A maverick’s maverick, Yvor Winters chose a poetic path that led him away from the free-verse fashions of his time to champion traditional literary form. This new selection, edited by his former student Thom Gunn, presents all of the essential poems of Winters’ idiosyncratic career, from his early Imagist experiments to his final meditative masterpieces. Rigorous, impassioned, and austere, these poems offer vivid proof that, as Gunn puts it, The life of poetry is not just contained but is defined by its form.

About the American Poets Project Elegantly designed in compact editions, printed on acid-free paper, and textually authoritative, the American Poets Project makes available the full range of the American poetic accomplishment, selected and introduced by today’s most discerning poets and critics.