Evoking Empathy: Structures of Language and Feeling in Robert Gray’s Poetry

Abstract

At the heart of Robert Gray's poetic practices and of his comments on the writing of poetry lies a concern with the nature and functions of the relationship between words and things which is grounded in an insistence that language is directly referential. Further, this notion of referentiality underlies three concepts which are, for some kinds of poetry, closely interconnected in poetic theory and practice and which are essential components of Gray's poetic: naturalism, analogy, and empathy.

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Published 1 October 1990 in Volume 14 No. 4. Subjects: Language, Poetic techniques, Robert Gray.

Cite as: Stephens, John. ‘Evoking Empathy: Structures of Language and Feeling in Robert Gray’s Poetry.’ Australian Literary Studies, vol. 14, no. 4, 1990, doi: 10.20314/als.f42151cbca.