Nathaniel Tarn is a distinguished poet with academic training in anthropology and comparative literature. He was Professor of Poetry, Professor of Comparative Literature, and Professor of Anthopology at Rutgers University. His most well known books of poetry are The Beautiful Contradictions (1970), A Nowhere for Vallejo (1972), Lyrics for the Bride of God (1975), The House of Leaves (1976), and, most recently, Selected Poems, 1950-2000 (2002).

• Contents Preface000 ONE: TOWARD ANY AMERICA WHATSOEVER 1. Toward Any Geography000 2. Child as Father000 3. Andre Breton000 4. Newly Saying (Nishitani)000 5. Pablo Neruda000 6. Paul Celan000 7. Among Altazors (Huidobro) 9840 8. Michel Leiris000 9. The Search for the Primitive (Artaud)000 10. Translation/Antitranslation000 11. Octavio Paz000 12. Initiation000 13. Heraldic Vision000 14. Archaeology Elegy000 15. The Choral Voice000 16. Exile out of Silence000 17. New Forms000 18. On Refining a Model000 19. Interview000

"Tarn as proven himself to be one of the most demanding and exacting of poetry's anthropologists. If his particular blend of density, polymathism, and accessibility have slipped him through the cracks of critical and popular attention, his investigations in The Embattled Lyric provide an entryway into the contexts of Tarn's poetics, and from there into his poetry." - Rain Taxi "Tarn's poetry and criticism is remarkable for its expansiveness and willingness to absorb material from disparate sources and disciplines. This book takes the reader on a journey with both Tarn the anthropologist and Tarn the poet/thinker absorbed in the intellectual currents of the late twentieth century." - The Use of English "The Embattled Lyric is written from the viewpoint of a poet/anthropologist, a series of bright essays on Celan, Paz, Huidobro, and others." - The Age