Stag's Leap (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Poems

Not to be repetitive, but Olds is one of a kind. Would that we had more like her. Beautiful, heart-rending, clear as glass images, deep truths, generosity of spirit, and wonderful writing. A gift, this lady, as is her writing.

What more can I tell you about a book that has already won the Pulitzer Prize? I sat down and read this one straight through because I couldn't get enough of the poet's spellbinding way of describing the heartbreak and tragedy of the dissolution of a thirty year marriage. Sometimes painfully sad, other times incredibly moving, always inspiring- this collection of poems reaffirms my faith in modern verse. Highly recommended.

The poems are very personal but powerful with elegant language and allusions to the classics. We read Stag's Leap in our Tuesday Morning Book Group. Our instructor, Dr. Emily Auerbach, converted the poem Tiny Siren to prose which we read out loud. We then read the poem as written and the difference was astounding. As a poem each word was infused with meaning and we felt intimate with the words. As prose it was as if the psychic distance was huge and the meaning more illusive. Yet, I also wanted to know his side of the story. Olds' gives us the impression she was completely innocent and surprised by her husband finding someone else. In thirty years time people do drift apart but it is rarely a surprise. Everyone that has experienced grief should read Stag's Leap.

I found these poems touching and at times, almost too much so. They are honest, leanly written, with exquisite to-the-point images. I've read it through once, and intend to re-read it, and more than once, as you would do with any book, fiction or poetry, worth its salt.

Raw, tight, moving. I will return to this new collection for a re-read time and time again, as I have done with her best collections for years. She is one of my top five favourite poets, and this collection perfectly illustrates why. She is refreshingly without "ponce" or pretence. She is a brave gem of a poet, exposing the pain of her divorce, the "end of love" in a way few other poets would dare. Bravo.

No matter what age, it seems that if you've gone through divorce and you're a poetry lover, you should pick up this book. Olds is truly a master at capturing some of the most minute nuances of a long-time marriage grown tired (and eventually undone). But, what she does so brilliantly is capture how these details end up impacting the speaker's consciousness, pushing her into a new life, like it or not. Recognizing and accepting that unrequited love is terribly true and can happen after having made a life with someone is at the heart of these poems. At times, this collection is difficult to read because its subject matter is honest and sad. Mostly, though, it's a necessary read. To enter into the speaker's journey in this book is to understand that you are about to feel a love story after the fire and newness have settled. And then, there will be a yanking.

The poetry rambles a bit and is not quite up to current par in similar work. Some are notable for creative format, but most are somehow lost in reoccurrence.

I've now reread Stag's Leap. Stunning, moving poems, but painful. As before, I became impatient. I wanted Olds to express more rage, and then I wanted her to let go, move on. But these poems aren't about wallowing in sorrow--for me, they describe the slow struggle to accept a difficult transition. After the grief of a divorce, some women look back to express gratitude for the loss--better off without him! Olds, however, writes from a position of tenderness. The most rewarding poems are in the last section, "Years Later," where Olds describes a weary sense of resolution--the "old love for him like a songbird's rib cage picked clean." And, though I might wish for a rousing, feminist victory cry, the resolution Olds describes is more credible and more satisfying.

Rated at 5 for the rendering of emotion, never more than necessary,but deeper than any other expression. Love which is viewed as completing the incomplete rendering whole once parted. A true poet .

This is a breathtaking book about the end of Old's marriage, breathtaking because it makes you wonder how much is true and how the other parties feel about the publicity. A multiple prize winner, beautifully written.

beautiful

Sharon Olds sublimates the act of leaving with a mature understanding of the inevitable metamorphosis of emotions. She succeeds in universalizing the personal by persistently probing into the recesses of ambivalent sensations.

I am still dipping into this extraordinary account of the experience of the breakdown of a marriage in poetry. Her brilliant imagary, her poignant account are too much to bear in one sitting. I am glad that I read a review of this in the Guardian and bought it.