The Stroke of a Pen: Essays on Poetry and Other Provocations

Professor Hazo, the first State Poet of Pennsylvania and a distinguished author, combines literature and life across 10 individual essays split into two distinctly contrasting parts. A protagonist for aesthetic expression, his initial musings propose the "living sentence'' to be the most noteworthy manifestation of existence in a consumer culture where "language is often merchandized and cheapened." With a balance of literary theory and philosophical allusion, Hazo produces an Ezra Pound-influenced conviction that powerful literature will endure, despite fiscal policy undermining education (essentially committing cultural suicide). Two essays address the relationship between religion and literature by debating the place of theology in higher education, conflicts of knowledge versus belief, then evaluating the impact of belief both in creating and critiquing literature. The second half of the book reflects on the author's now decade-long retirement, including a thoroughly entertaining travelogue of Provence; an ode to the late actor Gregory Peck; and a final essay which pays homage to the home as a sanctuary and "extension of our personalities." With such penmanship, Hazo is a rare breed: timeless in his approach to poetry and prose, dutifully acknowledging contemporaries and colleagues, and unreserved in his erudite pursuits. (May)