Darwin in 1881 | Literary Criticism & Book Review

Darwin in 1881 Critical Overview

Negative criticism is not usually hard to find on any widely published writer, but Schnackenberg is an exception. From the publication of Portraits and Elegies in 1982 to the release of Supernatural Love: Poems, 1978-1992, she has been highly praised by critics and fellow poets alike. Nearly all reviewers touch on her ability to write formal poetry without falling into a trite singsong style that turns off serious, contemporary readers. Writing for the Nation, critic Rosetta Cohen claims that Portraits and Elegies shows Schnackenberg "to be a poet of enormous control, capable of working small miracles with cadence and rhyme." In theNew Republic, critic Rosanna Warren states that the poet's "youthful work showed formal mastery verging on the ingenious." The consistent accolades are based largely on Schnackenberg's unemotional treatment of very emotional subjects. Whether she is addressing the death of her beloved father or composing a love poem, she keeps...
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