JOURNAL ARTICLE

Ommateum and the Early Career of A. R. Ammons.

  • Published In: Texas Studies in Literature & Language, 2023, v. 65, n. 2. P. 140 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: McGuirk, Kevin 3 of 3

Abstract

A. R. Ammons's strange first volume, Ommateum (1955), failed upon delivery, leaving the poet stalled and depressed. This article examines Ammons's book as both an aesthetic object, or an arrangement of utterances, and a gesture in the literary field by a poet unfamiliar with the game. Following William McNeill, I argue that the question of "the accessibility of other beings" is the question upon which Ammons's early career turns. A set of animal poems of 1958, arising from an access of childhood feeling and memory, provides the "kindness" that is the key to Ammons's post- Ommateum transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Texas Studies in Literature & Language. 2023/06, Vol. 65, Issue 2, p140
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Biography
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0040-4691
  • DOI:10.7560/tsll65202
  • Accession Number:164948747
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Texas Studies in Literature & Language is the property of University of Texas Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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