Kevin Young's Ardency

The Boston Globe review of Ardency hooked me with its first line, "a good epic poem is hard to find these days." Ardency tells the story of the Amistad slave rebellion. It has three sections, one in the voice of the slaves' interpreter, James Covey, one based on the slaves' letters from prison, one in the voice of the rebel leader Cinque.

As a classicist, I am always a tad suspicious of modern poetry, but I found Ardency a fast, energetic read, with a genuinely American feel. (As a reader it's always nice to want to read a poem slowly, but it's essential, especially with a narrative work, that you're not forced to read it slowly because of preciousness or an overly fragmented style.)

Gabriel, Escalastio, Desiderio - in the seas beneath
the States, names new & Christian fell around you
like the lash. (Ardency lines 1-3) 

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