A Study Guide for Robert Pinsky's "Poem about People"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Robert Pinsky's "Poem about People," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Sep 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535830997

Book preview

13

Poem about People

Robert Pinsky

1975

Introduction

Poem about People, from Robert Pinsky's first poetry collection, Sadness and Happiness, begins with the deceptively simple premise of the speaker watching strangers at a grocery store, noting with precise descriptions the details of their clothes and manners. Just as readers begin to feel that this person is tapping into the common threads that unite humanity, the poem takes a dark turn, using common nature imagery to explore the idea that there really are no common threads that connect people to each other. It leads to the idea that the space between humans is not filled but is in fact empty, and that empathy itself might just be a way of feeling good about one's self-loathing.

Since the 1975 publication of this poem, Pinsky has gone on to a career as one of the most respected and recognized poets in the United States. He is the only writer to serve three terms as poet laureate and consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress. He has appeared on television programs and was instrumental in initiating the Favorite Poetry Project, a recorded archive of Americans from all walks of life reading poems that matter to them. In Poem about People, readers can see the stylistic techniques and the unwavering commitment to honesty that have led to the poet's rise to international acclaim.

Author Biography

Pinsky was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, on October 20, 1940. His father, Milford Pinsky, was an optician, and his mother was a housewife. In 1962, Pinsky received a bachelor of arts degree from nearby Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He went on to earn a master's degree and then a doctorate in philosophy from Stanford University, in California, where he studied writing under noted poet Yvor