At North Farm
"At North Farm" is a poem by American poet and writer John Ashbery.
History and writing[edit]
The poem first appeared in The New Yorker in 1984.[1] It was the opening poem of Ashbery's 1984 collection A Wave.[2] It was written soon after Ashbery almost died due to an infection.[3]
The poem is in part a reference to the epic poem Kalevala, which Ashbery revisited in his later poem "Finnish Rhapsody".[4]
Content[edit]
Composition[edit]
The poem loosely adheres to the form of a sonnet, with the traditional fourteen lines and the octet/seste of a Petrarchan sonnet.[5] Adhering to the format was not intentional on Ashbery's part.[5]
Themes[edit]
In her review of A Wave, Helen Vendler wrote that the poem deals with the pains of aging using clichés.[6]
Allusions and influences[edit]
The poem is evocative of W. H. Auden's work.[7] Auden had an influence on Ashbery early poetry, an influence that diminished over the course of his career.
Reception[edit]
Although shorter and simpler than many of his most famous works, it is considered to be a well-known poem of Ashbery's.[4]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Ashbery, John (9 April 1984). "At North Farm". The New Yorker.
- ^ Waters, William (2003). Poetry's Touch: On Lyric Address. Cornell University Press.
- ^ Gray, Timothy (2010). Urban Pastoral: Natural Currents in the New York School. University of Iowa Press.
- ^ a b Stewart, Susan (1988). "The Last Man". The American Poetry Review. 17 (5): 9–16.
- ^ a b Lehman, David (16 December 1984). "THE PLEASURES OF POETRY". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ Vendler, Helen (14 June 1984). "Making It New". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ Gander, Forrest (1 July 2007). "In Search of John Ashbery". Boston Review. Retrieved 30 December 2017.