389. (Henry James)

The title gives something away: that The Ambassadors will be a novel about power, about relations of power, and about … More

388. (A.E. Housman)

One of Housman’s most poignant poems: Because I liked you better      Than suits a man to say, It irked … More

387. (Henry James)

James appeals to the concept of life with the most brazenly airy of gestures, and his novels are also open … More

386. (Christopher Ricks)

Christopher Ricks’ Along Heroic Lines is his best work of criticism since Essays in Appreciation, which is also the collection … More

381. (Aristotle)

As often in Aristotle, what seems empirical is in fact metaphysical realism. The Poetics used to leave me baffled—like others—by … More

371. (William Wordsworth)

What opens when “pattern,” rather than “form” is allowed to guide our reading of literature? It might be thought a … More

370. (Samuel Johnson)

Lately, I’ve been thinking—as a teacher and reader of criticism—about how criticism depends on discerning and working out various puzzles. … More

366. (John Milton)

In a work of literature, rightness of feeling coincides with a feeling of rightness; authors apprehend just what and how … More

351. (Sonia Sanchez)

One divide in post-1950, maybe post-1960, American poetry could be said to grow out of the claims of the eye. … More