No 000
Sweeney at Prayer 000
Vertical Melancholy 000
Louder 000
Little Elegy 000
Shore Walk with Monk 000
Solid Ground 000
Boardwalk 000
Equinox 000
After That 000
<LINE SPACE>
At the Public Market (ii) 000
<LINE SPACE>
II
Messengers Falling to Our Aid 000
Here 000
Backwash 000
Bass Line 000
Transition 000
Book of Numbers 000
The Bird Suit 000
The Life of Keats, Spared Briefly by John Coltrane 000
Exchange 000
To Walt Whitman in Heaven 000
Reading 000
Impediments 000
Sister 000
Stray Horn 000
Gospel Hour 000
Meditation, with Other Voices 000
Late Psalm 000
Because We Imagine a Journey 000
Last Boat 000
<LINE SPACE>
At the Public Market (iii) 000
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE