Collected Poems of Anthony Hecht

“Hecht appears to be one of the few poets for whom a collected poems is not only beneficial, but necessary… Meticulously edited…[the book] illustrates how completely The Hard Hours jumped to Hecht’s mature style: pared down, severe, and moving by juxtaposition…That volume contains three of his greatest poems, ‘The Vow,’ ‘More Light! More Light!’ and ‘It Out-Herods Herod. Pray You, Avoid It’…These poems, and a half-dozen others I would label ‘great,’ should ensure Hecht’s place in future anthologies and in the postwar American pantheon—no mean feat considering that august generation included, among others, John Ashbery, Gwendolyn Brooks, Donald Justice, James Merrill, Frank O’Hara, and Adrienne Rich…With this Collected, he could be confident in uttering “non omnis moriar”: I shall not altogether perish.” —A. E. Stallings, Poetry Foundation (online)

“No other recent poet in English has left us such an abundant display of what a certain kind of talent—ironic, formal, elegant—can do.” —David Mason, The Wall Street Journal

“No matter how dark or light his theme, Hecht’s verse always remains musical, flowing and immensely readable.” —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

“[Hecht’s] poems fulfilled and surpassed the canons of the well-made work of art that had been established in his [day] … The whirling intricacies of Hecht’s verse are worthy of our careful attention, not least because they teach us how to be civilized even as we stand before the atrocities of a barbaric age.” —James Matthew Wilson, National Review

“With Shakespeare as his model and Auden as his guide, Anthony Hecht made a majestic contribution to American literature. His Collected Poems is a work of great wit and grandeur.” —Edward Hirsch, author of Stranger by Night

“A new generation of readers can encounter the work of a master poet over the whole course of a literary career. Hecht’s formal brilliance is absolute, and his dark and scrupulous reckoning with the violence and upheaval of his times has much to teach us about our own.” —Richie Hofmann, author of A Hundred Lovers

“Thanks to the editorial thoroughness and wisdom of Philip Hoy, we find that many of the unknown poems collected here for the first time do more than meet the high standard of Hecht’s most celebrated ones. They confirm that this essential poet, always notable for his grave historical sense, his satiric wit, and his technical ingenuity, could also call upon a light touch—a simplicity that can convey acceptance and even joy.” —Mary Jo Salter, author of Zoom Rooms

“For all its classical mastery, the dark music of Anthony Hecht’s poems is tuned to the tragic history of the twentieth century, and yet his work maintains a passionate belief in the generative power of the imagination and the fulfillments of amatory love. There are few postwar poets who possessed the moral courage to look into the divided heart of human nature and bear witness to both the benighted and enlightening mysteries that lie within. If we wish to better understand ourselves and our times, this epoch-defining collection would serve as an inspiring guide.” —Sherod Santos, author of The Burning World

ANTHONY HECHT, born in New York City in 1923, was the author of eight books of poetry, including The Hard Hours, which received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1968. He also wrote several volumes of essays and criticism, among them The Hidden Law, a book-length study of the poetry of W. H. Auden. Appointed poet laureate of the United States in 1982, his other honors included the Ruth B. Lilly Prize, the Bollingen Prize, the Eugenio Montale Award, the Wallace Stevens Award, the Robert Frost Medal, and the National Medal of Arts. He received fellowships from the American Academy in Rome; the Bogliasco, Ford, Guggenheim, and Rockefeller Foundations; and the National Endowment for the Arts. A member of the Academy of American Poets, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he died in 2004.