THESE DISTINGUISHED VOICES SPEAK ON DANIEL HABERMAN'S POETRY
"Daniel Habennan has the rare gift of the subtle
use of language"
- EDWARD DAHLBERG
"Phrases shaped \' ith claSSical exactitude
(' th<'
hanking geese heel' ),
the unexpected but perfect
adjective
(' thl' lankyfleld' ),
the Image In motion
('preening glance-Ial/icing dOll'll'
l, an easy mas–
tery of rhythm and pace
('And
!"'{IIIc1er
III
thl' ,,"it
o/nightl Alld I ,,'onder " ,here the "TOllg !><,glln ' ):
Daniel Habennan's poems are first of all
quintessential poetry, In an age when for ovcr half
acentury we have been asking of the arts, 'Yes,
but IS it painting? Is it musIc? Is it sculpture'." illS
intensely pleasing to find an artist ",ho returns to.
or invents afresh, the essences of a long trad,llon
Without the least use of pasllche, Pound ended hiS
days wntlng In rhyme and metre (the translations
of the Chinese
Odes
),
Stravinsky kept returning
to the Baroque, Picasso'slast decade was a medi–
tation on the tradition from which
he
had so radi–
cally departed, Haberman practices achanned
and charming art in which he can manipulate a
range of sensibilities, His lyrics sing, his epigrams
bite, He can establish the mood of a poem with a
few deft opening words, and he can sustain and
develop the mood to the rounding out of a poem.
All we can ask of any poet is that he be master of
his craft (all else is grace and genius); of Haber–
man's mastery there IS no doubt, grace abounds.
and 111 a phrase here, a perfect rhythm there, In a
delightfully surprising pattern of words, there IS
the flash of genius."
-GUY DAVENPORT
" It IS no surprise to find versions from
The Grl'l'k
Anthology
at the heart of Damel Habennan'scol–
lecllOn: their treatment of love and loss and the
natural world reminds us that when Habennan
writes on these themes in his own deliberately
crafted stanzas he
is
mainta111ing a tradition
and working within modes of expression and
feeling that remain vital and life-enhanc111g
to this day."
- SEAMUS HEANEY
"I read With a great deal of pleasure these
thoughtful and carefully made poems. Damcl
Haberman has a restraint and acare for craft–
manshlp which is very welcome these days.
The translations which he has done In
collaborallon with Marylin B. Arthur are of
particular Interest in bringing before the reader
some fragments of ancient Greek poetry which
have only come to light in relatively
recent times,"
-JOHN HEATH-STUBBS
Distributed by
THE SUBTERRANEAN COMPANY
P.O. Box 10233, Eugene, Oregon 97440
" Daniel Habennan's poems are delicate, sensi–
tive, and intelligent; and I do sometimes re–
mark with a touch of envy effects of his that
are demed to me."
-HOWARD NEMEROV
" I have been reading Daniel Habennan's
poems
With pleasure. I am pleased, too, to find a
younger poet with asense of fonn, and asense,
too, that poetry has been going on for along
Ii
me and that anything new needs to grow out
of the old, And it is good to know that some–
one has a sense of the enormous wealth of
language available."-NORMAN
NICHOLSON
- Damel Habennan IS a poet In the tradition of
Meredith,Tuckerman and Hardy-the '
of the latter IS espec13lly eVident, beautifully
and healthily so. ThiS volume goes further than
hiS first tx)ok, which won him a real following.
All readers who enjoy Iync, singing verse that
can touch the heart will enJoy, and be exhila–
rated by, these poems.
-JAMES SCHUYLER
...,.These poems have remarkable scope:
Habennan presents free verse, iambic pen–
tameter, and sonnets with real control. .."
- (American Library Association) BOOKUST
" Daniel Habennanls one of the poets of the new
generalion In the U1l1Ied States who IS of major
Importance... a fresh, new, and different
VOKX
' " in contemporary poetry his work IS of the ul–
most inten.'St .. ."'ilhout forgett111g Iynclsm.
says beaullfulthlngs In new ways, And Isn't this
what a poct does'!"
- (Bogota, Colombia) EL ESPECTADOR
THE FURTIVE WALL
Poems by Daniel Haberman
Etchings by Jan Stussy
112pp. o"x 10"lilu,
$1095
Cloth
._
$595
Pllper
0-410158-84'
J
O-Y10158-85-1
POEMS
by Damel Haberman
Drawings by Cornelia Foss
$4 95
Paper
/().J
1'"
X"
x
8"
illu\
o-910158-24-X
ThiJ second ('c/uulIIlI\"(tilah/e
0",-,"
11/
paper.
T}ll~
fint
editioll houlld ill
doth
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Olu·(~rprilll
Published by
ART DIRECTION BOOK COMPANY
10 East 39th Street, New York City 10016
PARTISAN REVIEW
Published at Boston University
