Mixed Feelings

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Mixed Feelings (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)

Ashbery's finest work may be in his long poems, where the space gives him time to develop a sense of what it is like to attempt to deal with a specific, recalcitrant subject. A shorter poem, such as “Mixed Feelings” (from the volume Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror), while being a good poem, provides a kind of five-finger exercise in understanding Ashbery's peculiar charms as a poet. The idea is a simple one. The poet either thinks he is smelling frying sausages while looking at an old photograph, or he is, in fact, doing so. It hardly matters. What does matter is his...

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See Also:

• John Ashbery (Cyclopedia of World Authors)
• John Ashbery (Poetry)