Last year, the poet and critic Jeff Dolven published two books. The first, Senses of Style, examines the ambiguity of style through a nuanced study of the poets Frank O’Hara and Sir Thomas Wyatt. It is the work of ten years of writing, editing, and rewriting. The second, Take Care, is a novella-length reflection on notions of care in art, ethics, and language. It is the work of twenty-four hours.
Author: Andrew Hungate
Andrew Hungate is an independent scholar and book reviewer. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Love of Metaphor: A Review of Megan Levad’s What Have I To Say To You
What Have I To Say To You
By Megan Levad
(Tavern Books, Oct. 2017, 112 pp., $17.00)
What Have I To Say To You opens with three statements about metaphor. The first is an epigraph from William Carlos Williams: “The stain of love / Is upon the world.” The second is a loose haiku: “I lie here thinking of you / Thinking of you is dreaming // I lie here dreaming”. The third, in a more official, ribbon-cutting nature, reads:
I have taken a vow
not to use a simile
or metaphor
when I speak of our love