The exemplary poetry of Geoffrey Hill: authority and exemplarity in A Treatise of Civil Power

Vincent, Bridget

Abstract

Geoffrey Hill's ethical anxieties turn on a tension between aesthetic autonomy and engagement with the polis, a tension illuminated by his adumbration of an exemplary poetics. ‘Exemplarity’ is characterized by a similar tension between intransitive and transitive activity, so that a poem can be ‘exemplary’ through its independent merit but also because it influences others. Exemplarity has become especially significant in Hill's ‘late style’: his intensifying rehearsals of despair at the degradation of public language have made the models offered by figures from the past (and the exemplary influence of his own work) an increasingly revealing element in his writing.

Citation

Vincent, B. (2015). The exemplary poetry of Geoffrey Hill: authority and exemplarity in A Treatise of Civil Power. Modern Language Review, 110(3), https://doi.org/10.5699/modelangrevi.110.3.0649

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Mar 11, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 11, 2016
• Journal: Modern Language Review
• Print ISSN: 0026-7937
• Electronic ISSN: 2222-4319
• Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 110
• Issue: 3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5699/modelangrevi.110.3.0649
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/983238
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5699/modelangrevi.110.3.0649