Emperor of Water Clocks by Yusef Komunyakaa

Emperor of Water Clocks

$17.00
Sale price  $17.00 Regular price 
Skip to product information
Emperor of Water Clocks by Yusef Komunyakaa

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Emperor of Water Clocks

$17.00
Sale price  $17.00 Regular price 
In stock

Ready to ship in 3 - 5 days

The wildly enchanting new collection from the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa

"If I am not Ulysses, I am / his dear, ruthless half brother." So announces Yusef Komunyakaa early in his lush new collection, The Emperor of Water Clocks. And Ulysses (or his half brother) is but one of the characters Komunyakaa conjures over the course of this densely lyrical book. Here his speaker observes a doomed court jester; here another recalls Napoleon as the emperor "tells the doctor to cut out his heart / & send it to the empress, Marie-Louise"; and here he is just a man, reflecting on why he'd "rather die a poet / than a warrior."

Through these mutations and migrations and permutations and peregrinations, there are constants: Komunyakaa's jazz-inflected rhythms, his effortlessly surreal images, his celebration of natural beauty and of love. There is also his insistent inquiry into the structures and struggles of power: not only, say, of king against jester but of man against his own desire, and of the present against the pernicious influence of the past.

Another brilliant collection from the man David Wojahn has called one of our "most significant and individual voices," The Emperor of Water Clocks delights, challenges, and satisfies.
Book Details
Publisher:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN:
9780374536572
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
128
Authors:
Yusef Komunyakaa
Published Date:
2016-10-04
Language:
English
Shipping

Ships directly to you from our US distribution partner. US delivery only.

This title is printed to order. Printing takes 3–5 business days before it ships.

Estimated total time for this book on its own:

  • Economy 8–13 business days
  • Expedited 5–10 business days
  • Express 4–7 business days

Orders with more than one book may arrive in separate deliveries. Pre-orders always ship separately once the book is released.

Returns

We offer a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return. To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same condition that you received it: new, unworn or unused, and in its original packaging. See details on our Return & Refund policy.

About Yusef Komunyakaa

Born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, Yusef Komunyakaa served in the United States Army from 1969 to 1970 as a correspondent and managing editor of the Southern Cross during the Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star. He holds a BA from the University of Colorado Springs, an MA from Colorado State University, and an MFA from the University of California, Irvine. His collection Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems 1977–1989 (Wesleyan University Press, 1993) received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Other collections include Dien Cai Dau (Wesleyan, 1988) and Talking Dirty to the Gods (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000). He is a distinguished senior poet at New York University.

If this information requires correction, please contact info@thepoetryshop.com.

You may also like

If any information on The Poetry Shop contains an error that requires correction, please contact info@thepoetryshop.com