| dc.description.abstract | A Texas poet whose work exalts the region in which he lives, William Barney (b. 1916), like most poets of the state, has received only modest readership and critical notice over the course of his career. The substance and artistry of his verse, however, reveals this as oversight on the part of the literary community, and the time for a recognition of Barney’s talent and contribution to Poetry is past due.
The study presented here places Barney's poetry in a literary context by assessing the inferior quality of the Texas poetic tradition prior to the emergence of Barney on the literary scene of the region; it then compares his innovative and adept techniques to the methods employed in the earlier poetry of Texas. This assessment includes an overview of approaches Barney applies to his poetic subjects, an explication of techniques, borrowed and self-formulated, which the poet weaves into his verse, and an examination of a Barney poem in light of these approaches and techniques. Ultimately, it argues to establish Barney's position as a innovator who has established a substantial and legitimate Texas tradition in poetry. | en |
