A Crackling of Thorns

John Hollander

The Yale Series of Younger Poets is, by and large, a very good thing. Seems like every book of theirs I've come across has been chock full of poety goodness, and this, the first book from John Hollander, is no exception. Introduced by W. H. Auden (who criticizes Hollander for some of his word choices, but otherwise seems to think he's the bees' knees), A Crackling of Thorns was one of the last salvos in a battle poetry has been losing over the past century-the formal verse. And Hollander excels at formal verse, though the times he lapses into blank verse are some of the collection's most powerful moments.

Hollander remains one of the few poets, along with such luminaries as Marilyn Hacker and Dana Gioia, who excel in the art of formal poetry. A Crackling of Thorns was Hollander at his grandiose finest, when life was still a Greek tragedy and all of us set decorators. If you enjoy Hollander's later work (or have been put off by his sporadic coarseness), this is definitely one to check out; if you're unaware of his work, or if you're a teacher looking for a good, solid collection with which to introduce more complex formal work to a class, this is a fantastic place to get to know the work of John Hollander.