Why Write Poetry?: Modern Poets Defending Their Art

This book identifies and examines the verse defense of poetry, which shares the same impulse that has led to the composition of prose essays: namely, the desire to protect poetry from its detractors and to promote its value as a vital human endeavor. In an age in which the general public attitude toward poetry may be characterized as one of indifference, defense helps these authors make a claim for poetry's cultural relevance, as well as for its private profit.