Cary R. Nelson

Biography

Cary R. Nelson is the editor of numerous books, including the Anthology of Modern American Poetry (Oxford, 2000), and author most recently of Revolutionary Memory: Recovering the Poetry of the American Left (Routledge, 2003).

See Work

CRITICISM / Spring 2004

Boomlay, Boomlay, Boomlay, BLOOM

By Cary R. Nelson

The poems I have chosen to memorize over the years answer to an odd mixture of social occasions and opportunities. When asked to perform a poem at nonacademic parties, I have found Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky,” not among the poems Harold...