The Litany | Literary Criticism & Book Review

The Litany Critical Overview

Gioia's collection Interrogations at Noon has been well received for its technical artistry as well as its thematic import. Bruce F. Murphy, in his review of the collection for Poetry, praises the poet's “fluency and passion” and concludes, “In terms of lyricism, Dana Gioia is a virtuoso, it seems. Tones are augmented or diminished with great care. The poems are lyrical, fluid, assured; this is a poetry free of mistakes.” Murphy insists that Gioia “embraces not only traditional measures, but traditional philosophy. The world exists independently of our thinking/speaking about it, and so the role of language is mimetic [something that mimics], not constitutive [something that constructs].”

Ned Balbo, in his review of the collection for the Antioch Review, claims that the poet is “a master of subtle registers” and insists that “elegiac in his outlook, Gioia is more likely to lower his voice than shout.” He “sees the...
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