developed by Synapse Software and released by Broderbund. In addition to his
imaginative works, Pinsky is the author of several works of literary criticism (in
addition to The Situation of Poetry), including Landor’s Poetry (1968), Poetry and
the World (1988), and The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide (1998). Pinsky’s Tanner
lectures at Princeton University were published as Democracy, Culture, and the
Voice of Poetry (2002).
Students interested in sampling the variety of Pinsky’s work will find useful
“Robert Pinsky: Online Resources” (30 June 2009) at the Library of Congress
website. Maintained by Peter Armenti, it provides an extensive list of links to
biographies, interviews, and audio and video recordings of Pinsky and is available
at http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/pinsky/ [accessed 16 December 2009].
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION AND RESEARCH
- In Poetry and the World Pinsky discusses the connections between poetry
and people, the “sociable presence” of poets that allows their work to reflect
the world and to be a force in it. In “Poetry and Pleasure” from that collec-
tion he underscores the value of poetry that delights and entertains readers.
In “Responsibilities of the Poet” he suggests the power of poetry to resist or
transform cultural values. Students may use these essays as starting points for
an examination of the ways Pinsky engages with the world or society in his
poetry. How does he create a “sociable presence” in his poems? Students might
also find useful the 1999 interview with Tom Sleigh in which he discusses
the social and political role of the poet, the essay by J. Logenbrack, Pinsky’s
“Statement of Conscience,” and his essays collected in Democracy, Culture, and
the Voice of Poetry. - Another way to approach Pinsky’s ideas regarding connections between
poetry and the world is to consider his nonwriting efforts to promote
poetry. Students might investigate these efforts, paying particular attention
to ways poetry is presented and defined or redefined by them. Students
could read contributions to the Favorite Poem Project: What are the values
implicit in the descriptions of poems Americans choose? About his televi-
sion appearances, students could consider: What notions about poetry and
poets does Pinsky poke fun at in his appearances on The Simpsons and The
Colbert Report? Information about the Favorite Poem Project is available at
http://favoritepoem.org [accessed 16 November 2009]. Students can view
Pinsky’s appearance with actor Sean Penn in a “Meta-Free-Phor-All: Shall
I Nail Thee to a Summer’s Day?” (originally aired on 19 April 2007) on the
Colbert Nation website <http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-
videos/85568/april-19-2007/meta-f ree-phor-all--shall-i-nail-thee-to-a-
summer-s-day-> [accessed 16 November 2009]. His reading of “Impossible
to Tell” appears in the “Little Girl in the Big Ten” The Simpsons (season 13,
episode 20), which originally aired on 12 May 2002. Also useful is the inter-
view with Keira Butler. - Pinsky pays great attention to the formal aspects of poetry. In a discussion of
“The Want Bone” he writes: “Form in itself, like ‘creativity’ in itself, is cheap—