M and Other Poems

John Peck was born in Pittsburgh in 1941. He taught literature at American and Swiss universities and trained as an analytical psychologist in Zurich. His collection The Broken Blockhouse Wall (Carcanet, 1979) won the Prix de Rome, and his other works include Argura (Sheep Meadow, 1998). He lives in Massachusetts.

• Notes and AcknowledgmentsWoods BurialAutumn Syllabics on Themes from Horace and the Chinese MastersSo the Name of That Place Was TaberahNight-Blooming CereusAnasazi, Ancient EnemiesGetting at What HappensWine of the SolitariesLittle FugueOccam's Razor Pledges No Hostages to FortuneMonumentAttic CanzonettaSoundless Tune in the JewelFirst Things Vestigium PedisHanging FiguresFrère Jacques, Frère AntoinePolybiusIgitur, Itaque, Donque, DoncTombeau for Vernon WatkinsTrio Threaded on Lines from the Parthian Hymns*ViaticumFor a Small ChorusAveFrom the Headland at CumaeMemorandumRelay Octets*M

""Peck has established himself . . . as a major poet, opening up territory no one else has attempted.""--Clive Wilmer, Times Literary Supplement|""The gift for making language itself into feeling rather than merely feeling's vehicle is just that, a gift. Peck has it."" --Poetry|""Peck is one of the best poets in the country, and M is his masterpiece."" --Notre Dame Review""Peck's densely allusive and highly cerebral work rewards the rigorous reading that it demands."" --Publishers Weekly