num_pages: 96
description: Gabriel Gudding’s poems not only defend against the pretense and vanity of war, violence, and religion, but also against the vanity of poetry itself. These poems sometimes nestle in the lowest regions of the body, and depict invective, donnybrooks, chase scenes, and the abuse of animals, as well as the indignities and bumblings of the besotted, the lustful, the annoyed, and the stupid. In short, Gudding seeks to reclaim the lowbrow. Dangerous, edgy, and dark, this is an innovative writer unafraid to attack the unremitting high seriousness of so much poetry, laughing with his readers as he twists the elegiac lyric "I" into a pompous little clown.
language: English
title: A Defense of Poetry
titlecomplete: A Defense of Poetry
genres: Poetry
ratings_count: 94
awards: awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Society of Midland Authors Award
category: Poetry
publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press