Imaginary Poets: 22 Master Poets Create 22 Master Poets

#499
Title: Imaginary Poets: 22 Master Poets Create 22 Master Poets
Editor: Alan Michael Parker
Publisher: Tupelo Press
Year: 2005
160 pages

While "master poets" is a stretch for some in this collection, the idea here is a fun one. Have established poet invent a poet, "translate" a poem, give a brief biographical sketch, and provide a critical analysis in relation to that poet's oeuvre. Having at one time handwritten, transcribed, and commented on a lost Shakespearean sonnet, the last phrase of which was, if I remember correctly, "'neath cerise-spingled* skies" (*spangled"), I thought this was a wonderful idea for an anthology. Some of the entries are better than others--more dryly humorous, more earnest, more engaged with questions of translation and language. Some were so dry as to be simply unfunny. Generally, though, if you like the idea, you'll probably like the book.