William C. Spengemann is the Patricia F. and William B. Hale, 1944, Professor in Arts and Sciences Emeritus at Dartmouth College. His books include The Forms of Autobiography, A New World of Words, and two Penguin editions, Nineteenth-Century American Poetry and The Portable Hawthorne.

"Three American Poets reexamines the poetry of Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville, considering the unique contribution made by each to American letters and finding in their poetics the origins of American modernism." —American Literature"In three erudite essays, one on each poet, Spengemann acknowledges Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville's different styles but says that 'all three wrote . . . for the same reason: in reaction to ever mounting assaults – scientific, philosophical, historical, political—on Christian understandings of the origin and purpose of human existence.'" —The Emily Dickinson International Society Bulletin"In this enticing study, Spengemann argues that Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville all respond to the breakdown of a cohesive structure of religion in the culture and turn to poetry to provide a faith in the world. The author excels at close readings of all three poets' formal structures, but his reading of Melville elevates him into the Whitman/Dickinson pantheon. For the most part an homage to teaching poetry, this volume lays out the language and structure and allows readers to arrive at their own conclusions." —Choice

William C. Spengemann is the Patricia F. and William B. Hale, 1944, Professor in Arts and Sciences Emeritus at Dartmouth College. His books include The Forms of Autobiography, A New World of Words, and two Penguin editions, Nineteenth-Century American Poetry and The Portable Hawthorne.

"Three American Poets reexamines the poetry of Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville, considering the unique contribution made by each to American letters and finding in their poetics the origins of American modernism." —American Literature"In three erudite essays, one on each poet, Spengemann acknowledges Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville's different styles but says that 'all three wrote . . . for the same reason: in reaction to ever mounting assaults – scientific, philosophical, historical, political—on Christian understandings of the origin and purpose of human existence.'" —The Emily Dickinson International Society Bulletin"In this enticing study, Spengemann argues that Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville all respond to the breakdown of a cohesive structure of religion in the culture and turn to poetry to provide a faith in the world. The author excels at close readings of all three poets' formal structures, but his reading of Melville elevates him into the Whitman/Dickinson pantheon. For the most part an homage to teaching poetry, this volume lays out the language and structure and allows readers to arrive at their own conclusions." —Choice

William C. Spengemann is the Patricia F. and William B. Hale, 1944, Professor in Arts and Sciences Emeritus at Dartmouth College. His books include The Forms of Autobiography, A New World of Words, and two Penguin editions, Nineteenth-Century American Poetry and The Portable Hawthorne.

"Three American Poets reexamines the poetry of Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville, considering the unique contribution made by each to American letters and finding in their poetics the origins of American modernism." —American Literature"In three erudite essays, one on each poet, Spengemann acknowledges Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville's different styles but says that 'all three wrote . . . for the same reason: in reaction to ever mounting assaults – scientific, philosophical, historical, political—on Christian understandings of the origin and purpose of human existence.'" —The Emily Dickinson International Society Bulletin"In this enticing study, Spengemann argues that Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville all respond to the breakdown of a cohesive structure of religion in the culture and turn to poetry to provide a faith in the world. The author excels at close readings of all three poets' formal structures, but his reading of Melville elevates him into the Whitman/Dickinson pantheon. For the most part an homage to teaching poetry, this volume lays out the language and structure and allows readers to arrive at their own conclusions." —Choice