World Class Poetry Blog

Former Poet Laureate Robert Hass Tackles Political Illiteracy
1 November 2007, the poet @ 8:59 pm

Do you ever wonder what former poet laureates are up to? I do.

Well, it seems that former poet laureate Robert Hass, who was poet laureate under Bill Clinton, has a new book out, which tackles some political ideas, a new area for the non-political Hass. It’s not that he’s non-political, rather that he doesn’t write about politics in his poetry - usually. Nathan Heller is better at saying it than I am:

Yet until this new collection, Hass the poet has shied from tackling public issues head-on. His past four volumes (the first, Field Guide, won the 1973 Yale Younger Poets competition; the last, Sun Under Wood, earned him his second National Book Critics Circle Award) focus on the natural world, his private experiences, and the people and places he knows best. His genius lies in capturing not a situation but a consciousness of the situation. That shared consciousness is Hass’ bridge to his readers, creating an intimate voice that feels open and unguarded—even when it’s not.

It actually sounds like a good read. Of course, I love poetry. And I’ve never particularly been into Hass, not like I am into Donald Hall. It is good, though, to see what the former poet laureates are up to now that they are no longer carrying out the responsibilities of the poet laureate position. While serving as poet laureate, Robert Hass traveled the country battling illiteracy. Now he can battle political illiteracy. And he does in his new book.

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