Olives: Poems

"Olives" harvests 43 poems by A. E. Stallings, a poet living in Athens, a classicist, translator, writer who has received much acclaim. She shares with another A. E. (poet A.E. Housman) a fluency in the austere beauty of Greek poetry & a piercing wry wit that is very much her own.There are many reasons to like this book. For example,---the triolet may be among the more devilishly delightful forms so there is a special joy in seeing it done with wit, understanding, and grace. I had a grin that went three times around my face on reading Stallings' "Triolet on a Line Apocryphally Attributed to Martin Luther," beginning with her alliterative choice of "apocryphally" rather than "erroneously.""Why should the Devil get all the good tunes?The booze and the neon and Saturday night,The swaying in darkness, the lovers like spoons?Why should the devil get all the good tunes?Does he hum them to while away sad afternoons,Or the long, lonesome Sundays? Or sing them for spite?Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,The booze and the neon and Saturday night?"---it's great hearing the music of the muse of poetry---what Stallings writes about seems worth thinking about, be it mortality in the cemetery in Athens, the tensions and reconciliations of relationships, the evanescence of childhood.---there are resonances in many lines that can make us smile, as in the echo of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" in the last two lines of her "Pop Music for a New Parent": "....At this almost-safe distance, and you weep or nearly weep For all you know of beauty, or of truth."--A sense of balance and of encompassing a range of weathers honestly, compassionately, and wisely.ABOUT THE BOOK"Olives" presents four themes: I The Argument (12 poems), II Extinction of Silence (12 poems), III Three Poems for Psyche, and IV Fairy Tale Logic (14 poems). The book brings together poems printed earlier in magazines such as "Poetry," "The Atlantic Monthly," and "Valpairiso Poetry Review."Most are brief, although Stallings elsewhere has longer work, such as her translation of Lucretius' "De Rerum Natura." Applause to the magazine editors and to the selection committees for the awards Stallings has received, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Award.ANY READER ALERTS? Not really. 67 pages may seem slim, but this is about what we have of Catallus, and for me, the net has come up from the sea glittering and full.For some readers, rhymed and formally structured poetry may seem retrograde and a whole book of it, too much of a not-so-good thing. Stallings may not be their glass of retsina.For myself, I like Houseman, Hopkins, and Heany and am glad, very glad, Stallings is here. This is a book to enoy yourself and specially to share with readers who want to know what some beautiful contemporary poetry is like. Anassa Kata, A. E. Stallings!

What a lovely surprise this poet is! I read a small article about her and decided to giver her work a read, excellent and poignant.Seller was great and fast and the used book was almost as new.

A.E. Stalling’s poetry is a great treasure in this modern time. Her work in what she calls “inherited forms” is a refreshing breath from the past. She plays with things long since thought to be out of fashion and brings to them a new life. Olives is no exception to her greatness. She uses inherited forms to discuss everything from jigsaw puzzles to the desire for deus ex machina, to violins. The thing she plays with most is rhyme. She is a master rhymer. In her poem “Jigsaw Puzzle” she uses the rhyme to imitate the way jigsaw pieces link together. It’s an alternating rhyme scheme of abab, similar to how jigsaw puzzles fit around each other. However, it doesn’t only serve to mimic. As well, it addresses the idea of order that is asked through the puzzle conceit. The poem becomes a wonderful discussion on the struggle for order in the chaos of reality, and the rhyme tries to show that struggle.You will not only be getting an education on rhyme but on the ability to communicate something meaningful in just about any form. She even uses a somewhat silly form based on the Fibonacci sequence called a fib. It’s a short poem that follows the sequence through the number of syllables in each line (1, 1, 2, 3 etc.). But, here this master takes something seemingly born of levity and uses it address the grand question of lying and desire through images of Adam, Eve, and sticking a needle in your eye.Overall, this book will delight you and remind you that A.E. Stallings has a place among the greats, even those of yesteryear.

Such an amazing collection of poetry. It revels in this tension between life and death, and the form complements the content. It is one of the few poetry collections I have read that functions entirely as a book, while each poem could stand on its own as well.

We talked for over an hour about all of the rich moving parts in this book, lots of deep layers—especially around motherhood as it relates to our shadow selves. Truly grateful to have found her work.

Liked the words. I would recommend it to other readers and poets. I think they would like it too. A good read.

I have never really read much of this poet's work. I picked it up on a whim (yes I liked the cover!) when I needed something to read and had no book with me at the time. I fell in love with the poet's way of manipulating words without their seeming to have been manipulated. She is a master of image and idea come to the page. You must get this. Read the back first and fall in love as I did.

A.E. Stallings is one of the great poets of our time. Her poetry is deceptive in its accessibility -- it has depth and range of allusions within a very down-to-earth vocabulary. Though her poetry is form-driven and thus she is correctly labeled as a formalist), the forms are so skillfully managed that they are nearly invisible. Forms are truly integral to the subject of each poem.

Some of the best of our time. Clear and concise. Spare to the point of gleam.

Exceptional work from A E Stallings can highly recommend.