This is an analysis of the literary art of recapturing the past as the artist perceives it. By clearly distinguishing different ways of creating a past--in fiction, history, and other arts--Toliver enriches our understanding of literary strategies.

The Past that Poets Make examines such questions as how a fictional narrative differs from other ways of seeing a past time; to what extent literature is nontemporal, transcending its time, and to what extent it is tied to the institutions and traditions of its era; how given works conjure up a sense of time; and how fictional narratives function as transmitters of ideas to societies prepared to absorb them.