The Tether Poems [Paperback]

Graceful and resonant new work by a lyric poet at the height of his skill.

As I understand it, I could
call him. Though it would help,
it is not required that I give him
a name first. Also, nothing
says he stops, then, or must turn.
--from The Figure, the Boundary, the Light

In the art of falconry, during training the tether between the gloved fist and the raptor's anklets is gradually lengthened and eventually unnecessary. In these new lyric poems, Carl Phillips considers the substance of connection -- between lover and beloved, mind and body, talon and perch -- and ts the cable of mutual trust between soaring figure and shadowed ground.

Contemporary literature can perhaps claim no poetry more clearly allegorical than that of Carl Phillips, whose four collections have turned frequently to nature, myth, and history for illustration; still, readers know the primary attributes of his work to be its physicality, grace, and disarming honesty about desire and faith. InThe Tether, his fifth book, Phillips's characteristically cascading poetic line is leaner and more dramatic than ever.

Carl Phillipsis the author of four books of poems, includingPastoralandFrom the Devotions, a finalist for the National Book Award. He is an associate professor of English and of African and Afro-American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis.

[Phillips writes] batter-my-heart provocations worthy of John Donne [that are] subdued to a still, mature reverence. The New Yorker

[These] poems have a rare sensuality, and they successfully marry a brooding and philosophical outlook with high lyricism and musicality. Kate Moos,Ruminator Review

The music here is an admittedly cerebral one, and the poems are enjoyable, like late James, as much for the length and intricacy of their twistings as for the actual content. . . . Much of [this contenlc