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In an essay that he admitted was similarly intended to provoke, [[R.S. Gwynn]] wrote in similar terms about American poetry of the 1970s, "The tribal music of Poetryland -- the murky manifestos of Projective Verse and breath-units, the proliferation of cut-rate knock-offs of ''[[Howl (poem)|Howl]]'' and ''[[Daddy (poem)|Daddy]]'', the [[shamanism]] of the [[deep image|Deep Image]] and the multiform brain -- had begun to resemble ritualized [[incantation]]s, mumbled by the multitudes of but comprehended by few, and a sense emerged that certain types of poetry had overstayed their welcome."<ref>Theresa Malphrus Walford (2019), ''Transatlantic Connections: The Movement and New Formalism'', [[Story Line Press]]. Page 39.</ref>
In an essay that he admitted was similarly intended to provoke, [[R.S. Gwynn]] wrote in similar terms about American poetry of the 1970s, "The tribal music of Poetryland -- the murky manifestos of Projective Verse and breath-units, the proliferation of cut-rate knock-offs of ''[[Howl (poem)|Howl]]'' and ''[[Daddy (poem)|Daddy]]'', the [[shamanism]] of the [[deep image|Deep Image]] and the multiform brain -- had begun to resemble ritualized [[incantation]]s, mumbled by the multitudes of but comprehended by few, and a sense emerged that certain types of poetry had overstayed their welcome."<ref>Theresa Malphrus Walford (2019), ''Transatlantic Connections: The Movement and New Formalism'', [[Story Line Press]]. Page 39.</ref>


An early sign of a revival of interest in traditional poetic forms was the publication of [[Lewis Turco]]'s ''The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics'' in [[1968 in poetry|1968]].<ref>''The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics'' E. P. Dutton & Company, New York, 1968. A few years later Turco published a college textbook which presented poetry from the writer's perspective and emphasized the use of formal elements, this was ''Poetry: An Introduction through Writing'', Reston Publishing Co, 1973. {{ISBN|0-87909-637-3}}</ref> In the early 1970s [[X. J. Kennedy]] started publishing the short-lived magazine ''Counter/Measures'' which was devoted to the use of traditional form in poetry. A few other editors around this time were sympathetic to formal poetry,<ref>Timothy Steele in an [http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/tsteele/TSpage2/WalzerInter.html interview] mentions both [[Don Stanford]] at ''[[The Southern Review]]'' and [[Tom Kirby-Smith]] at ''[[The Greensboro Review]].'' He also mentions [[Robert L. Barth]]'s press and his series of metrical chapbooks.</ref> but the mainstream continued to oppose rhyme and meter.
An early sign of a revival of interest in traditional poetic forms was the publication of [[Lewis Turco]]'s ''The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics'' in [[1968 in poetry|1968]].<ref>''The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics'' E. P. Dutton & Company, New York, 1968. A few years later Turco published a college textbook which presented poetry from the writer's perspective and emphasized the use of formal elements, this was ''Poetry: An Introduction through Writing'', Reston Publishing Co, 1973. {{ISBN|0-87909-637-3}}</ref> In the early 1970s [[X. J. Kennedy]] started publishing the short-lived magazine ''Counter/Measures'' which was devoted to the use of traditional form in poetry. A few other editors around this time were sympathetic to formal poetry,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Faculty Web Directory|url=https://www.calstatela.edu/facultydirectory|access-date=2023-01-01|website=Cal State LA|language=en}}</ref> but the mainstream continued to oppose rhyme and meter.


Meanwhile, aspiring Formalist poets from both the Silent and [[Baby Boomer Generation]]s were still able to attend classes taught by older professors, including [[Yvor Winters]], [[Robert Fitzgerald]],<ref name="William Baer 2006 Page 237">William Baer (2006), ''Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms'', [[Writer's Digest]] Books. Page 237.</ref> and [[Elizabeth Bishop]], who continued to teach both [[literary critic]]ism and the craft of writing poetry in a more traditional way.<ref>Dana Gioia (2021), ''Studying with Miss Bishop: Memoirs from a Young Writer's Life'', [[Paul Dry Books]]. Pages 32-58.</ref>
Meanwhile, aspiring Formalist poets from both the Silent and [[Baby Boomer Generation]]s were still able to attend classes taught by older professors, including [[Yvor Winters]], [[Robert Fitzgerald]],<ref name="William Baer 2006 Page 237">William Baer (2006), ''Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms'', [[Writer's Digest]] Books. Page 237.</ref> and [[Elizabeth Bishop]], who continued to teach both [[literary critic]]ism and the craft of writing poetry in a more traditional way.<ref>Dana Gioia (2021), ''Studying with Miss Bishop: Memoirs from a Young Writer's Life'', [[Paul Dry Books]]. Pages 32-58.</ref>
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In a 2021 interview, [[Dana Gioia]] said that while New Formalism and [[New Narrative]] are the most controversial responses in [[American poetry]] to the Second Free Verse Revolution, they are only one facet of an enormous grassroots movement. Gioia elaborates,
In a 2021 interview, [[Dana Gioia]] said that while New Formalism and [[New Narrative]] are the most controversial responses in [[American poetry]] to the Second Free Verse Revolution, they are only one facet of an enormous grassroots movement. Gioia elaborates,


<blockquote>"If I go back to 1975 when I was leaving Harvard, I was told by the world experts in poetry that rhyme and meter were dead, narrative was dead in poetry. Poetry would become ever more complex, which meant that it could only appeal to an elite audience, and finally, that the [[African American]] voice in poetry rejected these European things and would take this experimental form. What the [[intellectual]]s in the [[United States]] did was we took poetry away from common people. We took [[rhyme]] away, we took [[narrative poetry|narrative]] away, we took the [[ballad]] away, and the common people reinvented it. The greatest one of these was [[Kool Herc]] in the [[South Bronx]], who invented what we now think of as [[rap]] and [[hip hop music|hip hop]]. Within about ten years, it went from non-existent to being the most widely purchased form of popular music. We saw in our own lifetime something akin to [[Homer]], the reinvention of popular [[oral poetry]]. There were parallels in the revival of [[slam poetry]], [[cowboy poetry]], and new formalism, so at every little social group, people from the ground up reinvented poetry because the intellectuals had taken it away from them."<ref>[https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/dana-gioia/ Conversations with Tyler: Dana Gioia on Becoming an Information Billionaire (Ep. 119)] April 7, 2021.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>"If I go back to 1975 when I was leaving Harvard, I was told by the world experts in poetry that rhyme and meter were dead, narrative was dead in poetry. Poetry would become ever more complex, which meant that it could only appeal to an elite audience, and finally, that the [[African American]] voice in poetry rejected these European things and would take this experimental form. What the [[intellectual]]s in the [[United States]] did was we took poetry away from common people. We took [[rhyme]] away, we took [[narrative poetry|narrative]] away, we took the [[ballad]] away, and the common people reinvented it. The greatest one of these was [[Kool Herc]] in the [[South Bronx]], who invented what we now think of as [[rap]] and [[hip hop music|hip hop]]. Within about ten years, it went from non-existent to being the most widely purchased form of popular music. We saw in our own lifetime something akin to [[Homer]], the reinvention of popular [[oral poetry]]. There were parallels in the revival of [[slam poetry]], [[cowboy poetry]], and new formalism, so at every little social group, people from the ground up reinvented poetry because the intellectuals had taken it away from them."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dana Gioia on Becoming an Information Billionaire (Ep. 119)|url=https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/dana-gioia/|access-date=2023-01-01|website=conversationswithtyler.com}}</ref></blockquote>


In what [[William Baer (writer)|William Baer]] has seen as the beginning of New Formalism, [[Rachel Hadas]] published her first [[chapbook]] in 1975, [[Charles Martin (poet)|Charles Martin]] published his first collection in 1978, and [[Timothy Steele]]'s first book of poems appeared in 1979.<ref name="William Baer 2006 Page 237"/>
In what [[William Baer (writer)|William Baer]] has seen as the beginning of New Formalism, [[Rachel Hadas]] published her first [[chapbook]] in 1975, [[Charles Martin (poet)|Charles Martin]] published his first collection in 1978, and [[Timothy Steele]]'s first book of poems appeared in 1979.<ref name="William Baer 2006 Page 237"/>
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As the pioneers of the movement were joined in print by a growing number other young formalist poets, the dispute that had begun in the 1920s and 1950s reignited and would later be dubbed ''[[The Poetry Wars]]'' by literary critics and historians.<ref>Quincy R. Lehr, ''[http://www.theraintownreview.com/archived-issues/current-issue/the-new-formalism--a-postmortem The New Formalism - A Postmortem]'', ''[[The Rain town Review]]'', Volume 9, Issue 1.</ref> This time, however, Free Verse poets, many of whom were English professors and veterans of the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s Counterculture]], found themselves in the ironic position of being [[The Establishment]].<ref>Brendan D. King, ''[[St. Austin Review]]'', ''The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry'', March/April 2020, ''American Literature in the Twentieth Century'', pages 15-19.</ref>
As the pioneers of the movement were joined in print by a growing number other young formalist poets, the dispute that had begun in the 1920s and 1950s reignited and would later be dubbed ''[[The Poetry Wars]]'' by literary critics and historians.<ref>Quincy R. Lehr, ''[http://www.theraintownreview.com/archived-issues/current-issue/the-new-formalism--a-postmortem The New Formalism - A Postmortem]'', ''[[The Rain town Review]]'', Volume 9, Issue 1.</ref> This time, however, Free Verse poets, many of whom were English professors and veterans of the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s Counterculture]], found themselves in the ironic position of being [[The Establishment]].<ref>Brendan D. King, ''[[St. Austin Review]]'', ''The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry'', March/April 2020, ''American Literature in the Twentieth Century'', pages 15-19.</ref>


The term 'New Formalism' was first used by Ariel Dawson in the article "The Yuppie Poet" in the May [[1985 in poetry|1985]] issue of the [[Associated Writing Programs|AWP]] Newsletter,<ref>Thompson, Nigel S., 'Form and Function,' ''P. N. Review,'' 154; the [[Associated Writing Programs]] article was written by [[Ariel Dawson]]</ref> which was a [[polemic]] against returning to traditional poetic forms. Dawson's article accused the New Formalist poets not only of [[social conservatism]], but also of [[yuppie]] [[capitalism]], [[consumerism]], and [[greed]];<ref>[[Paul Lake (poet)|Lake, Paul]], [https://archive.today/20050307211258/http://www.edge-city.com/lake.htm 'Expansive Poetry in the New Millennium'], a talk delivered at the West Chester Poetry Conference on 10 June 1999.</ref> an allegation that would be repeated many times in the future.
The term 'New Formalism' was first used by Ariel Dawson in the article "The Yuppie Poet" in the May [[1985 in poetry|1985]] issue of the [[Associated Writing Programs|AWP]] Newsletter,<ref>Thompson, Nigel S., 'Form and Function,' ''P. N. Review,'' 154; the [[Associated Writing Programs]] article was written by [[Ariel Dawson]]</ref> which was a [[polemic]] against returning to traditional poetic forms. Dawson's article accused the New Formalist poets not only of [[social conservatism]], but also of [[yuppie]] [[capitalism]], [[consumerism]], and [[greed]];<ref>{{Cite web|title=archive.ph|url=https://archive.ph/20050307211258/http://www.edge-city.com/lake.htm|access-date=2023-01-01|website=archive.ph}}</ref> an allegation that would be repeated many times in the future.


Meanwhile, Frederick Turner and [[psychologist]] and [[neuroscientist]] [[Ernst Pöppel]] of the [[Max Planck Institute]] in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]], made a scientific breakthrough by proving, "that regular rhythm actually induces the brain to release pleasure-creating [[endorphin]]s"<ref>William Baer (2016) ''Thirteen on Form: Conversations with Poets'', [[Measure Press]]. Page 192.</ref> and, in 1985, they published their findings in the award-winning essay ''The Neural Lyre: Poetic Meter, the Brain, and Time'' in the magazine ''[[Poetry (magazine)|Poetry]]''.<ref> William Baer (2006), ''Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms'', [[Writer's Digest Books]]. Page 238.</ref>
Meanwhile, Frederick Turner and [[psychologist]] and [[neuroscientist]] [[Ernst Pöppel]] of the [[Max Planck Institute]] in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]], made a scientific breakthrough by proving, "that regular rhythm actually induces the brain to release pleasure-creating [[endorphin]]s"<ref>William Baer (2016) ''Thirteen on Form: Conversations with Poets'', [[Measure Press]]. Page 192.</ref> and, in 1985, they published their findings in the award-winning essay ''The Neural Lyre: Poetic Meter, the Brain, and Time'' in the magazine ''[[Poetry (magazine)|Poetry]]''.<ref> William Baer (2006), ''Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms'', [[Writer's Digest Books]]. Page 238.</ref>
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According to Gerry Cambridge, "This attack generated five responses, from [[Robert Mezey]], [[Lewis Turco]], David Radavich, Brian Richards, and Dana Gioia. Most of them denied any necessary link between aesthetic and politics, in particular between form and [[social conservatism|conservatism]], citing [[Ezra Pound]] as an example of a [[Fascist]] who wrote [[free verse]]. They also criticized as a kind of cultural fascism Wakoski's intolerance of literary pluralism, paradoxically in the guise of a democratic Whitmanism that declared form to be un-American. Gioia compared her tone and content to 'the quest for [[Aryan race|pure Germanic]] culture led by the late [[Joseph Goebbels]].' He entertainingly suggested 'the radical notion' that whatever poetry was written by Americans constituted [[American poetry]]. Wakoski's polemic and these responses were the first public controversy about the young movement."<ref name="Jay Parini 2004 page 252"/>
According to Gerry Cambridge, "This attack generated five responses, from [[Robert Mezey]], [[Lewis Turco]], David Radavich, Brian Richards, and Dana Gioia. Most of them denied any necessary link between aesthetic and politics, in particular between form and [[social conservatism|conservatism]], citing [[Ezra Pound]] as an example of a [[Fascist]] who wrote [[free verse]]. They also criticized as a kind of cultural fascism Wakoski's intolerance of literary pluralism, paradoxically in the guise of a democratic Whitmanism that declared form to be un-American. Gioia compared her tone and content to 'the quest for [[Aryan race|pure Germanic]] culture led by the late [[Joseph Goebbels]].' He entertainingly suggested 'the radical notion' that whatever poetry was written by Americans constituted [[American poetry]]. Wakoski's polemic and these responses were the first public controversy about the young movement."<ref name="Jay Parini 2004 page 252"/>


Despite more recent arguments against political [[stereotyping]] by Progressive New Formalist poets, such as [[Paul Lake (poet)|Paul Lake]] in the [[1988 in poetry|1988]] essay, ''Towards a Liberal Poetics''<ref>''Toward a Liberal Poetics'', (''[[Threepenny Review]]'', Winter 1988).</ref><ref>Edited by Frederick Feirstein (1989), ''Expansive Poetry: Essays on the New Narrative & the New Formalism'', Story Line Press. Pages 113-123.</ref> and by [[A.E. Stallings]] in the [[2010 in poetry|2010]] essay ''Afro-Formalism'',<ref name="Stallings">[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2010/04/afro-formalism Afro-Formalism] by [[A.E. Stallings]]</ref> as Dana Gioia wrote in 1987, "for many writers the discussion between formal and free-verse has become an encoded political debate."<ref>Gioia (2002), ''Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture'', page 30.</ref>
Despite more recent arguments against political [[stereotyping]] by Progressive New Formalist poets, such as [[Paul Lake (poet)|Paul Lake]] in the [[1988 in poetry|1988]] essay, ''Towards a Liberal Poetics''<ref>''Toward a Liberal Poetics'', (''[[Threepenny Review]]'', Winter 1988).</ref><ref>Edited by Frederick Feirstein (1989), ''Expansive Poetry: Essays on the New Narrative & the New Formalism'', Story Line Press. Pages 113-123.</ref> and by [[A.E. Stallings]] in the [[2010 in poetry|2010]] essay ''Afro-Formalism'',<ref name="Stallings">{{Cite web|last=Foundation|first=Poetry|date=2023-01-01|title=Afro-formalism by A.E. Stallings|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2010/04/afro-formalism|access-date=2023-01-01|website=Poetry Foundation|language=en}}</ref> as Dana Gioia wrote in 1987, "for many writers the discussion between formal and free-verse has become an encoded political debate."<ref>Gioia (2002), ''Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture'', page 30.</ref>


Therefore, the Poetry Wars continued and poets who wrote free verse and Confessional poetry were alleged to be social [[progressivism|progressive]]s, [[anti-racism|anti-racist]]s, and as [[New Left]] [[Marxism|socialists]].<ref name="Ira Sadoff 1990">Ira Sadoff: ''Neo-Formalism: A Dangerous Nostalgia'', ''The American Poetry Review'', January/February 1990.</ref> New Formalist and [[New Narrative]] poets, on the other hand, were stereotyped as [[old money]] [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant]] [[preppies]] and as [[Anglophile]]s filled with hatred of the [[American Revolution]] and [[nostalgia]] for the [[British Empire]].<ref name="Ira Sadoff 1990"/> American poetry in traditional verse forms was, according to [[polemicist]]s defending "The Free Verse Revolution", [[reactionary]], [[Eurocentric]], un-American,<ref name="Dana Gioia 2002 Pages 29-30">Dana Gioia (2002), ''Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture'', [[Graywolf Press]], [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]]. Pages 29-30.</ref><ref name="Ira Sadoff 1990"/><ref name="James Matthew Wilson 2016 Pages 95-96">James Matthew Wilson (2016), '' The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking'', [[Wiseblood Books]]. Pages 95-96.</ref> [[white supremacist]],<ref name="Ira Sadoff 1990"/> and even [[Fascism|fascist]].<ref>William Baer (2006), ''Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms'', [[Writer's Digest Books]]. Pages 236-237.</ref>
Therefore, the Poetry Wars continued and poets who wrote free verse and Confessional poetry were alleged to be social [[progressivism|progressive]]s, [[anti-racism|anti-racist]]s, and as [[New Left]] [[Marxism|socialists]].<ref name="Ira Sadoff 1990">Ira Sadoff: ''Neo-Formalism: A Dangerous Nostalgia'', ''The American Poetry Review'', January/February 1990.</ref> New Formalist and [[New Narrative]] poets, on the other hand, were stereotyped as [[old money]] [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant]] [[preppies]] and as [[Anglophile]]s filled with hatred of the [[American Revolution]] and [[nostalgia]] for the [[British Empire]].<ref name="Ira Sadoff 1990"/> American poetry in traditional verse forms was, according to [[polemicist]]s defending "The Free Verse Revolution", [[reactionary]], [[Eurocentric]], un-American,<ref name="Dana Gioia 2002 Pages 29-30">Dana Gioia (2002), ''Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture'', [[Graywolf Press]], [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]]. Pages 29-30.</ref><ref name="Ira Sadoff 1990"/><ref name="James Matthew Wilson 2016 Pages 95-96">James Matthew Wilson (2016), '' The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking'', [[Wiseblood Books]]. Pages 95-96.</ref> [[white supremacist]],<ref name="Ira Sadoff 1990"/> and even [[Fascism|fascist]].<ref>William Baer (2006), ''Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms'', [[Writer's Digest Books]]. Pages 236-237.</ref>
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Since then, the effects of new formalism have been observed in the broader domain of general poetry; a survey of successive editions of various general anthologies showed an increase in the number of [[villanelle]]s included in the post-mid-'80s editions.<ref>French, Amanda Lowry, [http://www4.ncsu.edu/~alfrench/Writing/DISSERTATION.pdf Refrain, Again: The Return of the Villanelle], a doctoral dissertation, August 2004, page 13. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721070940/http://www4.ncsu.edu/~alfrench/Writing/DISSERTATION.pdf |date=July 21, 2006 }}</ref> The publication of books concerned with poetic form has also increased. [[Lewis Turco]]'s ''Book of Forms'' from 1968 was revised and reissued in 1986 under the title 'New Book of Forms. [[Alfred Corn]]'s ''The Poem's Heartbeat'', [[Mary Oliver]]'s ''Rules of the Dance'', and [[Stephen Fry]]'s ''The Ode Less Travelled'' are other examples of this trend. The widely used anthology ''An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art'' (University of Michigan Press, 2002), edited by [[Annie Finch]] and Kathrine Varnes, defines formalist poetry as a form on a par with experimental, free verse, and even prose poetry.
Since then, the effects of new formalism have been observed in the broader domain of general poetry; a survey of successive editions of various general anthologies showed an increase in the number of [[villanelle]]s included in the post-mid-'80s editions.<ref>French, Amanda Lowry, [http://www4.ncsu.edu/~alfrench/Writing/DISSERTATION.pdf Refrain, Again: The Return of the Villanelle], a doctoral dissertation, August 2004, page 13. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721070940/http://www4.ncsu.edu/~alfrench/Writing/DISSERTATION.pdf |date=July 21, 2006 }}</ref> The publication of books concerned with poetic form has also increased. [[Lewis Turco]]'s ''Book of Forms'' from 1968 was revised and reissued in 1986 under the title 'New Book of Forms. [[Alfred Corn]]'s ''The Poem's Heartbeat'', [[Mary Oliver]]'s ''Rules of the Dance'', and [[Stephen Fry]]'s ''The Ode Less Travelled'' are other examples of this trend. The widely used anthology ''An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art'' (University of Michigan Press, 2002), edited by [[Annie Finch]] and Kathrine Varnes, defines formalist poetry as a form on a par with experimental, free verse, and even prose poetry.


In a 2010 essay, [[Philhellenism|Philhellene]] poetess [[A.E. Stallings]], whose poetry has been favorably compared with that of both [[Richard Wilbur]] and [[Edna St. Vincent Millay]],<ref name="poetryfoundation.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/article/178921|title=Eight Takes: Fenton, Strand, Hopler, Zukofsky, Stallings, Voigt, Kinnell, Wojahn|work=poetryfoundation.org|access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref> expressed regret that the writing of formal verse in [[American poetry]] remained, "an oddly politicized choice". Stallings added that female and minority New Formalists continued to be, "criticized", as part of what she dubbed, "that false [[dichotomy]] of free verse = democracy and empowerment and progress whereas formal verse = oppression and [[elitism]] and [[kowtow]]ing to [[dead white males]]."<ref name="Afro-formalism">[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2010/04/afro-formalism Afro-formalism] by [[A.E. Stallings]].</ref>
In a 2010 essay, [[Philhellenism|Philhellene]] poetess [[A.E. Stallings]], whose poetry has been favorably compared with that of both [[Richard Wilbur]] and [[Edna St. Vincent Millay]],<ref name="poetryfoundation.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/article/178921|title=Eight Takes: Fenton, Strand, Hopler, Zukofsky, Stallings, Voigt, Kinnell, Wojahn|work=poetryfoundation.org|access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref> expressed regret that the writing of formal verse in [[American poetry]] remained, "an oddly politicized choice". Stallings added that female and minority New Formalists continued to be, "criticized", as part of what she dubbed, "that false [[dichotomy]] of free verse = democracy and empowerment and progress whereas formal verse = oppression and [[elitism]] and [[kowtow]]ing to [[dead white males]]."<ref name="Afro-formalism">{{Cite web|last=Foundation|first=Poetry|date=2023-01-01|title=Afro-formalism by A.E. Stallings|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2010/04/afro-formalism|access-date=2023-01-01|website=Poetry Foundation|language=en}}</ref>


Later in that same essay, however, Stallings described listening to [[African-American]] poet [[Erica Dawson]], "who has something like rock star status in the formal world", as Dawson described how, "A decade ago she was told at a recitation contest that 'form was dead' but now she has served as judge at that same contest. She exuded confidence and vindication, taking on the canon in her own terms."<ref name="Afro-formalism"/>
Later in that same essay, however, Stallings described listening to [[African-American]] poet [[Erica Dawson]], "who has something like rock star status in the formal world", as Dawson described how, "A decade ago she was told at a recitation contest that 'form was dead' but now she has served as judge at that same contest. She exuded confidence and vindication, taking on the canon in her own terms."<ref name="Afro-formalism"/>

Revision as of 17:07, 1 January 2023

This article is about the late 20th-century movement in literature. For the mid-20th-century style of architecture, see New Formalism (architecture).

New Formalism is a late 20th- and early 21st-century movement in

metrical, rhymed verse and narrative poetry on the grounds that all three are necessary if American poetry is to compete with novels and regain its former popularity among the American people.[1]

Background

The formal innovations of

T.S. Eliot, led to the widespread publication of free verse during the early 20th century. By the 1920s, debates about the value of free verse versus formal poetry were filling the pages of American literary journals.[2]

Meanwhile, many poets chose to continue working predominantly in traditional forms, such as Robert Frost, Richard Wilbur, and Anthony Hecht. Formal verse also continued being written by American poets associated with the New Criticism, including John Crowe Ransom, Robert Penn Warren and Allen Tate.

During the 1950s, the second coming of "The Free Verse Revolution" was inspired by the writings of

Rock and Roll music of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bill Haley, and Elvis Presley.[3]

As a result, it became more expected for poets to experiment and, with the rise of Confessional poetry, the writing and publication of non-autobiographical and non-Left wing verse became unfashionable. As often happens in literature and the arts, however, what had begun as an anti-establishment counterculture seeking freedom from constraint hardened over time into an authoritarian literary elite which opposed innovation and expressed hostility to both older and younger poets who refused to conform to its dictates.[4]

According to Feirstein and Turner,

"It is hard to imagine in 1989 how narrow and

elitist European importations and that the true American voice could only be heard in free verse. These views went together with a pose of the poet as resenting and rebelling against the poets cultural past and that of society at large. Although he or she invariably taught in a university, the poseurs would express profound hostility to the intellectual imagination, especially in the forms of science and technology, and a sentimental preference for nature over culture. The poseurs often would be gleefully pessimistic about the future which would seem to justify their solipsistic confessions about their darkly perceived past."[5]

In an essay that he admitted was similarly intended to provoke,

R.S. Gwynn wrote in similar terms about American poetry of the 1970s, "The tribal music of Poetryland -- the murky manifestos of Projective Verse and breath-units, the proliferation of cut-rate knock-offs of Howl and Daddy, the shamanism of the Deep Image and the multiform brain -- had begun to resemble ritualized incantations, mumbled by the multitudes of but comprehended by few, and a sense emerged that certain types of poetry had overstayed their welcome."[6]

An early sign of a revival of interest in traditional poetic forms was the publication of Lewis Turco's The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics in 1968.[7] In the early 1970s X. J. Kennedy started publishing the short-lived magazine Counter/Measures which was devoted to the use of traditional form in poetry. A few other editors around this time were sympathetic to formal poetry,[8] but the mainstream continued to oppose rhyme and meter.

Meanwhile, aspiring Formalist poets from both the Silent and

literary criticism and the craft of writing poetry in a more traditional way.[10]

In a 2021 interview, Dana Gioia said that while New Formalism and New Narrative are the most controversial responses in American poetry to the Second Free Verse Revolution, they are only one facet of an enormous grassroots movement. Gioia elaborates,

"If I go back to 1975 when I was leaving Harvard, I was told by the world experts in poetry that rhyme and meter were dead, narrative was dead in poetry. Poetry would become ever more complex, which meant that it could only appeal to an elite audience, and finally, that the

slam poetry, cowboy poetry, and new formalism, so at every little social group, people from the ground up reinvented poetry because the intellectuals had taken it away from them."[11]

In what William Baer has seen as the beginning of New Formalism, Rachel Hadas published her first chapbook in 1975, Charles Martin published his first collection in 1978, and Timothy Steele's first book of poems appeared in 1979.[9]

Frederick Feirstein and Frederick Turner, on the other hand, first became aware that New Formalism existed during a 1981 conversation with

Missouri Review and had immediately heard from many fellow Formalist poets. Meanwhile, Feirstein was already corresponding with West Coast Formalist poets, including Charles Martin and Dana Gioia. Turner and Feirstein later recalled, "We began to see ourselves as a distinct movement of many people. We saw each other's work begin to appear consistently in the literary journals."[12]

Other literary scholars, including Robert McPhillips and

Gerry Cambridge, date the beginning of New Formalism from the publication of Diane Wakoski's 1986 polemic essay "The New Conservatism in American Poetry" and the irate defenses that same essay provoked from Robert Mezey, Lewis Turco, David Radavich, Brian Richards, and Dana Gioia.[13][14]

Early history

One of the first rumbles of the conflict that was to provide the impetus to create New Formalism as a specific movement, came with the publication in 1977 of an issue of the Mississippi Review called 'Freedom and Form: American Poets Respond'. The late 1970s saw the publication of a few collections by poets working in traditional forms, including Robert B. Shaw's Comforting the Wilderness, (1977), Charles Martin's Room for Error, (1978) and Timothy Steele's Uncertainties and Rest (1979). In 1980 Mark Jarman and Robert McDowell started the small magazine The Reaper to promote narrative and formal poetry. In 1981 Jane Greer launched Plains Poetry Journal, which published new work in traditional forms. In 1984 McDowell started Story Line Press which has since published some New Formalist poets. The Reaper ran for ten years. Frederick Feirstein's Expansive Poetry (1989) gathered various essays on the New Formalism and the related movement New Narrative, under the umbrella term 'Expansive Poetry'.

From 1983 the onset of "neoformalism" was noted in the annual poetry roundups in the yearbooks of The Dictionary of Literary Biography,

The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse and the anthology Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional Forms.[17]

The Poetry Wars

As the pioneers of the movement were joined in print by a growing number other young formalist poets, the dispute that had begun in the 1920s and 1950s reignited and would later be dubbed The Poetry Wars by literary critics and historians.[18] This time, however, Free Verse poets, many of whom were English professors and veterans of the 1960s Counterculture, found themselves in the ironic position of being The Establishment.[19]

The term 'New Formalism' was first used by Ariel Dawson in the article "The Yuppie Poet" in the May

AWP Newsletter,[20] which was a polemic against returning to traditional poetic forms. Dawson's article accused the New Formalist poets not only of social conservatism, but also of yuppie capitalism, consumerism, and greed;[21]
an allegation that would be repeated many times in the future.

Meanwhile, Frederick Turner and

endorphins"[22] and, in 1985, they published their findings in the award-winning essay The Neural Lyre: Poetic Meter, the Brain, and Time in the magazine Poetry.[23]

In 1986,

literary critic, and professor at Michigan State University, published the essay The New Conservatism in American Poetry.[24] The essay was provoked when Wakoski attended a Modern Language Association conference in which old Formalist John Hollander spoke critically, according to Robert McPhillips, of college and university, "creative writing programs and the general slackness of most free verse."[14]

In a critique which Robert McPhillips has called, "less aesthetic than it is political",

T.S. Eliot, and Robert Frost.[14]

According to Gerry Cambridge, "This attack generated five responses, from

Fascist who wrote free verse. They also criticized as a kind of cultural fascism Wakoski's intolerance of literary pluralism, paradoxically in the guise of a democratic Whitmanism that declared form to be un-American. Gioia compared her tone and content to 'the quest for pure Germanic culture led by the late Joseph Goebbels.' He entertainingly suggested 'the radical notion' that whatever poetry was written by Americans constituted American poetry. Wakoski's polemic and these responses were the first public controversy about the young movement."[13]

Despite more recent arguments against political

A.E. Stallings in the 2010 essay Afro-Formalism,[28] as Dana Gioia wrote in 1987, "for many writers the discussion between formal and free-verse has become an encoded political debate."[29]

Therefore, the Poetry Wars continued and poets who wrote free verse and Confessional poetry were alleged to be social

white supremacist,[30] and even fascist.[33]

For female New Formalists, The Poetry Wars meant accusations of betraying their gender and the cause of feminism; as Annie Finch wrote in 1994 in the Introduction to A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women, "Readers who have been following the discussion of the 'New Formalism' over the last decade may not expect to find such a diversity of writers and themes in a book of formal poems; the poems collected here contradict the popular assumption that formal poetics correspond to reactionary politics and elitist aesthetics.[34] The passion for form unites these many and diverse poets."[35]

Similar accusations were unleashed against minority New Formalists and, in an essay of her own,

Latina."[36]

Later history

In

William Baer started The Formalist and the first issue contained poems by, among others, Howard Nemerov, Richard Wilbur, and Donald Justice.[37] The magazine ran twice a year for fifteen years, with the fall/winter 2004 issue being the last.[38] The Formalist was succeeded by Measure: A Review of Formal Poetry, which is published biannually by the University of Evansville
.

Since 1995, West Chester University has held an annual poetry conference with a special focus on formal poetry and New Formalism. Each year the Robert Fitzgerald Prosody Award is awarded as part of the conference.

Dominican-American poet Rhina Espaillat has used her position as a teacher at the Conference to introduce her students to verse forms from Spanish and Latin American poetry, including the décima and the ovillejo. This has led to those verse forms being introduced into English-language poetry by Espaillat's students.[39]

Despite their similar emigration to the United States from foreign countries,

Muslim and composer of Ghazals in American English,[41]
are also considered to be New Formalists.

Legacy

During the early 21st century, poems in traditional forms were once again being published more widely, and the new formalist movement was winding down.

In 2001 the American poet Leo Yankevich founded The New Formalist, which published among others the poets Jared Carter[42] and Keith Holyoak.[43]

Meanwhile, the movement was still not without its detractors. In the November/December 2003 issue of P. N. Review, N. S. Thompson wrote: "While movements do need a certain amount of bombast to fuel interest, they have to be backed up by a certain artistic success. In hindsight, the movement seems to be less of a poetic revolution and more a marketing campaign."[44]

Since then, the effects of new formalism have been observed in the broader domain of general poetry; a survey of successive editions of various general anthologies showed an increase in the number of villanelles included in the post-mid-'80s editions.[45] The publication of books concerned with poetic form has also increased. Lewis Turco's Book of Forms from 1968 was revised and reissued in 1986 under the title 'New Book of Forms. Alfred Corn's The Poem's Heartbeat, Mary Oliver's Rules of the Dance, and Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled are other examples of this trend. The widely used anthology An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art (University of Michigan Press, 2002), edited by Annie Finch and Kathrine Varnes, defines formalist poetry as a form on a par with experimental, free verse, and even prose poetry.

In a 2010 essay,

dead white males."[47]

Later in that same essay, however, Stallings described listening to

African-American poet Erica Dawson, "who has something like rock star status in the formal world", as Dawson described how, "A decade ago she was told at a recitation contest that 'form was dead' but now she has served as judge at that same contest. She exuded confidence and vindication, taking on the canon in her own terms."[47]

In a 2016 interview with John Cusatis,

Literary movements are always temporary. They last a decade or so, and then they die or merge into the mainstream. The best New Formalist poets gradually became mainstream figures. There was no climax to the so-called Poetry Wars, only slow assimilation and change. Free and formal verse gradually ceased to be considered polar opposites. Form became one of the available styles of contemporary practice. Today one finds poems in rhyme and meter in most literary magazines. New Formalism became so successful that it no longer needed to exist."[48]

New Formalist canon

The 2004 West Chester Conference had a by-invitation-only critical seminar on 'Defining the Canon of New Formalism', in which the following anthologies were discussed:[49]

  • Rebel Angels: 25 Poets of the New Formalism edited by Mark Jarman and David Mason, 1996.
  • The Direction of Poetry: An Anthology of Rhymed and Metered Verse Written in the English Language since 1975, edited by Robert Richman
  • A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women, edited by Annie Finch, 1993

See also

References

  1. ^ Robert McPhillips (2005), The New Formalism: A Critical Introduction: Expanded Edition, Textos Books. Page xi.
  2. ^ R.S. Gwyn (1999), New Expansive Poetry: Theory, Criticism, History, Story Line Press. Pages 72-85.
  3. ^ Edited by Frederick Feirstein (1989), Expansive Poetry: Essays on the New Narrative & the New Formalism, Story Line Press. Pages viii - ix.
  4. ^ Edited by Frederick Feirstein (1989), Expansive Poetry: Essays on the New Narrative & the New Formalism, Story Line Press. Pages viii - xv.
  5. ^ Edited by Frederick Feirstein (1989), Expansive Poetry: Essays on the New Narrative & the New Formalism, Story Line Press. Pages vii - viii.
  6. ^ Theresa Malphrus Walford (2019), Transatlantic Connections: The Movement and New Formalism, Story Line Press. Page 39.
  7. ISBN 0-87909-637-3
  8. ^ "Faculty Web Directory". Cal State LA. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  9. ^ a b William Baer (2006), Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms, Writer's Digest Books. Page 237.
  10. ^ Dana Gioia (2021), Studying with Miss Bishop: Memoirs from a Young Writer's Life, Paul Dry Books. Pages 32-58.
  11. ^ "Dana Gioia on Becoming an Information Billionaire (Ep. 119)". conversationswithtyler.com. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  12. ^ Edited by Frederick Feirstein (1989), Expansive Poetry: Essays on the New Narrative & the New Formalism, Story Line Press. Pages xiv - xv.
  13. ^ a b Jay Parini (2004), The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, Volume 3, page 252.
  14. ^ a b c McPhillips (2006), The New Formalism: A Critical Introduction, pp. 3–5. Cite error: The named reference "Robert McPhillips 2006 pages 3-4" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  15. ^ 'The Year in Poetry' was contributed by Lewis Turco from 1983 to 1986.
  16. Crazyhorse
    32 (1987) pages 64 – 81.
  17. ^ Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional Forms edited by Philip Dacey and David Jauss
  18. ^ Quincy R. Lehr, The New Formalism - A Postmortem, The Rain town Review, Volume 9, Issue 1.
  19. ^ Brendan D. King, St. Austin Review, The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry, March/April 2020, American Literature in the Twentieth Century, pages 15-19.
  20. Associated Writing Programs article was written by Ariel Dawson
  21. ^ "archive.ph". archive.ph. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  22. ^ William Baer (2016) Thirteen on Form: Conversations with Poets, Measure Press. Page 192.
  23. Writer's Digest Books
    . Page 238.
  24. ^ a b Diane Wakoski, The New Conservatism in American Poetry, The American Book Review, May–June 1986.
  25. ^ Robert McPhillips (2006), The New Formalism: A Critical Introduction, pages 4–5.
  26. Threepenny Review
    , Winter 1988).
  27. ^ Edited by Frederick Feirstein (1989), Expansive Poetry: Essays on the New Narrative & the New Formalism, Story Line Press. Pages 113-123.
  28. ^ Foundation, Poetry (2023-01-01). "Afro-formalism by A.E. Stallings". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  29. ^ Gioia (2002), Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture, page 30.
  30. ^ a b c d Ira Sadoff: Neo-Formalism: A Dangerous Nostalgia, The American Poetry Review, January/February 1990.
  31. ^ Dana Gioia (2002), Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture, Graywolf Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota. Pages 29-30.
  32. ^ James Matthew Wilson (2016), The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking, Wiseblood Books. Pages 95-96.
  33. Writer's Digest Books
    . Pages 236-237.
  34. R.S. Gwynn
    (1999), New Expansive Poetry: Theory, Criticism, History, Story Line Press. Page 167.
  35. R.S. Gwynn
    (1999), New Expansive Poetry: Theory, Criticism, History, Story Line Press. Page 169.
  36. R.S. Gwynn
    (1999), New Expansive Poetry: Theory, Criticism, History, Story Line Press. Pages 171-172.
  37. ^ "Back Issue Orders". Archived from the original on 2006-09-12.
  38. ^ "Current Issue". Archived from the original on 2006-09-12.
  39. ^ Nancy Kang and Silvio Torres-Saillant (2018), The Once and Future Muse: The Poetry and Poetics of Rhina P. Espaillat, University of Pittsburgh Press. Pages 85-86.
  40. ^ "Davis Interpretation of Shahnameh in Persion". Financial Tribune. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  41. ^ Robert Haas (2017), A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry, Ecco. Pages 41-47.
  42. ^ Five Poems at The New Formalist
  43. ^ Four Poems at The New Formalist
  44. ^ N. S. Thompson, 'Form and Function,' P. N. Review, 154.
  45. ^ French, Amanda Lowry, Refrain, Again: The Return of the Villanelle, a doctoral dissertation, August 2004, page 13. Archived July 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  46. ^ "Eight Takes: Fenton, Strand, Hopler, Zukofsky, Stallings, Voigt, Kinnell, Wojahn". poetryfoundation.org. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  47. ^ a b Foundation, Poetry (2023-01-01). "Afro-formalism by A.E. Stallings". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  48. ^ John Zheng (2021), Conversations with Dana Gioia, University Press of Mississippi. Page 213.
  49. ^ Schneider, Steven, 'Defining the Canon of New Formalist Poetry', Poetry Matters: The Poetry Center Newsletter, West Chester University. Number 2. February 2005

Further reading

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