John Ashbery: Einschüchterung und Ermutigung

In the service of his imagination, John Ashbery has published more than 20 volumes of poems, a collection of plays, a novel, essays, and art criticism. He has received almost every award a poet can receive, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship. At least three generations of American poets have been profoundly influenced by his presence.
If „Short-Term Memory,“ reprinted here , is the first Ashbery poem you’ve encountered, you’re apt to find it puzzling. That’s all right – Ashbery himself finds his poems “ hermetic “ and rarely tries to explain what they mean. / Michael Collier, The Baltimore Sun 14.4.02