Reviews
This ambitious, erudite critical study...seeks to recast Romantic poetry from the Wordsworthian 'egotistical sublime' to an ecological one. Romantic literature's love of nature, its fierce individualism and its political radicalism make it a plausible candidate for planting the seeds of the Green movement... Amplifying on his astute readings of [poetry], Bate formulates his own idea of 'ecopoesis,' a poetics of human habitation within nature, instead of pastoralism's faade., Jonathan Bate's The Song of the Earth provides a visionary agenda for all subsequent ecocritical writing. Bate has broadened the intellectual and critical foundation of his earlier ecocritical work... When Bate masters historical evidence and insightful analyses of discrete Romantic writing, as he does in [the chapter] Major Weather, he achieves a broad authority that is captivating and seductive., This ambitious, erudite critical study...seeks to recast Romantic poetry from the Wordsworthian 'egotistical sublime' to an ecological one. Romantic literature's love of nature, its fierce individualism and its political radicalism make it a plausible candidate for planting the seeds of the Green movement...Amplifying on his astute readings of [poetry], Bate formulates his own idea of 'ecopoesis,' a poetics of human habitation within nature, instead of pastoralism's faYade., This ambitious, erudite critical study...seeks to recast Romantic poetry from the Wordsworthian 'egotistical sublime' to an ecological one. Romantic literature's love of nature, its fierce individualism and its political radicalism make it a plausible candidate for planting the seeds of the Green movement...Amplifying on his astute readings of [poetry], Bate formulates his own idea of 'ecopoesis,' a poetics of human habitation within nature, instead of pastoralism's façade., [Bate] establishes the reality of the ecological theme in English poetry. Building on a broad literature in philosophy and biology as well as literary studies, Bate defines ecological poetry as that which 'sees into the life of things' (Wordsworth) but also respects the integrity of the physical world...This book has a powerful impact...[Bates's] moral concerns, deeply held and deeply considered, never blur the sharp edges of literary or natural fact. His readings are compelling rediscoveries of poems we thought we knew already... The Song of the Earth fairly hums with intelligence and passion. It is itself a demonstration of the interplay between literature and nature that it celebrates. It could change your life., This ambitious, erudite critical study...seeks to recast Romantic poetry from the Wordsworthian 'egotistical sublime' to an ecological one. Romantic literature's love of nature, its fierce individualism and its political radicalism make it a plausible candidate for planting the seeds of the Green movement... Amplifying on his astute readings of [poetry], Bate formulates his own idea of 'ecopoesis,' a poetics of human habitation within nature, instead of pastoralism's façade., The Song of the Earth begins from readings in the ecology of literature from the eighteenth century to the present day. Jane Austen, Cowper, Hardy, Ted Hughes, Elizabeth Bishop, Les Murray and others are explored for what they tell us about changing attitudes to landscape, to place, and what Bate calls, in a deliberate ecological metaphor, the 'complex and delicate web' that holds together culture and environment...[this book] is the best of things, a book which will help its readers to think new thoughts--thoughts about poetry, about places, and about themselves., The Song of the Earth begins from readings in the ecology of literature from the eighteenth century to the present day. Jane Austen, Cowper, Hardy, Ted Hughes, Elizabeth Bishop, Les Murray and others are explored for what they tell us about changing attitudes to landscape, to place, and what Bate calls, in a deliberate ecological metaphor, the 'e~complex and delicate web'e(tm) that holds together culture and environment'e¦[this book] is the best of things, a book which will help its readers to think new thoughts'e"thoughts about poetry, about places, and about themselves., [Bate] establishes the reality of the ecological theme in English poetry. Building on a broad literature in philosophy and biology as well as literary studies, Bate defines ecological poetry as that which 'e~sees into the life of things'e(tm) (Wordsworth) but also respects the integrity of the physical world'e¦ This book has a powerful impact'e¦ [Bates'e(tm)s] moral concerns, deeply held and deeply considered, never blur the sharp edges of literary or natural fact. His readings are compelling rediscoveries of poems we thought we knew already'e¦ The Song of the Earth fairly hums with intelligence and passion. It is itself a demonstration of the interplay between literature and nature that it celebrates. It could change your life., The Song of the Earth begins from readings in the ecology of literature from the eighteenth century to the present day. Jane Austen, Cowper, Hardy, Ted Hughes, Elizabeth Bishop, Les Murray and others are explored for what they tell us about changing attitudes to landscape, to place, and what Bate calls, in a deliberate ecological metaphor, the "complex and delicate web" that holds together culture and environment...[this book] is the best of things, a book which will help its readers to think new thoughts--thoughts about poetry, about places, and about themselves., Jonathan Bate's The Song of the Earth provides a visionary agenda for all subsequent ecocritical writing. Bate has broadened the intellectual and critical foundation of his earlier ecocritical work...When Bate masters historical evidence and insightful analyses of discrete Romantic writing, as he does in Major Weather , he achieves a broad authority that is captivating and seductive., [Bate] establishes the reality of the ecological theme in English poetry. Building on a broad literature in philosophy and biology as well as literary studies, Bate defines ecological poetry as that which 'sees into the life of things' (Wordsworth) but also respects the integrity of the physical world...This book has a powerful impact...[Bates's] moral concerns, deeply held and deeply considered, never blur the sharp edges of literary or natural fact. His readings are compelling rediscoveries of poems we thought we knew already...The Song of the Earth fairly hums with intelligence and passion. It is itself a demonstration of the interplay between literature and nature that it celebrates. It could change your life., The Song of the Earth begins from readings in the ecology of literature from the eighteenth century to the present day. Jane Austen, Cowper, Hardy, Ted Hughes, Elizabeth Bishop, Les Murray and others are explored for what they tell us about changing attitudes to landscape, to place, and what Bate calls, in a deliberate ecological metaphor, the 'complex and delicate web' that holds together culture and environment...[this book] is the best of things, a book which will help its readers to think new thoughts-thoughts about poetry, about places, and about themselves., [Bate] establishes the reality of the ecological theme in English poetry. Building on a broad literature in philosophy and biology as well as literary studies, Bate defines ecological poetry as that which 'sees into the life of things' (Wordsworth) but also respects the integrity of the physical world... This book has a powerful impact... [Bates's] moral concerns, deeply held and deeply considered, never blur the sharp edges of literary or natural fact. His readings are compelling rediscoveries of poems we thought we knew already... The Song of the Earth fairly hums with intelligence and passion. It is itself a demonstration of the interplay between literature and nature that it celebrates. It could change your life., This ambitious, erudite critical study...seeks to recast Romantic poetry from the Wordsworthian 'egotistical sublime' to an ecological one. Romantic literature's love of nature, its fierce individualism and its political radicalism make it a plausible candidate for planting the seeds of the Green movement...Amplifying on his astute readings of [poetry], Bate formulates his own idea of 'ecopoesis,' a poetics of human habitation within nature, instead of pastoralism's fa ade., Jonathan Bate'e(tm)s The Song of the Earth provides a visionary agenda for all subsequent ecocritical writing. Bate has broadened the intellectual and critical foundation of his earlier ecocritical work'e¦ When Bate masters historical evidence and insightful analyses of discrete Romantic writing, as he does in [the chapter] Major Weather, he achieves a broad authority that is captivating and seductive., Jonathan Bate's The Song of the Earth provides a visionary agenda for all subsequent ecocritical writing. Bate has broadened the intellectual and critical foundation of his earlier ecocritical work...When Bate masters historical evidence and insightful analyses of discrete Romantic writing, as he does in Major Weather, he achieves a broad authority that is captivating and seductive., This ambitious, erudite critical study'e¦seeks to recast Romantic poetry from the Wordsworthian 'e~egotistical sublime'e(tm) to an ecological one. Romantic literature'e(tm)s love of nature, its fierce individualism and its political radicalism make it a plausible candidate for planting the seeds of the Green movement'e¦ Amplifying on his astute readings of [poetry], Bate formulates his own idea of 'e~ecopoesis,'e(tm) a poetics of human habitation within nature, instead of pastoralism'e(tm)s façade.
