For those not lucky enough to have been part of the four generations of poets who attended Donald Justice’s legendary “forms” class, Omnidawn has now made it possible for everyone to take a seat at the table. What a blessing it is, via these pages, to sit in that classroom once again. Here are the lessons not only of a poet’s poet, but of a teacher’s teacher. From the astonishing expressivity of the poetic foot, with its magic ability to build an entire voice and vision, to the endless nuances of accentual stress, to the detailed history of such tools—Justice’s understanding of prosody was incomparable. By the time he guides one to the understanding of the architectural movement of a poem, one has entered the whole cathedral of the medium, step by step. Justice’s brilliant musician’s ear, and mastery of the minutest nuances of form, will give any practitioner—at any stage of their writing—the essential tool-kit. No one who sat in his presence ever forgot what he taught, or his understanding of what poetry serves. It is incredible to see it preserved, as in a time capsule, and brought back to us at a moment when perhaps we need it more than ever. Here is one of the few places one can go for the uncompromising rigor, finesse and wisdom that are needed to keep this art form alive.”—Jorie Graham
“Here is a book of prosody that serves not only as a catalogue and history but also, as delineated in David Koehn’s meta-prosody introduction and Donald Revell’s pithy preface, the raison d’etre for deploying particular metrical and non-metrical structures. Compiled from the working course-pack of Donald Justice’s poetry classes, Compendium is a wide- ranging encyclopedia of what was and remains possible in the line, word and syllable.”—Tyrone Williams
“To the art of versification, from chance to traditional methods (which aren’t, after all, that different), both in theory and in practice, Donald Justice brings astonishingly nuanced insight, not opinion. Compared to some of his more pyrrotechnic contemporaries, such as Merrill and Hollander, Justice offers incomparable subtlety, austerity, stoicism, and form as self-effacement.The wealth of quotes and examples from great masters of prosody, provided without comment, indicate literary erudition at its apex. Here is the structure of verse in English—the infinite relativity of sounds and silences that compose the nature of the art.”—James Galvin
“David Koehn’s brilliant, probing introduction about Donald Justice reflects the poet’s intense devotion to poetic innovation rooted in his impressive understanding of the arts, particularly the ideas and music of John Cage.Compendium: A Collection of Thoughts on Prosody satisfies both critics and poets thirsting for an enhanced understanding of the world’s poets and their methods. Justice’s brilliant essays aggressively unveil inscrutable truths without falsifying the enlightening necessity of total immersion in poetic form.”—Sonja James, The Journal
