"A very impressive book. Ben-Merre's focus is 'the language of the poetic O,' especially lyric apostrophe and address, often accompanied by an 'O' (e.g., Shelley's 'O wild west wind'). But he also stresses apostrophe's grounding in written languagethat it is not simply a sign of voicingand takes special interest in aspects of the written character, such as the multiplication of circular forms (O's, and even X's that might alternate with or accompany O's). This is poetics more than hermeneuticsnot striving to work out what a poem 'really means' but to illuminate distinctive poetic techniques." Jonathan Culler, author of Theory of the Lyric
"O makes a significant contribution to the field of lyric studies. David Ben-Merre compellingly argues that lyric readings have tended to overlook the material elements of the text, and that the 'O' of apostrophe marks the privileged place where the material and the vocal coalesce. The volume offers a series of sustained, incisive readings of an admirably wide range of canonical authors with new insights into their method and mode of address. Readers interested in new interpretations of Dickinson, Yeats, Stevens, Bishop, Merrill, and Hayes, as well as deconstruction, Agambenian readings, and material poetics, will find a great deal to learn from this book." Margaret Ronda, author of Remainders: American Poetry at Nature's End